Washington: New data released from the US census authority has found that Islam is the second largest religion in twenty American states after Christianity that appeared as the dominant faith across the country.
The new data was released by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, which conducts a US Religion Census every 10 years.
Islam came as the largest non-Christian faith in 20 states, mostly in the Midwest and South, a report by OnIslam.net said quoting a report published by Washington Post.
On the other hand, Judaism had the most followers in other 15 states, mostly in the Northeast while Hindus came in the second place only in Arizona and Delaware.
The census also found that Christianity is by far the largest religion in the United States with more than three-quarters of Americans identify as Christians.
A little more than half of US identify as Protestants, about 23 percent as Catholic and about 2 percent as Mormon.
Catholicism dominates the Northeast and the Southwest, and Southern Baptists have a strong foothold in the South.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dominates Utah and surrounding counties in Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Nevada.
Lutheranism has a strong following in Minnesota and the Dakotas, while Methodists make their presence felt in parts of West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
Earlier census published by ASARB found that on the national level, Islam grew by 1 million followers between 2000 and 2010, according to the census, behind Mormonism, which saw an increase of 1.9 million adherents.
Islam grew by 67 percent, whereas Mormonism grew by 46 percent.
The growth of Muslim population was attributed to immigration, especially among Somali, Iraqi, Afghani and Bosnian refugees, and to an increase in births and Muslim conversions.
Though there are no official estimates, the US is home to from 7-8 million Muslims.
According to a 2011 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, about 20 percent of US Muslims are converts to the faith. Of those converts, about 54 percent were men and 46 percent were women.
An earlier Gallup poll found that the majority of Americans Muslims are loyal to their country and optimistic about their future in the United States.
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