使用者:茶煙/巴哈伊數據

估計全球巴哈伊信徒的數量是困難的。該宗教在一個獨立、有組織的社群中運行，但巴哈伊信徒卻在幾乎所有的國家和族群中有分布，被認為是除基督宗教以外地理分布最廣的宗教。

巴哈伊世界中心對巴哈伊人口數量有過的官方統計，聲稱1991年就有「超過500萬巴哈伊信徒」，分布於10萬多個定居點。巴哈伊的官方機構經常公布地區和國家靈體會，洲際顧問和助手，代表國家，語言和出版社的數量 [1] 。有時候他們公布信徒數量。近些年，美國巴哈伊社團公布了具體的巴哈伊信徒統計數字。

成員資格的定義

20實際30年代，美國和加拿大的巴哈伊開始要求新入教的成員簽署信仰的聲明，表明他們對巴哈歐拉，巴孛和阿博都巴哈的信仰，明白需要服從律法和信仰的慣例機構（卡片上未註明）。簽署聲明的目的在於，信徒可以合法申請免除服兵役的義務。 後來在加拿大信徒可自由選擇是否簽署卡片，但在美國，為了行政管理和檔案的要求，仍然使用這種手段。許多國家使用了美國和加拿大的模式。

除了簽署由靈體會認可的卡片外，沒有其他入會儀式的要求。成員會定期收到郵件，除非他們自己表示不希望聯繫。

統計數據的困難

由於該宗教信眾較為分散而非集中的，是外人對該宗教進行人口學研究的主要困難。調查和人口普查（除了政府普查，即在許多國家由政府要求個人報告自己的宗教信仰）目前難以在這個尺度上進行，這個尺度尤其難以準確地估計宗教少數群體。在某些國家，巴哈伊信仰是非法的，巴哈伊新都遭受了不同程度的迫害，使得即使巴哈伊也難以了解信徒人數。

世界基督教資料庫，以及其前身世界基督教百科全書，回顧了世界範圍內宗教信眾的人口，並多次發布了他們的報告。巴哈伊信仰從1970年-1985年， 1990年-2000年 以及最近的一次2000年-2005年 報告上，在增長率上持續位於前列。

20世紀大幅度的增長說明，絕大多數巴哈伊並非由於他們的祖輩是巴哈伊，或周圍的社會環境而自動皈依，結合巴哈伊獨立探求真理的原則，使得難以將巴哈伊數據與其他某些一出生就自動成為信徒的宗教相比。有人認為，這導致主要宗教的人口數被高估了；其他有些人指出，從社會現實上講，巴哈伊身份相對於某些其他身份，例如天主教而言，更具有暫時性。

迅速的增長速度以及參差不齊的保留度使得成員數目的數據難以穩定較長的時間，因為有一定數量的巴哈伊信徒轉而成為其他宗教的信徒，卻並沒有要求把自己的名字從成員名錄中刪除。從20世紀60年代到2000年，美國巴哈伊人口在官方的名錄中從10000人增長到140000人，但有地址的人口比例則降到了50%。

從另一方面說，大多數教派並不試圖維護國家級成員名錄的資料庫，而必須依賴於地方教會的數據，或通過一半人口的調查獲取數據。而地方教會的成員名錄往往也維護不佳，因為它們一般對此沒有需要（巴哈伊至少需要維持一個準確的選舉名錄），並且地方教會有時候即使被要求提供數據也不依從。統計美國猶太人的人數，約有一般人與非猶太人結婚，並且他們大多數不去猶太會堂，因此統計極為困難。估算美國穆斯林和東正教教徒人數也因此差異巨大。

世界範圍內的數據

以下數據表由巴哈伊世界中心數據部提供，以統計增長率及基本的數據。

	1968	± 1986	2001
國家靈體會	81	165	182
地方靈體會	6,840	18,232	11,740
已有巴哈伊信仰建立的國家： 獨立國家		187	190
已有巴哈伊信仰建立的國家： 屬地/海外部門		45	46
巴哈伊信徒居住的居住點	31,572	>116,000	127,381
土著部落、種族及少數民族	1,179	>2,100	2,112
有巴哈伊文獻譯本的語言數	417	800	802
巴哈伊出版社	9	26	33

巴哈伊來源

• 官方 international 網站聲稱有「超過500萬巴哈伊信徒居住於遍布全世界的10萬餘居住點」。
• 目前US national網站稱：世界上有「超過500萬」巴哈伊。
• 1995年印版世界和平的承諾序言 (Special Ideas, Heltonville, IN)稱：「超過500萬成員……位於230個國家或地區……的超過12萬居住點」
• A pamphlet currently published by the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia estimates: "At present there are over 6 million Bahá'ís who live in more than 118,000 localities in over 200 countries and territories."
• A 1997 statement by the NSA of South Africa wrote: "…the Bahá'í Faith enjoys a world-wide following in excess of six million people."
• The Department of Statistics, Bahá'í World Centre, does not provide an estimated total, but claims that in 2001 there were 11,740 local Spiritual Assemblies, and 127,381 localities in 236 countries and territories. [2]
• A 1987 report, Achievements of the Seven Year Plan published in Bahá'í News (July, 1987,) pages 2–7, reports 4.74 million Bahá'ís in 1986 growing at a rate of 31% over 1979, or 4.4% per year on average.

