Bahá’í World/Volume 26/Statistics

Bahá’í World/Volume 26 Statistics

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[Page 279]

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	175
Local Spiritual Assemblies	13,232
Localities where Bahá’ís reside	131,933
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	31

[Page 280]

Geographic distribution of Local Spiritual Assemblies by continent

Europe 958 Australasia 804 Asia 3,897 Americas 3,520 Africa 4,053

Growth in the number of localities where Bahá’ís reside

140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0

1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 [Page 281]Growth in the number of National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies

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 1997–98 there were some 1,460 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 282]

Sustained Projects

The second category of Bahá’í social and economic development consists of approximately 300 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 33 such organizations, which are located in all continents of the globe.