Shiites comprise around 10% of Qatar's Muslim population. Several of Qatar's most notable merchant families have historically been Shia. Qatari Shiites are granted religious liberty and some have held government positions.
Religion. Islam is the official religion, and Qataris are largely Sunni Muslims. There is a small Shiʿi minority. The ruling Thani family (Āl Thānī) adheres to the same Wahhābī interpretation of Islam as the rulers of Saudi Arabia, though not as strictly.
Twelver Shīʿas constitute the majority of the population in Iran (90%), Azerbaijan (85%), Bahrain (70%), Iraq (65%), and Lebanon (65% of Muslims).
The constitution designates Islam as the official religion, with over 90% of the Emirati Muslim population are Sunni Islam. The vast majority of the remainder 5-10% are Shia Muslims, who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
Shias comprise a majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and a plurality in Lebanon, while Sunnis make up the majority of more than forty countries from Morocco to Indonesia.
Shia Islam in Bahrain is estimated to be approximately 49% of the Muslim population in Bahrain. This number is disputed, with the Sunni royal family placing it closer to half, some surveys estimating it to be 62%, and most sources placing the estimate somewhere near 70% of the Muslim population.
Shia Islam is practiced by approximately 5-10% of Emiratis. It is also practiced among expatriate Muslim communities living in the country, most notably Iranians, as well as some Arabs, Pakistanis, Indians, and other nationalities. Non-Twelver Shia branches such as Ismailis and the Dawoodi Bohras are also present.
More than 99 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim, and less than 0.1 percent of the population is Shia Muslim.
Shia. While almost all of Egypt's Muslims are Sunni, there are a small number of Shia. (Estimates of their number range from 800,000 to "at most" three million.) The Syrian civil war has brought on an increase in anti-Shia rhetoric by Sunnis, harassment and arrest, and in at least one case bloodshed.
The annual rates of growth for the world's Sunni and Shia populations were identical from 1990 to 2000. But the rate of growth of the Shia population is expected to be slightly lower than the rate of growth for Sunnis over the next 20 years.
Iran has 66 million to 70 million Shias, or 37-40% of the world's total Shia population.
Shia Muslims are a numerical majority in Iraq and Bahrain.
Shiites comprise around 10% of Qatar's Muslim population. Several of Qatar's most notable merchant families have historically been Shia. Qatari Shiites are granted religious liberty and some have held government positions.
Islam is the main religion of the citizens of Kuwait and the majority of Kuwaiti citizens are Muslim; it is estimated that 70%–75% are Sunni and 25%–30% are Shias.
Islam is the state-religion in Oman. The country is 95% Muslim. Sunni Islam has a following of about 47% and Ibadi Islam has a following of about 35%, while 6% identify as Shia Muslims. Islam spread to Oman in the early years.
Between 85 and 90 percent of the approximately 21 million Saudi citizens are Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims constitute 10 to 12 percent of the citizen population and an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the Eastern Province's population.
The most prevalent form of Islam practiced in Turkey is Sunni Islam — another departure from neighboring countries where most people adhere to Shia Islam. Turkey is also known for its Sufi community, an Islamic mystic tradition associated with the city of Konya and the poet Rumi.
The majority are Sunni (85-90%) while Shias make up between 10% and 15%. However, the Hanbali school is gaining popularity recently due to Wahhabi influence from the Middle East. Smaller minority Muslim populations in Pakistan include Quranists, nondenominational Muslims.
Religion in Yemen consists primarily of two principal Islamic religious groups: 65% of the Muslim population is Sunni Muslim and around 35% is Zaydi Shia, according to the UNHCR.
Shia Muslims are a minority in Bangladesh, with roughly 2% of the population being Shia. Many Bangladeshi Shi'a Muslims, belong to the Bihari community.
The Lebanese Shia Muslims are around 27%–29% of the total population. Twelvers are the predominant Shia group, followed by Alawites and Ismailis. The Speaker of Parliament is always a Shi'a Muslim, as it is the only high post that Shi'as are eligible for.
While the estimates identify 93–99% of Azerbaijan's population as adherents of Islam, the importance of religion on everyday life remains low. The Muslim population is approximately 55-85% Shia and 15-45% Sunni, however, traditionally the differences have not been sharply emphasized.
Shi'a Islam in Indonesia represents a small minority in that largely-Sunni Muslim country. Around one million Indonesians are Shias, who are concentrated around Jakarta. Indonesian Shia are found in areas of Java, Madura and Sumatra.