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Thursday March 28, 2024

US and Israel have bombed 14 Muslim nations in 25 years

Where do Muslims stand, economically and demographically?

By Sabir Shah
April 01, 2015
To the sheer dismay of over 1.6 billion followers of Islam residing on planet Earth today, the United States and its “stalwart ally” Israel have bombed at least 14 of the 57 Muslim countries during the last 25 years, a research conducted by the Jang Group and Geo Television Network shows.
These 14 countries are Afghanistan (over 99 per cent Muslims), Iraq (98.9 per cent Muslims), Pakistan (over 96 per cent Muslims), Yemen (99 per cent Muslims), Somalia (99 per cent Muslims), Libya (96.6 per cent Muslims), Iran (99.7 per cent Muslims), Sudan (96.7 per cent Muslims), Palestine (98 per cent Muslims), Lebanon (over 59 per cent Muslims), Syria (92 per cent Muslims), Jordan (98.8 per cent Muslims), Egypt (about 95 per cent Muslims) and Tunisia (99.8 per cent Muslims).
During Bill Clinton’s Presidency, the United States had bombed Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.
During the reign of George Bush, the US had bombed Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia.
Under Barack Obama, the United States is currently bombing Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya and Somalia.
Meanwhile, Israel has bombed every single one of its neighbours including Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Iraq during this quarter of a century under review.
The irony is that the United States has numerous operational military bases in a lot of predominantly Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, UAE, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Chad and Somalia.
ECONOMIC COMPARISON OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES WITH THE WORLD:
It is pertinent to note that the combined Gross Domestic Product or GDP (at Purchasing Power Parity) of the 49 predominately Muslim states and eight having large Muslim minorities rests at just US$7.740 trillion, compared to that of US$101.934 trillion and the European Union GDP of US$18.124 trillion.
Here follows the IMF list of world’s top 25 countries with highest GDPs:
China’s GDP is $ 17.632 trillion, the United States GDP rests at $17.416 trillion, the Indian GDP stands $7.277 trillion, the Japanese GDP is $ 4.788 trillion, German GDP is $ 3.621 trillion, Russian GDP is $ 3.559 trillion, Brazil’s GDP is $ 3.073 trillion, French GDP is $ 2.587 trillion, Indonesia GDP is $ 2.554 trillion, the British GDP is $ 2.435 trillion, Mexican GDP is $ 2.143 trillion, Italian GDP is $ 2.066 trillion, South Korean GDP is $ 1.79 trillion, Saudi Arabia’s GDP is $1.652 trillion, Canadian GDP is $ 1.579 trillion, Spain’s GDP is $1,534 trillion, Turkey’s GDP is $1.512 trillion, Iran’s GDP is $ 1.284 trillion, Australia’s GDP is $1.100 trillion, Nigeria’s GDP is $ 1.058 trillion and Taiwan’s GDP is $ 1.022 trillion, Thailand’s GDP is $ 990.093 billion, Egypt’s GDP is 945.388 billion, Poland’s GDP is $ 941.417 trillion and Argentina’s GDP is $ 927.3 billion.
Pakistan, with a GDP of $ 884.2 billion, comes after Argentina and stands on number 26, followed by Holland ($824.440 billion) and Malaysia ($800.169 billion).
The above 2014 IMF ranking thus shows that only six Muslim nations—- Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Nigeria and Egypt—-are among the top 25 world countries with highest GDPs.
According to the 2014 figures carried by the International Monetary Fund, here follow the GDPs (Purchasing Power Parity) of some of the other Muslim states on the world map today:
Malaysia ($ 800.169 billion), UAE ($643.846 billion), Algeria ($584.308 billion), Bangladesh ($580.471 billion), Iraq ($510.916 billion), Kazakhstan ($448.560 billion), Qatar ($354.511 billion), Kuwait ($294.280 billion), Morocco ($271.281 billion), Uzbekistan ($184.705 billion), Azerbaijan ($178.894 billion), Oman ($172.329 billion), Sudan ($168.480 billion), Tunisia ($132.177 billion), Libya ($120.952 billion), Syria ($115.1 billion), Yemen ($112.933 billion), Tanzania ($100.857 billion), Turkmenistan ($93.254 billion), Jordan ($84.899 billion), Lebanon ($83.596 billion), Afghanistan ($65.648 billion), Bahrain ($64.541 billion), Bosnia and Herzegovina ($37.1 billion), Brunei ($30 billion), Chad ($26.8 billion), Sudan ($26 billion), Tajikistan ($20.6 billion), Kyrgyzstan ($18.2 billion), Mauritania ($11.8 billion) and Djibouti ($2.7 billion).
Here follows a 2013 IMF list of top 25 countries with highest GDP per capita (Purchasing Power Parity basis):
Qatar ($145,894), Luxembourg ($90,333), Singapore ($78,762), Brunei ($73,823), Kuwait ($70,785), Norway ($64,363), UAE ($63,181), San Marino ($62,766), Switzerland ($53,977), United States ($53,001), Hong Kong ($52,984), Saudi Arabia ($51,779), Bahrain ($49,633), Holland ($46,440), Australia ($45,138), Ireland ($44,663), Austria ($44,402), Germany ($43,475), Sweden ($43,407), Oman ($43,304), Canada ($43,253), Denmark ($43,080), China ($41,539), Iceland ($41,001), Belgium ($40,760) and Finland ($40,045).
