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The B aha'i Faith: Distribution Statistics, 1925–1949
Author(s) -
Smith Peter
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of religious history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1467-9809
pISSN - 0022-4227
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9809.12207
Subject(s) - distribution (mathematics) , faith , statistics , geography , demography , history , sociology , mathematics , theology , philosophy , mathematical analysis
A survey of B aha'i global distribution statistics from the time of their first appearance in 1925 up to 1949. No official data for actual B aha'i populations was published at that time, and we have to rely on lists of local B aha'i councils (“spiritual assemblies”) and of places where B aha'is resided to get some sense of B aha'i distribution dynamics. Even this limited data enable us to describe a pattern of overall growth, from a presence in twenty‐nine countries and territories in 1925 to ninety‐two in 1949, from at least 573 localities worldwide in which B aha'is resided in 1928 to 2,315 by 1949, and 102 local spiritual assemblies in 1928 to 595 in 1949. Regional differences in distribution are discussed. The data shows a significant increase in distribution during this period but there is no evidence for any major corresponding increase in B aha'i numbers, such as began to occur from the mid‐1950s onwards.