With strong ties to the historical Turkish-Ottoman Empire, the Balkan countries of Southeastern Europe contain several Muslim-majority states. Islam is the dominant religion in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Other Balkan countries with significant Muslim minority populations include Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Religious worship was generally prohibited in these countries until the collapse of the Soviet government in the 1990’s. Religion and ethnicity remain closely linked in these countries and discrimination and tensions continue to be reported.
Source:
1. "Muslims in Europe: Country guide" - BBC News
The Islamic countries of Central Asia include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan. Like the Russian experience, Islam in Central Asia was persecuted and suppressed under the Soviet regime, but has enjoyed a renaissance since the 1990’s. There are now more than 2,000 mosques in Uzbekistan alone. Unfortunately, in some of these states, Islam has also been perceived as a threat to state-control, and has provoked several radical movements to emerge in response; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the Hizb-ut Tahrir (HT) are two examples. Islamic radicalism has now become a serious problem in some parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus, especially the Russian North Caucasus and the Ferghana Valley shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Sources:
1. "Islam in Central Asia" - Economist
2. "Islam in Central Asia" - New York Times
3. "Islamic Radicalism in Central Asia and the Caucasus: Implications for the EU" - Silk Road Studies
Russia is home to 23 million indigenous Muslims, as well as an estimated 3 to 4 million Muslim migrants from former Soviet states – approximately two million Azeris, one million Kazakhs, and several hundred thousand Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kyrgyz. This constitutes 10 to 16 percent of Russia’s total population. The Russian Muslim community is extremely diverse - from Volga Tatars and Bashkirs to the ethnic mosaic of the North Caucasus. In contrast to Muslim minorities in Western Europe, however, most Russian Muslims represent native people of what is now the Russian Federation and have inhabited this land for over a millennium. The Muslim population is spread across the country, but coalesced in several Muslim-majority republics.
Historically, Islam was under strict state-control in the Soviet Union, with only 500 mosques in existence. Since 1991, however, Islam has enjoyed a renaissance. Thousands of mosques and madrasas have been rebuilt and reopened. At present, there are around 5,000 mosques in Russia alone. Islam is officially recognized as one of Russia's four principal religions, along with Orthodox Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism. Russia has also applied to join the Organization of Islamic States.
Sources:
1. "The
rise of Russian Muslims worries Orthodox Church" - Times Online
2. "Growth
of Islam in Russia Brings Soviet Response" - New York Times
3. "Russian
Islam goes its own way" - BBC News
• Islam is Central Asia was suppressed during seven decades of official Soviet atheism.
• Albania is home to 2.2 million Muslims (70 percent of the total population).
• Bosnia-Herzegovina is considered the “western border” of the Islamic faith in Europe, with a Muslim population of 1.5 million people (40% of the total 3.8 million citizens).
• Even though Macedonia’s largest religion is Macedonian Orthodox, the country also contains a strong Muslim minority (630,000 citizens of 2.1 million).
• There are an estimated 6,500 people in jail in Uzbekistan because of their religious or political beliefs.
• 8,000 Muslims were killed in the Srebrenica Massacre in 1995, considered the bloodiest European massacre since World War II.
• Islam in Kosovo dates back to the Ottoman Empire; Kosovo was under Ottoman control from 1389 to 1912.
• The Spiritual Assembly of Russian Muslims was established in 1798
to recognize the rights of Bashkirs, Tatars, and other Muslim nations to practice
Islam.
• Demographers predict that by 2020 one out of five Russians will be
Muslim.
• Russia’s overall population is declining, due in part to the adverse
effects of high alcohol consumption, but numbers are rising in Muslim regions,
such as Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia, where large families are common
and alcohol consumption is more moderate.
• Moscow is home to an estimated 1.5 million Muslims, including about 100,000 Chechens.
Sources:
1. "Muslims in Europe: Country guide" - BBC News
2. "Islam and Muslims in Europe" - Islam Awareness
3. "Islam in Central Asia" - Economist
4. "The Republic of Bashkortostan" - Nation Master
5. "Russian Islam goes its own way" - BBC News
6. "The rise of Russiasn Muslims worries Orthodox Church" - The Times Online (UK)