Hindus

For the racehorse, see Hindus (horse).
"Hindoo" and "Hindu" redirect here. For other uses, see Hindoo (disambiguation) and Hindu (disambiguation).

Hindus
Om, a common symbol of the Hindu people
Early-20th-century painting by M. V. Dhurandhar of Hindu devotees in satsanga and listening to the pravachana of the Puranas
Total population
1.2 billion worldwide (2023) Increase[1][2][3][4][5]
(15% of the global's population[6])
Regions with significant populations
India1,106,000,000[7][8][2][1][3][9]
Nepal28,600,000[3][10][11]
Bangladesh13,130,102[12][13][14][15][16][17]
Pakistan5,217,216[18]
Indonesia4,728,924[19][20][21][22]
United States3,230,000[23]
Sri Lanka3,090,000[3][24]
Malaysia1,949,850[25][26]
United Arab Emirates1,239,610[27]
United Kingdom1,030,000[3][28]
Canada828,100[29]
Australia684,000[30]
Mauritius670,327[31][32]
South Africa505,000[33]
Saudi Arabia451,347[34]
Singapore280,000[35][36]
Fiji261,136[37][38]
Myanmar252,763[39]
Trinidad and Tobago240,100[40][41][42]
Guyana190,966[43]
Bhutan185,700[44][45]
Italy180,000[46]
Netherlands160,000[47]
France150,000[48]
Russia143,000[49]
Suriname128,995[50]
New Zealand123,534[51]
Religions
Hinduism
(Sanātana Dharma)
[52][53][54][55]
[56]
Scriptures
  • Śruti
Smriti
[57][58][59][60][61]
Languages
Predominant spoken languages:
[56][63]
Part of a series on
Hinduism
Origins
Historical

Traditional

Sampradaya (Traditions)
Major Sampradaya (Traditions)
Deities
Other major Devas / Devis
Vedic Deities:
Post-Vedic:
Concepts
Worldview
Ontology
God
Mokṣa-related topics:
Mind
Ethics
Practices
Worship, sacrifice, and charity
Meditation
Philosophical schools
Other schools
Gurus, Rishi, Philosophers
Modern
Texts
Divisions
Rigveda:
Yajurveda:
Samaveda:
Atharvaveda:
Hindu Culture & Society
Society
Hindu Art
Hindu Architecture
Hindu Music
Food & Diet Customs
Time Keeping Practices
Hindu Pilgrimage
Other society-related topics:
Other topics
Hinduism & Other Religions
Other Related Links (Templates)

Hindus (Hindustani: [ˈɦɪndu] ⓘ; /ˈhɪnduːz/; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma.[64][65][66] Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent.[67][68]

It is assumed that the term "Hindu" traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term Sapta Sindhuḥ (This term Sapta Sindhuḥ is mentioned in RigVeda that refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and as an India whole). The Greek cognates of the same terms are "Indus" (for the river) and "India" (for the land of the river).[69][70][71] Likewise Hebrew cognate hōd-dū refers to India mentioned in Hebrew Bible (Esther 1:1). The term "Hindu" also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River.[72] By the 16th century CE, the term began to refer to residents of the subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims.[72][a][b] Since ancient times, Hindu has been used to refer to people inhibiting region beyond the Sindhu river, therefore some assumptions that medieval Persian authors considered Hindu as derogatory is not accepted by practicing Hindus themselves as those references are much later to references used in pre-Islamic Persian sources, early Arab and Indian sources, all of them had positive connotation only as they either referred to region or followers of Hinduism.

The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the local Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear.[67][73] Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it may have developed post-8th century CE after the Muslim invasions and medieval Hindu–Muslim wars.[73][74][75] A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and Bengali.[74][76] The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir, Tulsidas and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma (Islam).[73][77] The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in a religious context in 1649.[78] In the 18th century, European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for groups such as Turks, Mughals and Arabs, who were adherents of Islam.[67][72] By the mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains,[67] but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century.[79] Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon.[80][81][c]

At approximately 1.2 billion,[84] Hindus are the world's third-largest religious group after Christians and Muslims. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million (94.3% of the global Hindu population), live in India, according to the 2011 Indian census.[85] After India, the next nine countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order: Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United States, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.[86] These together accounted for 99% of the world's Hindu population, and the remaining nations of the world combined had about 6 million Hindus as of 2010.[86]

