2014/11/26 by Peter Smith · 3 citations
Mathematics · Social Sciences · #African history and culture analysis #Demography #Distribution (mathematics) #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Faith #Geography #History #Islamic Studies and History #Mathematics #Philosophy #Sociology #Statistics #Theology
paper · doi:10.1111/1467-9809.12207
openalex publication_date 2014/11/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
A survey of B aha'i global distribution statistics from the time of their first appearance in 1925 up to 1949. No official data for actual B aha'i populations was published at that time, and we have to rely on lists of local B aha'i councils (“spiritual assemblies”) and of places where B aha'is resided to get some sense of B aha'i distribution dynamics. Even this limited data enable us to describe a pattern of overall growth, from a presence in twenty‐nine countries and territories in 1925 to ninety‐two in 1949, from at least 573 localities worldwide in which B aha'is resided in 1928 to 2,315 by 1949, and 102 local spiritual assemblies in 1928 to 595 in 1949. Regional differences in distribution are discussed. The data shows a significant increase in distribution during this period but there is no evidence for any major corresponding increase in B aha'i numbers, such as began to occur from the mid‐1950s onwards.