Statistics on National Spiritual Assemblies

Statistics on National Spiritual Assemblies (NSAs) refers to the number of National Spiritual Assemblies, which are approximately national levels of institutional administration of the Bahá’í Faith, in the world. NSAs exist in most member states of the United Nations (UN) but also in some nations that are not recognized by the UN. Generally there are two levels of legal status of a National Spiritual Assembly - when it is established and recognized by the administrative order of the Bahá’í Faith, and second when it attains or loses a legal recognized status in the country wherein it is established. This fluctuation of legal status is notable mostly in Muslim countries that used to have NSAs in the 1920s to 40s but have lost them since the 1950s due to restrictions on religious activity other than Islam, Christianity and Judaism (see Persecution of Bahá’ís). Additionally some NSAs come into existence due to the splitting off from a National Assembly that has multi-national jurisdiction from a Bahá’í point of view. For example, originally the National Spiritual Assemblies of the United States and Canada, were in fact a single institution though now are separate. Multi-national NSAs are sometimes referred to as Regional Spiritual Assemblies (RSAs). Other times NSAs come into existence when the nation they were established in has itself split into separate nations (for example when the Soviet Union split into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan)

A reduction in the number of NSAs can have several causes, including: governmental prohibition of Bahá'í administrative activities (Egypt, Iran, etc.); conditions within a country, such as war or civil unrest, making it impossible for an NSA to meet or be elected for a certain period of time (Uganda, Zaire, etc.); or political changes at the national level (NSAs for Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei being "reabsorbed" into South Africa in the 1990s). The number of NSAs can also occasionally be reduced when the House of Justice reorganizes multi-national RSAs.

There are no rules about when a National Spiritual Assembly can be established in a country by the Baha'is, but generally speaking it is a statement of the complexity of the community - that there are enough Bahá’ís in the country, enough Local Spiritual Assemblies, a need for the Bahá’ís in the country to own properties beyond the jurisdiction of any particular Local Spiritual Assembly, and that a National Assembly with jurisdiction across the whole country from a Bahá’í organizational point of view is required.

Number of NSAs

Years	Africa	Americas	Asia	Australasia	Europe	TOTAL
1922	0	0	0	0	0	0
1923	0	0	1	0	2	3
1924	1	0	1	0	2	4
1925-30	1	1	3	0	2	7
1931-33	1	1	4	0	2	8
1934-36	1	1	5	1	2	10
1937-38	1	1	5	1	1	9
1939-46	1	1	3	1	1	7
1947	1	1	3	1	2	8
1948-50	1	2	3	1	2	9
1951-52	1	4	3	1	2	11
1953-55	1	4	3	1	3	12
1956	4	4	3	1	3	15
1957	4	7	7	2	6	26
1958	4	7	7	2	7	27
1959-60	4	7	9	3	8	31
1961	4	24	9	3	8	48
1962-63	4	24	10	3	15	56
1964-65	10	24	15	5	15	69
1966	10	24	16	5	15	70
1967-68	14	26	20	6	15	81
1969	14	26	20	7	15	82
1970	21	27	21	9	15	93
1971	26	28	21	10	15	100
1972	30	30	25	11	17	113
1973-74	31	30	25	11	17	114
1975	35	30	25	11	17	118
1976	34	30	24	11	17	116
1977	35	32	25	13	18	123
1978	37	33	27	14	19	130
1979	34	33	25	14	19	125
1980	35	33	25	14	19	126
1981	37	36	25	15	19	132
1982	37	36	26	15	19	133
1983	37	38	26	15	19	135
1984	40	41	27	15	20	143
1985-87	43	41	27	17	20	148
1988	44	41	27	17	20	149
1989-90	45	41	28	17	20	151
1991	44	42	28	17	23	154
1992-93	47	43	29	17	29	165
1994	47	43	35	17	30	172
1995	44	43	37	17	32	173
1996	44	43	36	17	34	174
1997	45	43	36	17	34	175
1998	46	43	38	17	35	179
1999	46	43	38	17	37	181
2000-03	46	43	39	17	37	182
2004	46	43	40	17	37	183
2005	46	41	39	17	37	180
2006	46	40	39	17	37	179
2007	46	40	39	16	37	178
2008	46	40	40	16	37	179
2009	46	40	41	16	37	180
2010	46	40	44	16	35	181
2011	47	40	44	16	35	182
2012	46	40	44	16	35	181

Since 1996, Turkey is included in the number for Europe instead of Asia.

Since 2006, Greenland is included in the number for Europe instead of the Americas.

