first european muslim state?

Turkey, of course, is already a Muslim state and Turkey is at least partly in Europe. It has applied for EU membership. But that's not exactly what you mean, is it?

Well, the UK (2.5%) and The Netherlans (5.4%) don't really have a population - and more important: immigrant laws - which seems to look like as if the could become a muslim country.

Nor does any other of the actual EU countries.

The closest really is Turkey.

Other European countries (outsite the EU) with a great Muslim population are, btw, Bulgaria (11%), Russia and [The former Yugoslavian Republic] Serbia & Montenegro (19% each), Macedonia (30%), Albania (70%) ...

costa blanca is very interested in football hooligan gangs in Europe - I hope he is not a fascist.

why ,do you believe football hooligan gangs are facists?

No, they are not fascists. They are usually transcendental Buddhists, who devote their lives to peace, tranquility and the discovery of self awareness.
They also sweep small brushes in front of them as they walk, in order to avoid hurting even the smallest of creatures.

I just believe that they get bad press every time a bar is wrecked somewhere. Very unfair.

Spain. The Muslim Caliphate lasted from the 8th to the 11th Centuries, longer than any of the 'Holy Roman Empires' (that weren't either 'holy', 'Roman' or 'empires'). It was actually one of the safest times to be a Spaniard in modern history......

Right-o. And it was the one time in history that the Muslims and the Jews got along famously. Both were persecuted in the Christian portion of Spain where Torquemada's auto-da-fés blazed. Until 1492, that is, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella kicked them both out.

Albania is a muslim state also. But religion is not something so important there.

Well, the first european state to become a muslim state will probably be Russia, because of the gap between Christian populations' démography and Muslim Populations' demography.

In fact, between now and 2030-2040, Europe could become a mostly Islamic continent.

Bienvenue a A2K jpfoegle! I find your chart very interesting. I was in France a few months a go for about five months, and I certainly met a lot of North African Muslims while I was there. So I can definately see how this could be. The question is, are immigration laws going to change?

Thanks for your welcome, daniellejean.



In fact there is now a debate in France and Europe about this question, since the death of 14 african immigrants this last months, in Melilia and Sebta
EU' commission is thinking about enforcing security in Europe's borders with Africa. Let's see what will happen then...

In France, some politicians of the right-wing think about setting immigration's quotas , whereas the nationalists want to stop all kind of immigration.

So the evolution of immigration policies will be determined by the result of the next presidential elections, but in fact immigration laws probably won't change in a foreseeable future

You must not assume that all French people of North African origin are muslims! This can be a foolish mistake. many are atheists, Jews, Druze, Christian, etc.

I was in Perpignan, SW France a couple of weeks ago, and the Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, visited the town. He upset a lot of people when he made a reference to the "mussulman" (muslim) population of the town. The reason for the upset was that most North African people in Perpignan are atheists. Many were Algerian Communist Party members who came over in the late 1940s. Out of a Maghrebin (the word he probably meant to use) population of about 10,000, it is estimated that maybe 150 are practising muslims.

Are some people on here assuming that all people of middle eastern appearance are Muslims? Racist steretyping is not far away if such attitudes are evident, in my opinion.

BM

Dutch virtue of tolerance under strain
Immigration, once a subject of debate in the Netherlands, is now more a matter of survival.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/16/news/islam1.php

We are discussing the political situation in The Netherlnads already on this thread for quite some time.

Of course, you can start a new discussion here as well, au.

Walter
. Sorry I missed it. However, it is I suppose relevant to this discussion and worth mentioning.

Well, I sincerely doubt that The Netherlands will become the first European Muslim country or even only a predominantly Muslim one.

It may be increasing due to the influx of people who describe themselves as Muslim, but what their children end up becoming is another thing altogether. The British send boatloads of Poms to India for centuries and it didn't result in India becoming Christian or all those Brits becoming Hindus.

I was not assuming all North Africans were Muslims. I am just saying that all the North Africans that I met were - and they were outstanding people with a lot of interesting perspective.