A wide variety of languages and cultures are represented among the nearly 26 million (mostly Sunni) Muslims throughout Western Europe. Some arrived recently as refugees, while others arrived generations ago. Half of them are under 30 years old. In recent years the Muslim population has grown in two ways: through a higher birth rate and through immigration.
There are nearly six million Muslims in France (9% of the population), five million in Germany (6%), about four million in the UK (6%), three million in Italy (5%), 1.2 million in Holland (7%) and just over one million in Spain (3%).
Muslims typically come to Europe seeking better education, employment, or asylum. Germany is home to the most refugees (1.4 million), followed by France (402,000) and Sweden (328,000).
Some Muslims struggle to assimilate into the culture because of their strong religious commitments and their tendency to live in their own isolated communities – sometimes for generations. These communities can become fertile soil for radicalization, especially when combined with high unemployment and low education rates. This, along with terror attacks in different European cities, has made many non-Muslims wary and sometimes slow to accept Muslims into their communities.