Other sources

• The World Factbook states that Bahá'ís make up 0.12% of the world based on a 2007 estimate, corresponding to 7.9 million people.
• The 2005 Association of Religion Data Archives estimate is of 7.6 million.
• Encyclopædia Britannica in mid-2004 estimated a total of 7.5 million Bahá』ís residing in 218 countries.Worldwide Adherents of All Religions, Mid-2004 Its statistics are derived from the World Christian Encyclopedia.
• The World Christian Encyclopedia, 2001,p 4 estimated 7.1 million Bahá'ís in the world in 2000, representing 218 countries. The same source estimated 5.7 million in 1990.[3] Its definition of membership is broader than the official Bahá'í definition and would include people who attend Bahá'í gatherings regularly even if they have not declared their faith or persons who state they are Bahá'ís in government censuses as a result of reading about the religion or hearing about it on the radio.
• In 2005, the Encyclopedia of Religion, second edition, vol 2, pg. 739, (ISBN 0-02-865733-0) records that:

"In the early twenty-first century the Bahá』ís number close to six million in more than two hundred countries. The number of adherents rose significantly in the late twentieth century from a little more than one million at the end of the 1960s."

• adherents.com estimates 7 million Bahá』ís in 2000 based on research from David Barrett, World Christian Encyclopedia, 2000, and the Population Reference Bureau www.prb.org.
• In 2003, The World Book Encyclopedia reports that "there are about 5,500,000 Bahá』ís worldwide." [4](registration required)
• In 2001, Paul Oliver wrote in World Faiths that there were "approximately five million Bahá』ís" in 1963.
• In 2004, the Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa vol 1, reports that "By 1900, the community… had reached 50,000-100,000… Bahá』ís worldwide [are] estimated in 2001 at 5 million."
• In 2000, Denis MacEoin wrote in the Handbook of Living Religions that:

"the movement has had remarkable success in establishing itself as a vigorous contender in the mission fields of Africa, India, parts of South America, and the Pacific, thus outstripping other new religions in a world-wide membership of perhaps 4 million and an international spread recently described as second only to that of Christianity. The place of Baha'ism among world religions now seems assured."

• In 1997, Dictionary of World Religions estimated "five million Bahá』ís" in the world.
• In 1997, Religions of the World published: "today there are about 5 million" Bahá』ís.
• In 1993, the Columbia Encyclopedia published: "There are about 5 million Bahá』ís in the world."
• In 1998, the Academic American Encyclopedia said that the Bahá』ís "are estimated to number about 2 million."
• In 1995 the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion states: "In 1985, it was estimated that there were between 1.5 to 2 million Baha'is, with the greatest areas of recent growth in Africa, India, and Vietnam."

另見

• 世界主要宗教

Notes

• Alexander, Agnes Baldwin; editing and end notes by Barbara Sims. History of the Bahá'í Faith in Japan 1914-1938. Osaka, Japan: Japan Bahá'í Publishing Trust. 1977. 
• R. Sims, Barbara. Traces That Remain: A Pictorial History of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Faith Among the Japanese. Osaka, Japan: Japan Bahá'í Publishing Trust. 1989. 
• de Vries, Jelle. The Babi Question You Mentioned--: The Origins of the Baha'i Community of the Netherlands, 1844-1962. Peeters Publishers. 2002. ISBN 9789042911093. 

References

• Jones, Lindsay (編). Encyclopedia of Religion second. MacMillan Reference Books. 2005. ISBN 0028657330. 
• Hinnells, John R. The New Penguin Handbook of Living Religions second. Penguin. 2000. ISBN 0140514805. 
• Roof, Wade C. A Generation of Seekers: Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation. HarperCollins. 1993. ISBN 0060669640. 
• World Book editors (編). The World Book Encyclopedia. World Book Inc. 2002. ISBN 0716601036. 
• Oliver, Paul. Teach Yourself World Faiths. McGraw-Hill. 2002. ISBN 0071384480. 
• Mattar, Philip (編). Encyclopedia of Modern Middle East & North Africa. Thomson/Gale. 2004. ISBN 0028657691. 
• Bowker, John W. (編). The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford University Press. 1997. ISBN 0192139657. 
• O'Brien, Joanne; Palmer, Martin. Religions Of The World. Facts on File. 2005. ISBN 0816062587. 
• Chernow, Barbara A.; Vallasi, George A. The Columbia Encyclopedia. Houghton Mifflin. 1993. ISBN 039562438x. 
• Academic American Encyclopedia. Grolier Academic Reference. 1998. ISBN 0717220680. 
• Smith, Jonathan Z.; American Academy of Religion. The Harpercollins Dictionary of Religion. HarperCollins. 1995. ISBN 0060675152. 
• The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition.. Brill. 1960. Ref DS37.E523. 
• Sanasarian, Eliz. Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge University Press. 2000. ISBN 0521770734. 

External links

• Bahá'í World Statistics
• adherents.com - A website about religious adherents of numerous faiths
  • adherents.com - Specific compiled stats on Bahá'í communities