The above list shows that most citizens of oil-rich Muslim countries like Qatar, Brunei, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman are enjoying quality of life at par with residents of economically developed nations.
Pakistan stands at the rock bottom in this list or number 135 with a per capita GDP of just $4,574. Indonesia’s per capita GDP of $9,635 helps it stand at number 101, Egypt’s per capita GDP is $10,870 (position 96), Tunisia’s per capita GDP is $10,998 (rank 94), Jordan’s per capita GDP is $ 11,639 (rank 90), Turkmenistan’s per capita GDP is $ 12,863 (rank 82), Algeria’s per capita GDP is $ 13,788 (rank 81), Iraq is at number 78 with a per capita GDP of $ 14,367, Iran is at number 71 with a per capita GDP of $ 16,165, Azerbaijan is at number 69 with a per capita GDP of $ 17,028, Lebanon is at number 67 with a per capita GDP of $17,326, Turkey is at number 62 with a per capita GDP of $18,874, Libya is at number 56 with a per capita GDP of $20,681, Kazakhstan is at number 51 with a per capita GDP of $23,038 and Malaysia is at number 50 with a per capita GDP of $23,160.
India stands at number 126 with a per capita GDP of $ 5,450 and Israel is at rank 33 with a per capita GDP of $32,717.
MUSLIM POPULATION ON EARTH AND ITS GROWTH PROJECTIONS:
The world’s Muslim population is expected to increase by about 35 per cent in the next 20 years, rising from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.2 billion by 2030, according to population projections given in a January 27, 2011 report of the Washington DC-based non-partisan think tank “Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.”
Globally, the Muslim population is forecast to grow at about twice the rate of the non-Muslim population over the next two decades - an average annual growth rate of 1.5 per cent for Muslims, compared with 0.7 per cent for non-Muslims. If current trends continue, Muslims will make up 26.4 per cent of the world’s total projected population of 8.3 billion in 2030, up from 23.4 per cent of the estimated 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.
While the global Muslim population is expected to grow at a faster rate than the non-Muslim population, the Muslim population nevertheless is expected to grow at a slower pace in the next two decades than it did in the previous two decades.
From 1990 to 2010, the global Muslim population increased at an average annual rate of 2.2 per cent, compared with the projected rate of 1.5 per cent for the period from 2010 to 2030.
The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life had stated in its January 2011 report: “If current trends continue, however, 79 countries will have a million or more Muslim inhabitants in 2030, up from 72 countries today.”
It had maintained: “But Pakistan is expected to surpass Indonesia as the country with the single largest Muslim population. The portion of the world’s Muslims living in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to rise; in 20 years, for example, more Muslims are likely to live in Nigeria than in Egypt. Muslims will remain relatively small minorities in Europe and the Americas, but they are expected to constitute a growing share of the total population in these regions.”
The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life had further stated:
In the United States, the population projections show the number of Muslims more than doubling over the next two decades, rising from 2.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030, in large part because of immigration and higher-than-average fertility among Muslims.
The Muslim share of the American population (adults and children) is projected to grow from 0.8 per cent in 2010 to 1.7 per cent in 2030, making Muslims roughly as numerous as Jews or Episcopalians are in the United States today. Although several European countries will have substantially higher percentages of Muslims, the United States is projected to have a larger number of Muslims by 2030 than any European countries other than Russia and France.
In Europe as a whole, the Muslim share of the population is expected to grow by nearly one-third over the next 20 years, rising from 6 per cent of the region’s inhabitants in 2010 to 8 per cent in 2030.
In absolute numbers, Europe’s Muslim population is projected to grow from 44.1 million in 2010 to 58.2 million in 2030. The greatest increases - driven primarily by continued migration - are likely to occur in Western and Northern Europe, where Muslims will be approaching double-digit percentages of the population in several countries. In the United Kingdom, for example, Muslims are expected to comprise 8.2 per cent of the population in 2030, up from an estimated 4.6 per cent today. In Austria, Muslims are projected to reach 9.3 per cent of the population in 2030, up from 5.7 per cent today; in Sweden, 9.9 per cent (up from 4.9 per cent today); in Belgium, 10.2 per cent (up from 6 per cent today); and in France, 10.3 per cent (up from 7.5 per cent today).