History of Islam in Russia
Islam is the second most common religion in Russia. The Muslim population of Russia (more than 10% of the population) include Tatars, Bashkir, Chuvash and others. They live in the Volga and Ural regions, in several regions of Siberia and European part of Russia and are the Sunnis of caliphate wing. Another layer of Muslims of Russia is made up of the peoples of the North Caucasus.
In Russian lands the followers of Islam appeared in the 7th – 8th centuries during the expansion of the Arab caliphate. From the lands of Northern Caucasus Islam spread to the Volga River becoming the state religion of the Golden Horde, Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and later - peoples of Siberia and the Urals. In Russian Empire, Kazan was the center of Islam.
In 2003 Russia had 3,467 Muslim organizations, about 5 thousand communities in the North Caucasus, in Dagestan, Orenburg, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Ulyanovsk.