  1. ^ a b "Can Muslims surpass Hindus in population numbers? Experts say practically not possible". 24 April 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Hindu Countries 2023". World Population Review. 2023. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050". Pew Research Center. 1 January 2020. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  4. ^ "The Global Religious Landscape – Hinduism". A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010. Pew Research Foundation. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Christianity 2015: Religious Diversity and Personal Contact" (PDF). gordonconwell.edu. January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Hindus push for recognition as official religion in Belgium". Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  7. ^ "India at 75: Dreams of a Hindu nation leave minorities worried". 13 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  8. ^ "1. Population growth and religious composition". 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Központi Statisztikai Hivatal". Nepszamlalas.hu. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  10. ^ "The World Factbook". CIA, United States. 2013. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Nepal". US Department of State. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Bangla minister underscores Hindu safety". Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Census 2022: Bangladesh population now 165 million". 27 July 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh: Now, 1.8 crore Hindu Bengali citizens of Bangladesh are ready to go to India, said Ravindra Ghosh, Chairman of Bangladesh Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.| APN News". 25 December 2019. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Introduction – Bangladesh". tradeinfolink.com.my. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Hindu population in Bangladesh grew by 1 per cent in 2015: Report". The Economic Times. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  17. ^ Bangladesh 2012 International Religious Freedom Report Archived 1 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, US State Department (2012), p. 2
  18. ^ "District Wise Results / Tables (Census - 2023)" (PDF). www.pbscensus.gov.pk. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
  19. ^ "Religion in Indonesia".
  20. ^ Indonesia: Religious Freedoms Report 2010 Archived 11 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine, US State Department (2011), Quote: "The Ministry of Religious Affairs estimates that 10 million Hindus live in the country and account for approximately 90 percent of the population in Bali. Hindu minorities also reside in Central and East Kalimantan, the city of Medan (North Sumatra), South and Central Sulawesi, and Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara). Hindu groups such as Hare Krishna and followers of the Indian spiritual leader Sai Baba are present in small numbers. Some indigenous religious groups, including the "Naurus" on Seram Island in Maluku Province, incorporate Hindu and animist beliefs, and many have also adopted some Protestant teachings."
  21. ^ Indonesia International Religious Freedom Report 2005 Archived 11 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine – US State Department, Quote: "The Hindu association Parishada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI) estimates that 18 million Hindus live in the country, a figure that far exceeds the government estimate of 4 million. Hindus account for almost 90 percent of the population in Bali."
  22. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld | 2010 Report on International Religious Freedom – Indonesia". United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  23. ^ "2014 Religious Landscape Study – Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life". 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  24. ^ Department of Census and Statistics,The Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka-2011 Archived 7 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Malaysia". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  27. ^ Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Numbers – Pew Research Center. 2012. ISBN 978-2-02-419434-7. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  28. ^ UK Government (27 March 2009). "Religion in England and Wales 2011". Office of National Statistics (11 December 2012). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  29. ^ "2011 National Household Survey". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 8 May 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  30. ^ "Australian Bureau of Statistics : 2021 Census of Population and Housing : General Community Profile" (XLSX). Abs.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  31. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  32. ^ "Resident population by religion and sex" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. p. 68. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  33. ^ "Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Numbers (2010)". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  34. ^ "Religions in Saudi Arabia". globalreligiousfutures.org. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  35. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  36. ^ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Singapore". 2001-2009.state.gov. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  37. ^ "Fiji". State.gov. 10 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 January 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  38. ^ "The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  39. ^ "The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census" (PDF). Department of Population, Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population, Myanmar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  40. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  41. ^ "Trinidad and Tobago". