Indian cities with highest Muslim population: Population and percentage in major Indian cities, metros and towns

The distribution of Muslim population in India is a unique demographic phenomenon.

Though Muslims form nearly 14% of India's vast population, they are a highly urbanized religious community.

Scattered across the length and breadth of country, Muslims are present in large numbers in North, the Indo-Gangetic belt, Eastern region and parts of South India.

Among big Indian cities, the highest Muslim percentage is in Hyderabad (40%). If State capitals are included then, Sri Nagar (90%), Bhopal (35%) and Lucknow (30%) also have a predominantly Muslim character.

In Kerala, Kozhikode which was earlier known as Calicut also has more than 35% Muslim population. Maharashtra's Aurangabad has over 40% Muslim concentration.

Muslim population in Metro Cities

When we talk of metros, Mumbai has the highest percentage (22%), followed by Kolkata (21%) and Delhi (around 15%). Bangalore (Bengaluru)  has 14% Muslims. Chennai has slightly less Muslim population at around 10%.

If middle-level cities are  included in the list, then the list will go far. Aligarh has 40% Muslim population. Meerut has around 32% Muslims. Kanpur and Allahabad have around 22-25% Muslim presence. Varanasi is also close.

Some of the cities with nearly 30% Muslims include Karnataka's Bidar, Gulbarga, Hubli-Dharwad, Maharashtra's Parbhani, Nanded, Nalanda (Bihar), Bhagalpur and Firozabad. There are many such cities in different states of India.

Muslim majority Cities

In cities with population between 0.5-1 million (5-10 lakh), some cities have a clear Muslim majority. They include Moradabad, Malegaon and Bhiwandi.

In Cities that have a population between 1,00,000 to 5,00,000, the number of such cities is even more. There are dozens of such cities from Rampur to Mau in UP, Burhanpur in MP. There are many cities and towns under 1 lakh population that have a clear Muslim majority population (over 50%).

Dearborn: Muslim-dominated City in America

America may still not have a large Muslim population but there are cities and towns where Muslims comprise a sizeable chunk of population.

Dearborn is one such city that has nearly 40% Muslim population and this is growing fast.

Dearborn, which is located in Michigan state, is part of Detroit metropolitan area.

It has one of the highest concentration of Muslims among cities in the country.

Arabs, particularly, Lebanese Muslims form a majority among the immigrant community.

The City has a population of 1,00,000. It also boasts of the biggest mosque in United States of America (USA). It is in the Islamic Centre built here recently.

Dearborn also has a historic mosque that was built in 1937. Among Muslims, Shias also have a strong numerical presence.

Muslim Population in India: Percentage in States and Metropolitan Cities

India ranks second in terms of Muslim population in the world. 

Muslims are in majority in Jammu & Kashmir state and Lakshadwip. 

They comprise around 33% in Assam, 25% in West Bengal and 24% in Kerala.

For almost a thousand years Muslim kings ruled India but the population of Muslims is most in regions where the Mughals and other Muslims kings had no influence. 

Kerala and Assam are such states. Uttar Pradesh (19%) and Bihar (16%) also have large Muslim population.

In States, highest population of Muslims is in Uttar Pradesh or UP that has 35 million or 3.5 crore Muslims. 

Bihar is second. Maharashtra has more than 10 million Muslims. 6arnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand have strong presence of Muslims. 

In percentage terms Kashmir has 70% Muslims.

Mumbai has 25 lakh or 2.5 million Muslims while Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad have more than one million Muslims each. 

In states Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have relatively less Muslim population but in  cities in all these states also the mosques and madarsas are a common sight.