Islam in Oceania
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Islam in Oceania refers to Islam and Muslims in Oceania. Some countries in Oceania, notable Australia, have Islam as their third largest religion, after Christianity and Buddhism. By current estimates, there are 600,000 Muslims in Oceania [1]
[edit] History
Islam has been in some parts of Oceania for at least 400 hundred years (since the 1600s). When the people of Papua New Guinea and West Papua traded with China and the Malay empire, in the early 1600s, the presence of Islam was felt in Oceania for the first time [2].
Other parts of Oceania hadn't felt the presence of Islam until the 1800s. The first Muslims in Fiji, for example, came when Muslim migrants came on a ship bringing indentured labourers to Fiji in 1879. The first such ship, Leonidas, had 22% of the boarders Muslims. In the next 40 years, a total of 60,553 labourers were brought to Fiji from India under the Indenture system.
[edit] Today
Today, Islam has a strong presence in Oceania. For instance, new arrivals at the Auckland Airport can sight the new South Auckland mosque as they travel to the center of the city. The presence of Islam has grown in Oceania, with immigration and
[edit] References
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Australia · Norfolk Island · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
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East Timor · Fiji · New Caledonia · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Vanuatu |
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Guam · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Northern Mariana Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · Palau |
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American Samoa · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · New Zealand · Niue · Pitcairn · Samoa · Tokelau · Tonga · Tuvalu · Wallis and Futuna |
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