Bahá’í World/Volume 25/Statistics

Bahá’í World/Volume 25 Statistics

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[Page 313]

STATISTICS

General Statistics

Worldwide Bahá’í population More than 5 million

Countries/dependent territories where the Bahá’í Faith is established 190 countries/ 45 territories

Continental Counsellors 81

Auxiliary Board members serving throughout the world 990

National/Regional Spiritual Assemblies 174

Local Spiritual Assemblies 15,798

Localities where Bahá’ís reside 126,904

Tribes, races and ethnic groups represented in the Bahá’í community 2,112

Languages into which Bahá’u’lláh’s writings have been translated 802

Bahá’í Publishing Trusts 30 [Page 314]

Geographic distribution of Local Spiritual Assemblies by continent

Africa 4,309 Europe 998 Australasia 952 Asia 5,489 Americas 4,050

Growth in the number of localities where Bahá’ís reside

120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0

1954 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 [Page 315]

Social and Economic Development

Bahá’í development activities are initiated either by Bahá’í administrative institutions or by individuals or groups. Together, these activities contribute to a global process of learning about a Bahá’í approach to social and economic development. They presently fall into three general categories.

Activities of Fixed Duration

Most Bahá’í social and economic development efforts are fairly simple activities of fixed duration in which Bahá’ís in villages and towns around the world address the problems and challenges faced by their localities through the application of spiritual principles. These activities either originate in the Bahá’í communities themselves or are a response to the invitation of other organizations. It is estimated that in 1996–97 there were some 1,450 endeavors of this kind, including tree-planting and clean-up projects, health camps, workshops and seminars on such themes as race unity and the advancement of women, and short-term training courses. [Page 316]

Sustained Projects

The second category of Bahá’í social and economic development consists of approximately 225 ongoing projects. The vast majority are academic schools, while others focus on areas such as literacy, basic health care, immunization, substance abuse, child care, agriculture, the environment, or microenterprise. Some of these projects are administered by nascent development organizations which have the potential to grow in complexity and in their range of influence.

Organizations with Capacity to Undertake Complex Action

Certain Bahá’í development efforts have achieved the stature of development organizations with relatively complex programmatic structures and significant spheres of influence. They systematically train human resources and manage a number of lines of action to address problems of local communities and regions in a coordinated, interdisciplinary manner. Also included in this category are several institutions—especially large schools—which, although focusing only on one field, have the potential to make a significant impact. In this category there are currently 31 such organizations, which are located in all continents of the globe.