Many European countries have large and growing Muslim minorities. This is particularly true for the countries of Western Europe that have experienced influxes of Muslim immigrants over the last several decades from a variety of Middle Eastern, African, and Asian countries, as well as Turkey and the Balkans. Today, although some Muslims in Europe are recent immigrants, others are second- or third-generation Europeans. European Muslims are highly diverse, constituting the second largestgroup of Europe’s multi-faith society. Although studies indicate that Europe’s share of the global Muslim population is relatively small (3 percent or less), they also suggest that the number of Muslims in Europe is rapidly increasing as a result of continued Muslim immigration and higher birth rates among Muslims than non-Muslims Studies indicate that Belgium and France have the largest proportion of Muslims as a percentage of their populations.
