- India comes second in terms of Hindu population
- India’s neighboring country Nepal has the largest number of Hindus
- South Africa third country where Hindu majority
There are only three countries in the world where Hindus are in majority. Almost everyone knows about India and Nepal, but very few know about the third country. When it comes to India and Nepal, people think that India has the largest Hindu population but it is not. India ranks second in terms of Hindu population. The third country where there is a majority of Hindus is South Africa. More than 50 percent Hindus live in this country. Many Prime Ministers of this country have also been Hindus.
India’s neighboring country Nepal has the largest number of Hindus
You will be surprised to know that there is a country in the world where the percentage of Hindus in the total population is higher than India. This is none other than India’s neighboring country Nepal. Numerically the number of Hindus here is very less than India, but if we look at the percentage of total population, India has more than Hindus. According to an estimate, there are 96.63 crore Hindus in India which is about 79 percent of the total population. In terms of total population, more than 80 percent Hindus live in Nepal.
Country with largest Hindu population
According to the 2021 census, 81.19 percent of the population in Nepal is Hindu. In terms of numbers, there are more than 2 crore 36 lakh Hindus here. Nepal has long had the status of a Hindu nation, but in 2006 it was declared a secular nation. Nepal is the largest Hindu religious country in the world in terms of share of total population. The culture of Nepal is similar to that of India and Tibet. Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Buddhism, Shakta and almost all religions have influence here. All religious festivals are celebrated together in Nepal. About 9 percent of Nepal is Buddhist and 4.4 percent Muslim.
Mauritius is also a Hindu majority country
After Nepal and India, Mauritius is a Hindu majority country. Currently more than 50 percent of the population in Mauritius are Hindus. According to the 2011 census, Hindus constituted 48.5 percent of the population in Mauritius. It is now believed that the share of Hindus in the population of Mauritius has exceeded 51 percent. As per the estimate of the year 2020, the growth rate of Hindus in Mauritius is 2.1. Hindu population is growing faster than other communities in Mauritius. Anyway, the main religion of Mauritius is Hinduism, a large number of temples have been built here, many beautiful temples have been built along the seashore.
Hindus first moved to Mauritius for labour
It is said that the East India Company first sent Hindus to Mauritius for labor in 1836. These laborers were brought from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Mauritius has now become the country in the African continent where Indian Hindus are in the largest majority. According to Patrick Eisenlohr, 70 percent of people of Indian origin live in Mauritius.
In which countries do Hindus live?
Fiji has 27.9 percent Hindus, followed by Nepal, India and Mauritius. 23.3 percent of Guyana, 22.5 percent of Bhutan, 18.2 percent of Tobago, 15.1 percent of Qatar and 12.6 percent of Sri Lanka are Hindus. Hindus make up 12 percent of the Muslim country of Kuwait and 8.5 percent of the population in Bangladesh. At the same time, 6.3 percent are Hindus in Malaysia, 5 percent in Singapore, 5 percent in the UAE and 3 percent in Oman. Apart from this, Hindu population is 2.7 percent in Australia and 2.6 percent in New Zealand. Hindus make up 2.3 percent of Canada’s total population. Hindus account for 2.1 percent in Pakistan and Seychelles, 1.7 percent in Indonesia and Myanmar.
