The Baháʼí Faith is a diverse and widespread religion founded by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century in Iran. Baháʼí sources usually estimate the worldwide Baháʼí population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Baháʼís in the world in the early 21st century. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Baháʼí population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity. See Baháʼí statistics.
United States
Modern community
In December 1999, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States stated that out of approximately 140,000 adult members on the rolls, only 70,000 had known addresses. The American Religious Identity Survey conducted in 2001, with a sample size of 50,000, estimated that there were 84,000 self-identifying adult Baháʼís in the United States. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were some 525,000 Baháʼís in 2005 however statistics in Feb 2011 show 175,000 excluding Alaska and Hawai'i. Although a majority of Americans are Christians, Baháʼís make up the second-largest religious group in South Carolina as of 2014. And based on data from 2010, Baháʼís were the largest minority religion in 80 counties out of the 3143 counties in the country. While early fictional works relating the religion occurred in Europe a number of them have appeared in the United States since the 1980s, sometimes in mass media - see Baháʼí Faith in fiction.
Canada
The Canada 2011 Census National Household Survey recorded 18,945 Baháʼís. The Canadian Baháʼí Community, according to its official website consists of some 30,000 members across approximately 1200 communities throughout the 13 Canadian Provinces and Territories. According to the same source, the Canadian community is quite diverse: "There are French-speaking and English-speaking Baháʼís, and more than 18% of Canadian Baháʼís come from First Nations and Inuit backgrounds; another 30% are recent immigrants or refugees." The Canadian community is one of the earliest western communities, at one point sharing a joint National Spiritual Assembly with the United States, and is a co-recipient of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan. The first North American woman to declare herself a Baháʼí was Mrs. Kate C. Ives, of Canadian ancestry, though not living in Canada at the time. Moojan Momen, in reviewing "The Origins of the Baháʼí Community of Canada, 1898–1948" notes that "the Magee family... are credited with bringing the Baháʼí Faith to Canada. Edith Magee became a Baháʼí in 1898 in Chicago and returned to her home in London, Ontario, where four other female members of her family became Baháʼís. This predominance of women converts became a feature of the Canadian Baháʼí community..." Statistics Canada reports 14,730 Baháʼís from 1991 census data and 18,020 in those of 2001. However the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated almost 46,600 Baháʼís in 2005. Some editions of the Canadian Baháʼí News are available.
Mexico
The Baháʼí Faith in Mexico begins with visits of Baháʼís before 1916. In 1919 letters from the head of the religion, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, were published mentioning Mexico as one of the places Baháʼís should take the religion to. Following further pioneers moving there and making contacts the first Mexican to join the religion was in 1937, followed quickly by the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly of all Latin America being elected in 1938. With continued growth the National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1961. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated almost 38,000 Baháʼís in 2005.
Central America
Belize
The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates there were 7,776 Baháʼís in Belize in 2005, or 2.5% of the national population. If correct, the Association of Religion Data Archives' estimates suggest this is the highest proportion of Baháʼís in any country. Their data also states that the Baháʼí Faith is the second most common religion in Belize, followed by Hinduism and Judaism. However the 2010 Belize Population Census recorded 202 Baháʼís out of a total population of 304,106, yielding a proportion of 0.066%, not 2.5%.
The history of the Baháʼí Faith in Panama begins with a mention by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in the book Tablets of the Divine Plan, published in 1919; the same year, Martha Root made a trip around South America and included Panama on the return leg of the trip up the west coast. The first pioneers began to settle in Panama in 1940. The first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly of Panama, in Panama City, was elected in 1946, and the National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1961. The Baháʼís of Panama raised a Baháʼí House of Worship in 1972. In 1983 and again in 1992, some commemorative stamps were produced in Panama while the community turned its interests to the San Miguelito and Chiriquí regions of Panama with schools and a radio station. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were some 41,000 Baháʼís in 2005 while another sources places it closer to 60,000.
