List of countries by Zoroastrian population

20 In 2012, a study by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America published a demographic picture of Zoroastrianism around the world, which was compared with an earlier study from 2004.[1] It projected a global Zoroastrian population of 111,691–121,962 people, with roughly half of this figure residing in just two countries: India and Iran. These numbers indicated a notable population decline in comparison with the earlier projection of 124,953 people.[1]

As of 2018, estimates show that there are some 100,000–200,000 Zoroastrians worldwide. The larger part of the population comprises Parsis, a community standing at around 70,000 people in India and around 1,000 in Pakistan. There is an estimated 4,000 Parsis in the United Kingdom.[2][3][4][5] In 1994, the Zoroastrian Society of Ontario estimated that there were around 100–200 Zoroastrians residing in Afghanistan.[6]

In 2015, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) granted official recognition to the Zoroastrian religion and also proceeded with the opening of three new Zoroastrian temples. The KRI's Zoroastrian community has claimed that thousands of people residing in the autonomous territory have recently converted from Islam to Zoroastrianism.[7][8] In 2020, a KRI-based Zoroastrian advocacy group known as the Yasna Association, which also functions as a representative of the faith within the KRI's government, claimed that about 15,000 people had been registered with the organization as of 2014.[9] Additionally, the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) conducted an online survey in 2020 to record the religious attitudes of Iranians, and approximately 7.7 percent of respondents identified as Zoroastrian.[10][11]

The following data, unless otherwise noted, comes from the World Religion Database, as reported via the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA).[12]

Zoroastrian fire temple in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan (2016).
Country/Region Population Year
 India 75,862 2020
 Iran 63,835 2020
 Kurdistan Region 15,000 2020[9]
 United States 18,808 2020
 Canada 7,548 2021 census[13][1]
 Uzbekistan 1,256 2020
 United Kingdom 4,000 2021
 Tajikistan 2,690 2020
 Australia 2,701 2020
 Afghanistan 4,017 2020[14]
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (Gulf Countries) 1,900 2012[1]
 Pakistan 8,129 2020
 New Zealand 69 2020
 Singapore 293 2020
 Hong Kong 75 2020
 Sri Lanka 2,570 2020
 Kyrgyzstan 979 2020
 Kenya 914 2020
 Burma 735 2020
 France 653 2020
 Netherlands 308 2020
 Tanzania 143 2020
 Syria 97 2020
 China 72 2020
 Seychelles 20 2020
 Macau 13 2020
 Belgium 12 2020
 Yemen 1,188 2020
 Bangladesh 379 2020
World 100,000–200,000 2019–2021[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Rivetna, Roshan. "The Zoroastrian World A 2012 Demographic Picture" (PDF). Fezana.org.
  2. ^ Chaubey, Gyaneshwer; Ayub, Qasim; Rai, Niraj; Prakash, Satya; Mushrif-Tripathy, Veena; Mezzavilla, Massimo; Pathak, Ajai Kumar; Tamang, Rakesh; Firasat, Sadaf; Reidla, Maere; Karmin, Monika; Rani, Deepa Selvi; Reddy, Alla G.; Parik, Jüri; Metspalu, Ene (14 June 2017). ""Like sugar in milk": reconstructing the genetic history of the Parsi population". Genome Biology. 18 (1): 110. doi:10.1186/s13059-017-1244-9. ISSN 1474-760X. PMC 5470188. PMID 28615043.
  3. ^ "Zoroastrianism — Parsi". Daily Times. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  4. ^ Yousafzai, Arshad (29 April 2019). "Two decades from now, Pakistan will have no Parsis". The News International. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Zoroastrianism". History.
  6. ^ Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (1 March 1994). "Afghanistan: Information on the treatment of the Zoroastrian religious community in and around Kabul". Refworld. Retrieved 12 February 2021. Information on the treatment of the Zoroastrian community in Afghanistan could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB. However, according to a representative of the Zoroastrian Society of Ontario, there are only one or two hundred Zoroastrians living in Afghanistan (4 Mar. 1994). The source stated that the majority of Zoroastrians in Afghanistan live in "Khander" which he described as being "near the Iranian border" (ibid.). The source stated that to his knowledge, only a few Zoroastrians merchants live in Kabul (ibid.).
  7. ^ "Zoroastrian faith returns to Kurdistan in response to ISIL violence". Rudaw. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Iraqi Kurds turn to Zoroastrianism as faith, identity entwine". France 24. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b Bruneau, Charlotte; Omar, Kawa (30 September 2020). "Zoroastrians make a comeback in northern Iraq, but still face stigma". Reuters. Retrieved 12 February 2021. According to Awat Taieb, co-founder of the Yasna association that since 2014 has promoted Zoroastrianism in Kurdistan and also representative of the faith at the Kurdistan government, about 15,000 people registered with the organisation so far.
  10. ^ "Iranians' Attitudes Toward Religion: A 2020 Survey Report". گَمان - گروه مطالعات افکارسنجی ایرانیان (in Persian). 9 September 2020. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  11. ^ Maleki, Ammar; Arab, Pooyan Tamimi. "Iran's secular shift: new survey reveals huge changes in religious beliefs". The Conversation. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  12. ^ "World Religion". www.thearda.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  13. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (26 October 2022). "Religion by visible minority and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Why the Afghan city Balkh is important to Zoroastrianism". 7 April 2020.
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