Source: Syracuse.com
Wire Service: AP
A government survey has found that there may be some one million more Muslims living in Germany than previously thought, meaning that they make up about 5 percent of the total population.
Germany has conducted no general census since reunification in 1990 and West Germany last conducted one in 1987. However, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees had previously estimated that the Muslim population was between 3.1 million and 3.4 million, in a total population of 82 million.
A new study by the Nuremberg-based office, however, found that the Muslim population in Germany likely is between 3.8 million and 4.3 million-meaning Muslims make up between 4.6 and 5.2 percent of the population.
The survey said 2.5 million to 2.7 million of the Muslims in Germany-or about 63 percent-report Turkish heritage. The second-largest group comes from southern European countries like Bosnia, Bulgaria and Albania, which make up nearly 14 percent.
Almost all of the Muslims-98 percent-live in the former West Germany or Berlin, the report showed.
Researchers surveyed 6,004 people, who gave information about themselves and their families for a total representation of more than 17,000 people.