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No. Muslim countries have higher birth rate than India.

by dimmuborgir 16y ago

gaius 16y ago
If this is true, why the downvotes? If it's not, post some counter-evidence please.
- JoachimSchipper 16y ago
  The comment should arguably cite something, and the mention of "Muslim" suggests a less-than-neutral look at the data. Looking at both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_birth_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_de... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_fertility_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_de..., India is not near the top. The top isn't characterized by being muslim, either. [EDIT: was "Neither are "muslim" states, though - with the exception of Afghanistan, the top "scorers" are all African."]
  - gaius 16y ago
    "Muslim" and "African" are not mutually exclusive! Top of that list is Niger and Wikipaedia says: Islam, spread from North Africa beginning in the 10th century, has greatly shaped the mores of the people of Niger. Between 80 to more than 98% of the population is Muslim So dimmuborgir was quite correct.
    - JoachimSchipper 16y ago
      Further down the (fertility) list: Guinea-Bissau: 35% muslim; Afganistan >99% muslim; Burundi 10%; Liberia 12%; Dem. Rep. of Congo 5%; East Timor 1%; Mali 90%; Sierra Leone 77%; Uganda 12%. If you want to group these countries, "African" (plus Afghanistan) seems to work pretty well. "Muslim", much less so. That said, yes, contrasting "muslim" and African is nonsense; I edited my post to fix that.
    - notahacker 16y ago
      Azerbaijan (98% Muslim) is 149th in that list, well below India both in ranking and actual births. A casual glance down the list shows a large proportion of Muslim countries with lower birth and fertility rates than India. His statement is true in the same narrow sense as other nonsensical assertions like "No. Muslim countries have higher per capita incomes than the US" as a counterargument to suggestions the US might be doing rather well financially (without having as much oil per capita as Qatar and Bahrain). It's equally true to say "Christian countries have higher birth rate than India", but I'm guessing the original poster doesn't live in an environment where misleading negative stereotypes about Christians are commonplace. Insinuating that Islam had anything to do with higher fertility rates is the sort of intellectually dishonest chauvinism and religious stereotyping that HN readers should be above. Couple that with a denial that a birthrate of >3 children per woman in an developing country of over a billion people might present a major challenge and you have a comment thoroughly deserving of downvotes.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

No. Muslim countries have higher birth rate than India.

gaius 16y ago

If this is true, why the downvotes? If it's not, post some counter-evidence please.

JoachimSchipper 16y ago
The comment should arguably cite something, and the mention of "Muslim" suggests a less-than-neutral look at the data. Looking at both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_birth_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_de... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_fertility_rate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_de..., India is not near the top. The top isn't characterized by being muslim, either. [EDIT: was "Neither are "muslim" states, though - with the exception of Afghanistan, the top "scorers" are all African."]
- gaius 16y ago
  "Muslim" and "African" are not mutually exclusive! Top of that list is Niger and Wikipaedia says: Islam, spread from North Africa beginning in the 10th century, has greatly shaped the mores of the people of Niger. Between 80 to more than 98% of the population is Muslim So dimmuborgir was quite correct.
  - JoachimSchipper 16y ago
    Further down the (fertility) list: Guinea-Bissau: 35% muslim; Afganistan >99% muslim; Burundi 10%; Liberia 12%; Dem. Rep. of Congo 5%; East Timor 1%; Mali 90%; Sierra Leone 77%; Uganda 12%. If you want to group these countries, "African" (plus Afghanistan) seems to work pretty well. "Muslim", much less so. That said, yes, contrasting "muslim" and African is nonsense; I edited my post to fix that.
  - notahacker 16y ago
    Azerbaijan (98% Muslim) is 149th in that list, well below India both in ranking and actual births. A casual glance down the list shows a large proportion of Muslim countries with lower birth and fertility rates than India. His statement is true in the same narrow sense as other nonsensical assertions like "No. Muslim countries have higher per capita incomes than the US" as a counterargument to suggestions the US might be doing rather well financially (without having as much oil per capita as Qatar and Bahrain). It's equally true to say "Christian countries have higher birth rate than India", but I'm guessing the original poster doesn't live in an environment where misleading negative stereotypes about Christians are commonplace. Insinuating that Islam had anything to do with higher fertility rates is the sort of intellectually dishonest chauvinism and religious stereotyping that HN readers should be above. Couple that with a denial that a birthrate of >3 children per woman in an developing country of over a billion people might present a major challenge and you have a comment thoroughly deserving of downvotes.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]