Muslims in the European Union

Islam is the second largest religious belief in Europe after Christianity. Islam entered Eastern Europe in what are now parts of Russia and Bulgaria in the 7th and 13th century, respectively. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia, Islam for the first time penetrated into regions that would later become part of Russia. The Ottoman Empire expanded into Europe, conquering and invading huge portions of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. Over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire also gradually lost almost all of its European territories, until the empire collapsed in 1922. However, parts of the Balkans (such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro) continue to have large populations of native, European Muslims though a majority do not describe themselves as religious.

Transcontinental countries, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have large Muslim populations. This is also the case in a number of regions within the Russian Federation such as the Northern Caucasus (Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol Krai, Adygea), Crimea, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and the Astrakhan Oblast.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries substantial numbers of non-native Muslims immigrated to Western Europe. By 2010 an estimated 44 million Muslims were living in Europe (6%), including an estimated 19 million in the EU (3.8%). They are projected to comprise 8% by 2030. They are often the subject of intense discussion and political campaigns. These have been periodically revived by events such as terrorist attacks by extremist Islamists, the cartoons affair in Denmark, debates over Islamic dress, elevated crime rates amongst Islamic minorities and ongoing support for populist radical right parties that view Muslims as a threat to European values and ways of life. Such events have also fueled growing debate on Islamophobia, attitudes toward Muslims and the populist radical right.

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Wikipedia