- Islam in Switzerland
According to the Confederate
census of 2001, a total number of 310,807 Muslims were living inSwitzerland which made up 4.26% of the total population [Switzerland: CIA World Factbook [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sz.html#People] ] . Islam is not an officially recognized religion in Switzerland. [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71411.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2006 Switzerland] ]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% ZürichGeneva 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 [Islam in Switzerland [http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/religion/islam.html] ] (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-speakingTicino ).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%; especiallyBosnia and Herzegovina ,Kosovo , theRepublic of Macedonia and theSandžak region) andTurkey (20.2%) [Islam & Muslims in Europe [http://www.euro-islam.info/pages/swiss.html] ] .The leading figure of the called "Euro-Islam",
Tariq Ramadan currently resides in Geneva.History
In the 10th century, Arabs and Berbers from Mediterranean
Fraxinet base for a few decades settled in theValais [Manfred, W: "International Journal of Middle East Studies", pages 59-79, Vol. 12, No. 1. Middle East Studies Association of North America, Aug 1980.] They occupied theGreat St. Bernard Pass and even managed to reached as far asSt. Gallen to the north andRaetia in the east.Mosques
There are two
mosque s in the country, one inGeneva and one inZurich . There are also about 120 prayer rooms around the country, and about 100 additional "non-official" prayer rooms.In 2007 the
Bern city council rejected plans to build one of the largest Islamic cultural centers in Europe. [ [http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/top_news/detail/Bern_city_says_no_to_Islamic_cultural_centre.html?siteSect=106&sid=7885234&cKey=1180787118000 Bern city says no to Islamic cultural centre] , Swissinfo, June 1, 2007]A current political initiative wants to ban the building of
minaret s on future mosques. [ [http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Rightwingers_want_nationwide_vote_on_minarets.html?siteSect=105&sid=7777264&cKey=1178171592000 Rightwingers want nationwide vote on minarets] , Swissinfo, May 3, 2007]References
ee also
*
Minaret controversy in Switzerland
*Religion in Switzerland External links
* [http://www.euro-islam.info/spip Euro-Islam] breaking news on Islam in Europe (legislation, security, opinion polls) including profiles of Islam by country
* [http://www.euro-islam.info/spip/article.php3?id_article=297 Stastics of Muslims in Switzerland]
* [http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~mriexin/euroislam.html#CH Link Directory Islam in Western Europe: Switzerland]
* [http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~mriexin//demogr/CHMUSLIMDEM.cfm Demographic tables regarding Muslims in Switzerland]
* [http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/IslamAssembled/Geneva.htm Swiss Exile: European Muslim Congress, 1935] by Martin Kramer.
* [http://www.islam.ch Islam in Switzerland]
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