Hinduism In Asia

In 2020, the total number of Hindus in Asia is more than 1.2 billion, more than 26.2% of Asia's total population. About 99.2% of the world's Hindus live in Asia, with India having 94% of the global Hindu population.^{[citation needed]} Other Asian nations with a notable Hindu population include Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

 

The roots of Hinduism started and emerged in the Indus River at the Indus Valley civilisation, nearly 3,000 BCE and spread through the Indian subcontinent, though the history of Hinduism overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization. It has thus been called the "oldest religion" in the world.

Hinduism spread in the South and Southeast Asia by the Hindu rulers and dynasties and the reign of Gupta Empire or Gupta era was considered as the "Golden period" for Hinduism and the religion also spread to Central Asia and Afghanistan through the Silk route. There were also many Hindu colonies in the middle-east Asia with significance of trade with the parts of the world. Though with the Spread of Islam and Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, the Hinduism started declining and shrunk in the Indian subcontinent religion.

 

A Balinese Hindu family after puja at Bratan temple in Bali, Indonesia

 

Natarajan Temple

 

A Sadhu in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Central Asia

Country	Total pop	Hindus %age	Hindus pop
Kazakhstan	18,744,548	0.01%	12,732
Kyrgyzstan	6,019,480	<0.01%	<1,000
Tajikistan	8,734,951	<0.01	<1,000
Turkmenistan	5,851,466	<0.01	<1,000
Uzbekistan	32,653,900	0.01%	2,778
Total	72,004,345	<0.01%	16,000 (approx)

East Asia

Country	Total pop	Hindus %age	Hindus pop
China	1,425,178,782	0.1%	20,000
Hong Kong	7,448,900	1.6%	119,182
Macau	658,900	<0.01%	<1,000
Japan	126,420,000	<0.01%	30,000
North Korea	25,610,672	<0.01%	<1,000
South Korea	51,635,256	0.04%	24,414
Mongolia	3,231,200	<0.01%	<1,000
Taiwan	23,577,488	<0.01%	1,900
Total	1,633,202,416	0.09% (approx)	1,551,037

Middle-East

Country	Total pop	Hindus %age	Hindus pop
Bahrain	1,496,300	9.8%	144,286
Kuwait	4,226,920	7.1%	300,667
Oman	4,651,706	5.7%	182,679
Qatar	2,561,643	13.8%	358,800
Saudi Arabia	33,413,660	1.1%	303,611
Arab Emirates	9,582,340	7.5%	660,000
Yemen	28,915,284	0.7%	200,000
Total	84,847,853	2.52%	2,140,574

South Asia

Country	Total pop	Hindus %age	Hindus pop
Afghanistan	37,466,414	<0.01%	<1,000
Bangladesh	165,158,616	7.95%	13,130,109
Bhutan	742,737	22.6%	185,700
India	1,320,000,000	79.8%	1,053,000,000
Maldives	369,031	0.01%	<1,000
Nepal	28,901,790	81.3%	23,500,000
Pakistan	224,864,293	2.14%	4,678,078
Sri Lanka	21,200,000	12.6%	2,671,000
Total	2,032,080,415	52.57%	1,068,728,901

Southeast Asia

Country	Total pop	Hindus %age	Hindus pop
Brunei Darusalem	374,577	0.035%	131
Cambodia	13,995,904	0.3%	41,988
Indonesia	259,000,000	1.74%	4,646,357
Malaysia	30,949,962	6.3%	1,949,850
Myanmar	50,279,900	0.5%	252,763
Philippines	102,000,000	<0.1%	30,634 (2015)
Singapore	5,600,000	5.0%	280,000
Thailand	65,068,149	0.1%	65,000
Vietnam	85,262,356	0.07%	20,000
Total	571,337,070	1.118%	6,386,614

West Asia

Country	Total pop	Hindus %age	Hindus pop
Armenia	2,975,000	<0.01%	<1,000
Azerbaijan	10,027,874	<0.01%	<1,000
Iran	81,871,500	<0.01%	20,000
Iraq	39,339,753	<0.01%	<1,000
Israel	8,930,680	0.12%	11,500
Lebanon	6,093,509	<0.01%	<1,000
State of Palestine	4,816,503	<0.01%	<1,000
Syria	18,284,407	<0.01%	<1,000
Turkey	80,810,525	<0.01%	<1,000
Total	253,149,751	0.018%	46,000 (est)

• Hinduism in Africa
• Hinduism by country
• Religion in India

Citations

Bibliography

• "History of Hinduism". Khan Academy.

  Media related to Hinduism in Asia at Wiki Commons