Islam in Europe

Islam is the second-largest religion in Europe after Christianity.[2] Although the majority of Muslim communities in Western Europe formed recently,[3] there are centuries-old Muslim societies in the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and Volga region.[4][5][6][7] The term "Muslim Europe" is used to refer to the Muslim-majority countries in the Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Turkey)[8] and parts of countries in Eastern Europe with sizable Muslim minorities (Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia,[9] and some republics of Russia) that constitute large populations of native European Muslims,[4][5][6][8] although the majority are secular.[4][5][8]

Islam expanded into the Caucasus through the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century and entered Southern Europe through the expansion after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th–10th centuries; Muslim political entities existed firmly in what is today Spain, Portugal, Sicily, and Malta during the Middle Ages.[10] The Muslim populations in these territories were either converted to Christianity or expelled by the end of the 15th century by the Christian rulers (see Reconquista).[10] The Ottoman Empire further expanded into Southeastern Europe and consolidated its political power by invading and conquering huge portions of the Serbian Empire, Bulgarian Empire, and all the remaining territories of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries.[10] Over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire gradually lost almost all of its European territories, until it was defeated and eventually collapsed in 1922. Islam spread in Eastern Europe via the conversion of the Volga Bulgars, Cuman-Kipchaks, and later the Golden Horde and its successor khanates, with its various Muslim populations called "Tatars" by the Russians. Historically significant Muslim populations in Europe include the Gorani, Torbeshi, Pomaks, Bosniaks, Muslim Albanians, Cham Albanians, Greek Muslims, Vallahades, Muslim Romani people, Balkan Turks, Turkish Cypriots, Cretan Turks, Yörüks, Volga Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Kazakhs, Gajals, and Megleno-Romanians.[7][11]

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, large numbers of Muslims immigrated to Western Europe.[3] By 2010, an estimated 44 million Muslims were living in Europe (6%), including an estimated 19 million in the EU (3.8%).[12] They are projected to compose 8% or 58 million by 2030.[12] They are often the subject of intense discussion and political controversies sparked by events such as Islamic terrorist attacks in European countries,[13][14] The Satanic Verses controversy,[15] the cartoons affair in Denmark,[13] debates over Islamic dress,[15] and growing support for right-wing populist movements and parties that view Muslims as a threat to European culture and liberal values.[14][15] Such events have also fueled ongoing debates regarding the topics of globalization, multiculturalism, Islamophobia, relations between Muslims and other religious groups, and populist politics.[14][15][16]