Islam in Switzerland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
Part of a series on  |
|
North and South America
|
According to the Confederate census of 2001, a total number of 310,807 Muslims were living in Switzerland which made up 4.26% of the total population[1]. Islam is not an officially recognized religion in Switzerland.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Location
The largest concentration of Muslim population is in the German speaking Swiss plateau. The cantons with more than 5% Muslim population are:
- 6.72% Basel-Stadt
- 6.50% Glarus
- 6.13% St. Gallen
- 5.94% Thurgau
- 5.80% Schaffhausen
- 5.49% Aargau
- 5.39% Solothurn
- 5.33% Zürich
Geneva is the only non-German-speaking canton where the Muslim population is slightly above the average (4,35). Another remarkable demographic feature in comparison to other European countries is the relatively equal distribution throughout the country[3] (compare Islam in the United Kingdom). No administrative unit has more than 8.55% of Muslim population, and no town or village more than 16.8%. The lowest percentage of Muslims in a canton is 1.82% (the Italian-speaking Ticino).
[edit] Origin
Most (88.3% as of 2000) Muslims in Switzerland are not Swiss citizens. Of the 11.7% (36, 481 people) with Swiss citizenship (0.5% of the total population), 7.7% are naturalized and 3.9% had Swiss citizenship from birth.
Most Muslims in Switzerland are from former Yugoslavia (56.4%; especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia and the Sandžak region) and Turkey (20.2%)[4].
The leading figure of the so-called "Euro-Islam", Tariq Ramadan currently resides in Geneva.
[edit] History
In the 10th century, Arabs and Berbers from Mediterranean Fraxinet base for a few decades settled in the Valais[5] They occupied the Great St. Bernard Pass and even managed to reached as far as St. Gallen to the north and Raetia in the east.
[edit] Mosques
There are two mosques in the country, one in Geneva and one in Zurich. There are also about 120 prayer rooms around the country, and about 100 additional "non-official" prayer rooms.[2]
In 2007 the Bern city council rejects plans to build one of the largest Islamic cultural centers in Europe.[6]
A current political initiative wants to ban the building of minarets on future mosques.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Switzerland: CIA World Factbook[1]
- ^ a b International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Switzerland
- ^ Islam in Switzerland[2]
- ^ Islam & Muslims in Europe[3]
- ^ Manfred, W: "International Journal of Middle East Studies", pages 59-79, Vol. 12, No. 1. Middle East Studies Association of North America, Aug 1980.
- ^ Bern city says no to Islamic cultural centre, Swissinfo, June 1, 2007
- ^ Rightwingers want nationwide vote on minarets, Swissinfo, May 3, 2007
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Euro-Islam breaking news on Islam in Europe (legislation, security, opinion polls) including profiles of Islam by country
- Stastics of Muslims in Switzerland
- Link Directory Islam in Western Europe: Switzerland
- Demographic tables regarding Muslims in Switzerland
- Swiss Exile: European Muslim Congress, 1935 by Martin Kramer.
- Islam in Switzerland
