Talk:Religion in Niger/Archive 1

Archive 1

Muslim percentage

There seems to be a bit of an edit war going on over the percentage of the population which is Muslim. Also, the article as it currently stands contradicts itself.

• The opening sentence claims either 99% or 80%-99% of the population is Muslim, depending on what day of the edit war you happen to read the article. One source is the official 2012 census which found 99.3%. Another source is the CIA factbook, which quotes the 2012 census. A third source is an archived International Religious Freedom Report from the US State Department (2010) claiming 98%.
• The current version of the US government's "Niger 2017 International Religious Freedom Report" claims that the Nigérien Ministry of the Interior places the Muslim population at "more than 98 percent".
• The second paragraph of the article says "at least 80%" and cites as reference the CIA Factbook, which says 99.3%. This is a contradiction that needs correcting.

For those of us living in Niger, 80% is clearly much too low. On the other hand, one does wonder if 99.3% are truly "practicing" Muslims. The official 2012 found 99.3% "declared" themselves as Muslims, but I don't think any sociological survey has ever measured how many are truly practicing. However, speculation has no place in the article, and currently all sources seem to indicate 98% - 99.3% Muslim.

I recommend the 80% figure be removed and that current references be updated unless someone has better information. --seberle (talk) 10:22, 7 August 2019 (UTC)