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  42. ^ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Trinidad and Tobago". 2001-2009.state.gov. Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  43. ^ "Religious Composition (Census of Guyana – 2012)". Bureau of Statistics – Guyana. July 2016. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  44. ^ "CIA – The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  45. ^ "Bhutan". State.gov. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  46. ^ "religion in Italy". globalreligiousfuture.org. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  47. ^ "hindus in the Netherlands". the hindu perspective. 23 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  48. ^ "religion in France". globalreligiousfuture.org. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  49. ^ "Arena – Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia". Sreda.org. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  50. ^ "The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. 22 September 2022. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  51. ^ "2018 Census totals by topic – national highlights". Archived from the original on 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  52. ^ Knott 1998, pp. 3, 5.
  53. ^ Hatcher 2015, pp. 4–5, 69–71, 150–152.
  54. ^ Bowker 2000.
  55. ^ Harvey 2001, p. xiii.
  56. ^ a b c d e "Chapter 1 Global Religious Populations" (PDF). January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2013.
  57. ^ Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-20778-3, pp. ix–xliii
  58. ^ RC Zaehner (1992), Hindu Scriptures, Penguin Random House, ISBN 978-0-679-41078-2, pp. 1–11 and Preface
  59. ^ Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3-447-02522-5
  60. ^ Moriz Winternitz (1996). A History of Indian Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. xv–xvi. ISBN 978-81-208-0264-3. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  61. ^ Gyanshruti, Srividyananda (2007). Yajna, a Comprehensive Survey. Yoga Publications Trust. p. 338. ISBN 978-81-86336-47-2.
  62. ^ Johnson, Todd M.; Grim, Brian J. (2013). The World's Religions in Figures: An Introduction to International Religious Demography (PDF). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  63. ^ Pandey, Anjali (2019). "Re-Englishing 'flat-world' fiction". World Englishes. 38 (1–2): 200–218. doi:10.1111/weng.12370. S2CID 199152662.
  64. ^ Zavos, John (April 2001). "Defending Hindu Tradition: Sanatana Dharma as a Symbol of Orthodoxy in Colonial India". Religion. 31 (2): 109–123. doi:10.1006/reli.2001.0322. ISSN 0048-721X.
  65. ^ Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, ISBN 978-1-84511-273-8, pp. 35–37
  66. ^ Lloyd Ridgeon (2003). Major World Religions: From Their Origins to the Present. Routledge. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-1-134-42935-6., Quote: "It is often said that Hinduism is very ancient, and in a sense this is true (...). It was formed by adding the English suffix -ism, of Greek origin, to the word Hindu, of Persian origin; it was about the same time that the word Hindu, without the suffix -ism, came to be used mainly as a religious term. (...) The name Hindu was first a geographical name, not a religious one, and it originated in the languages of Iran, not of India. (...) They referred to the non-Muslim majority, together with their culture, as 'Hindu'. (...) Since the people called Hindu differed from Muslims most notably in religion, the word came to have religious implications, and to denote a group of people who were identifiable by their Hindu religion. (...) However, it is a religious term that the word Hindu is now used in English, and Hinduism is the name of a religion, although, as we have seen, we should beware of any false impression of uniformity that this might give us."
  67. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference brian111 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  68. ^ Lorenzen 2006, pp. xx, 2, 13–26.
  69. ^ Mihir Bose (2006). The Magic of Indian Cricket: Cricket and Society in India. Routledge. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-1-134-24924-4.
  70. ^ "India". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  71. ^ Flood 1996, p. 6.
  72. ^ a b c Hawley, John Stratton; Narayanan, Vasudha (2006), The Life of Hinduism, University of California Press, pp. 10–11, ISBN 978-0-520-24914-1
  73. ^ a b c Lorenzen 2006, pp. 24–33
  74. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference pollockdevagiri was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  75. ^ Cite error: The named reference brajadulal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  76. ^ O'Connell, Joseph T. (July–September 1973). "The Word 'Hindu' in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Texts". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 93 (3): 340–344. doi:10.2307/599467. JSTOR 599467.
  77. ^ Lorenzen 2010, p. 29.
  78. ^ Lorenzen 2006, p. 15.
  79. ^ Cite error: The named reference rachel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  80. ^ Cite error: The named reference lipner17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  81. ^ Cite error: The named reference leslie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  82. ^ Sharma 2008, pp. 25–26.
  83. ^ Sridharan 2000, pp. 13–14.
  84. ^ Hindu Population projections Archived 29 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine Pew Research (2015), Washington DC
  85. ^ Rukmini S Vijaita Singh Muslim population growth slows Archived 10 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Hindu, 25 August 2015; 79.8% of more than 121 crore Indians (as per 2011 census) are Hindus
  86. ^ a b 10 Countries With the Largest Hindu Populations, 2010 and 2050 Archived 26 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Pew Research Center (2015), Washington DC


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).