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10. Senegal, About 17.4 Million Muslims
Senegal rounds out our list, and Islam here comes with a distinct West African flavor built around Sufi brotherhoods like the Mourides and the Tijaniyya. Religious leaders called marabouts hold serious social influence, and the annual Grand Magal pilgrimage to Touba pulls in millions of pilgrims every year.
9. Mali, About 17.5 Million Muslims
Mali edges out Senegal by a slim margin. Islam arrived here through trans-Saharan trade routes centuries ago, and Timbuktu still carries the legacy as a former center of Islamic scholarship, complete with manuscripts that scholars are still working to preserve today.
8. Tanzania, About 19.4 Million Muslims
Tanzania's Muslim population concentrates heavily along the Swahili Coast and on Zanzibar, where Islam arrived through Indian Ocean trade with Arab and Persian merchants long before European colonizers ever showed up. Zanzibar's Stone Town still carries that architectural and cultural fingerprint.
7. Niger, About 21.1 Million Muslims
Niger's population runs overwhelmingly Muslim, and the religion touches nearly every part of public life here, from education to local governance. Islamic scholarship networks stretch across the country and connect Niger to religious centers throughout the wider Sahel region.
6. Ethiopia, About 34.7 Million Muslims
Ethiopia holds one of the oldest Muslim histories on the entire continent. Early followers of the Prophet Muhammad sought refuge in the Kingdom of Aksum in the 7th century, a period Muslims still refer to as the First Hijra. Today Ethiopia's Muslim population lives alongside a large Christian population in one of Africa's most religiously mixed nations.
5. Morocco, About 36.4 Million Muslims
Morocco sits at the western edge of North Africa with a population that is almost entirely Muslim. The country blends Arab, Berber, and Sufi religious traditions, and cities like Fez and Marrakech still function as major centers of Islamic learning and architecture.
4. Sudan, About 38.6 Million Muslims
Sudan carries deep Islamic roots that stretch back to medieval trading kingdoms along the Nile. Islamic law and tradition have shaped the country's legal and political systems for generations, even as Sudan works through years of internal conflict and displacement.
3. Algeria, About 43.7 Million Muslims
Algeria's population runs almost entirely Muslim, a legacy of the Arab conquests that swept through North Africa centuries ago. Religious identity here sits closely tied to national identity, particularly after independence from France reinforced Islam as a pillar of Algerian culture.
2. Egypt, About 90 Million Muslims
Egypt holds the second largest Muslim population in Africa, and Cairo's Al Azhar University remains one of the most respected centers of Islamic scholarship anywhere in the world. Islam arrived in Egypt in the 7th century and has anchored the country's religious and cultural identity ever since.
1. Nigeria, About 97 Million Muslims
Nigeria takes the top spot, and the number is genuinely massive. Nearly half the country identifies as Muslim, concentrated heavily across the north, with cities like Kano and Sokoto standing as historic centers of Islamic scholarship and governance dating back to the Sokoto Caliphate. Nigeria's Muslim population alone outnumbers the entire population of most countries on earth.
