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%).
