Talk:Religion in Niger/Archive 1

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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)