Christians reside throughout the country, although the percentage of Christians is higher in Upper Egypt and in some sections of Cairo and Alexandria, according to religious and civil society groups. Scholars estimate that Shia Muslims comprise approximately 1 percent of the population.
While almost all of Egypt's Muslims are Sunni, there are a small number of Shia. (Estimates of their number range from 800,000 to "at most" three million.) The Syrian civil war has brought on an increase in anti-Shia rhetoric by Sunnis, harassment and arrest, and in at least one case bloodshed.
Islam is practiced by 90% of Egyptians. Most Egyptian Muslims are Sunni and follow the Maliki school of jurisprudence, though all legal schools are represented. Shi'a Muslims make up a small minority.
According to The Economist, estimates range from 50,000 to one million. Minority Rights Group International estimates Egyptian Shia population to range from 800,000 to two million out of Egypt's total population of about 90 million.
Shias comprise a majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and a plurality in Lebanon, while Sunnis make up the majority of more than forty countries from Morocco to Indonesia.
In a poll conducted by Sabancı University in 2006, 98.3% of Turks revealed they were Muslim. Most Muslims in Turkey are Sunni Muslims forming about 90%, and Shia-Aleviler (Alevis, Ja'faris and Alawites) denominations in total form up to 10% of the Muslim population.
Twelver Shīʿas constitute the majority of the population in Iran (90%), Azerbaijan (85%), Bahrain (70%), Iraq (65%), and Lebanon (65% of Muslims).
According to Pew, 99% of Muslims in Morocco are Sunni predominantly of the Sunni Maliki madhab, or school of thought, whilst the remaining 1% adhere to other sects such as Shia, Quranism, ibadism etc.
Shia Islam
The Lebanese Shia Muslims are around 27%–29% of the total population. Twelvers are the predominant Shia group, followed by Alawites and Ismailis. The Speaker of Parliament is always a Shi'a Muslim, as it is the only high post that Shi'as are eligible for.
Statistics on religious belief and religiosity
Islam was the religion of 99.6% of Iranians of which approximately 89% are Shia – almost all of whom are Twelvers. Of all Iranian Muslims, 90-95% are Shi'ites.
The vast majority of China's Muslims are Sunni Muslims, although a small minority are Shia.
Shia Muslims, predominantly Arabs but also including Turkoman, Faili (Shia) Kurds, and others, constitute 55 to 60 percent of the population. Sunni Muslims are approximately 40 percent of the population, of which Arabs constitute 24 percent, Kurds 15 percent, and Turkomans the remaining 1 percent.
1971. The Egyptian constitution officially declares Islamic Sharia a source of legislation. According to some within Egypt, this makes it impossible to recognize the Bahá'í Faith.
Muslims comprise a number of sects: the majority practice Sunni Islam (estimated at 85-90%), while a minority practice Shia Islam (estimated at 10-15%). Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions.
The Sunni community is recognised by the Albanian state and it administers most of the mosques while also viewed as the main representative of Muslims in the country.
Ismailis. The Shia Ismailis form the largest branch of Shia Islam in Syria, forming 3% of Syria's population. The split from the greater branch occurred over the recognition of the Seventh Imam.
The Shia Jafari community estimates its members make up 4 percent of the population. Non-Muslim religious groups are mostly concentrated in Istanbul and other large cities, as well as in the southeast.
Although more than half of Bahrain's population consists of Shia Muslims (estimated at over 75 percent), the Sunni royal family, Al Khalifa, governs the country.
96% of United Arab Emirates population are muslims, of them are 94% are Sunni Muslims and the remainder 2% are Shia, while the other 4% of the population are of other religions who are concentrated in the Emirates of Dubai and Sharjah.
Islam is the official state religion in Tunisia. According to CIA, 99.1% of its adherents are Sunni Muslims. The constitution of Tunisia states that the country's “religion is Islam”, the government is the “guardian of religion”, and requires that the president be Muslim.
Sunni Islam, the larger of the two great branches of the faith, is the form practiced by the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Algeria, while there is a small Ibadi minority. There is no significant Shia presence. One of the dominant characteristics of Islam in North Africa was the cult of holy men, or maraboutism.
Shia Islam
The 1931 census counted 4,100 Metawalis in Palestine. Since 1979, due to Iran's influence, some Palestinian Sunnis have converted to Shia Islam.
While Medina is an important, if optional, stop for pilgrims on the hajj, it is a pilgrimage destination for the Shia.
According to the federal Ministry of Religious Affairs, more than 99 percent of the population is Sunni Muslim. Members of other religious groups combined constitute less than 1 percent of the population and include a small Christian community, a small Sufi Muslim community, and an unknown number of Shia Muslims.