Islam in the Netherlands

Islam in Europe
by percentage of country population[1]
  90–100%
  70–90%
  50–70%
Bosnia and Herzegovina
  30–40%
North Macedonia
  10–20%
  5–10%
  4–5%
  2–4%
  1–2%
  < 1%

Islam is the second largest religion in the Netherlands, after Christianity, and is practised by 5% of the population according to 2018 estimates.[2] The majority of Muslims in the Netherlands belong to the Sunni denomination.[3] Many reside in the country's four major cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

The early history of Islam in the Netherlands can be traced back to the 16th century, when a small number of Ottoman merchants began settling in the nation's port cities. As a result, improvised mosques were first built in Amsterdam in the early 17th century.[4] In the ensuing centuries, the Netherlands experienced sporadic Muslim immigration from the Dutch East Indies, during their long history as part of the Dutch overseas possessions. From the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War until the independence of Indonesia, the Dutch East Indies contained the world's second largest Muslim population, after British India. However, the number of Muslims in the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was very low, accounting for less than 0.1% of the population.

The Netherlands' economic resurgence in the years between 1960 and 1973 motivated the Dutch government to recruit foreign skilled laborers, chiefly from Morocco and Turkey – both majority Muslim countries. Later waves of Muslim immigrants arrived through family reunification and asylum seeking. Small but notable minorities of Muslims also immigrated from the former colonies of Indonesia and Suriname.

  1. ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  2. ^ "CBS Religieuze betrokkenheid; persoonskenmerken". Het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. 1 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "NPO Radio 1 - 'Liever Turks dan paaps' ("Rather Turks than Papist")". Radio 1, Netherlands. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2012.

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