As of 2010, Turkey and the Russian Federation are included in the number for Asia instead of Europe.

Chronology

Below are dates of the establishment and recognition of National Spiritual Assemblies. Other than in predominantly Muslim counties, countries where there are no NSAs include most where most any religious institution is illegal such as in North Korea. In 2012 there were 181 National Spiritual Assemblies and in 2006, there are 192 United Nations member states. Most of the below list comes from The Bahá'í Faith: 1844-1963: Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963, as well as various Ridvan Letters published by the House of Justice and relevant volumes of The Bahá'í World. This is list is not 100% complete because information regarding the regrouping of various multi-national NSAs is not generally available.

1923: British Isles; Germany and Austria; India and Burma

1924: Egypt and Sudan

1925: Caucasus; Turkistan; United States of America and Canada

1931: Iraq

1934: Australia and New Zealand; Persia

1947: Germany and Austria (reformed)

1948: Canada

1951: Central America and the Antilles; South America

1953: Italy and Switzerland

1956: Central and East Africa; North East Africa (Egypt-Ethiopia); North West Africa (Tunisia-Morocco); South and West Africa

1957: Alaska; Arabian Peninsula; Benelux Countries; Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela; Central America; Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia; Greater Antilles; Iberian Peninsula; New Zealand; North East Asia; Pakistan; Scandinavia and Finland; South East Asia (Indonesia-Vietnam)

1958: France

1959: Austria; Burma (Myanmar); Germany; India; Pakistan; South Pacific Islands; Turkey

1961: Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; El Salvador; Guatemala; Haiti; Honduras; Jamaica; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Uruguay; Venezuela

1962: Belgium; Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Denmark; Finland; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland

1964: Hawaiian Islands; Indian Ocean (Mauritius); Indonesia; Kenya; Korea; Malaysia and Brunei; Philippines; South Central Africa (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe); South Pacific Ocean (Fiji); South West Pacific Ocean (Solomon Islands); Tanzania; Thailand; Uganda and Central Africa; Vietnam; West Africa (Liberia); West Central Africa (Cameroon)

1966: Brunei

1967: Belize; Cameroon Republic; Central Arabia; Eastern and Southern Arabia; Gilbert and Ellice Islands (Kiribati); Laos; Leeward, Windward, and Virgin Islands; North Africa (Algeria); Sikkim; Swaziland, Lesotho, and Mozambique; Taiwan; West Central Africa (Nigeria); Zambia

1969: Rwanda and Burundi; Papua New Guinea

1970: Botswana; Central Africa; Congo (Zaïre); Dahomey, Togo, and Niger; Fiji; Ghana; Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana; Malawi; Near East (Lebanon); Nigeria; Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); Samoa; Tonga and the Cook Islands; Uganda; Upper West Africa

1971: Chad; Congo (Rep.) and Gabon; Ivory Coast, Mali, and Upper Volta; Lesotho; Solomon Islands; South West Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia); Sudan; Trinidad and Tobago

1972: Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Barbados and the Windward Islands; Congo (Rep.); Eastern Arabia; Eastern Malaysia and Brunei; Iceland; Ireland; Kuwait; Leeward and Virgin Islands; Madagascar; Mauritius; Nepal; North West Pacific Ocean; Puerto Rico; Reunion; Rwanda; Seychelles; Singapore; Tunisia

1973: Equatorial Guinea

1974: Hong Kong; South East Arabia

1975 Dahomey (Benin); Gambia; Jordan; Liberia and Guinea; Niger; Sierra Leone; Togo; Upper West Africa (Senegal)

1977: French Antilles; Greece; Guyana; Ivory Coast and Mali; Marshall Islands; New Hebrides (Vanuatu); Surinam and French Guiana; Swaziland; Upper Volta (Burkina Faso)

1978: Bahamas; Burundi; Caroline Islands; Cyprus; Mariana Islands; Mauritania; Oman; Qatar

1980: Transkei

1981: Barbados; Bermuda; Bophuthatswana; Leeward Islands; Namibia; Tuvalu; Uganda (reformed); Virgin Islands; Windward Islands

1982: Liberia; Nepal (reformed)

1983: Dominica; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and Grenada

1984: Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Canary Islands; Cape Verde Islands; Equatorial Guinea (reformed); French Guiana; Gabon; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Martinique; Yemen

1985: Ciskei; Cook Islands; Eastern Caroline Islands; Mali; Mozambique; Western Caroline Islands

1988: Guinea; Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)

1989: Guinea-Bissau; Macau

1991: Czechoslovakia; East Leeward Islands; Romania; Soviet Union; West Leeward Islands

1992: Albania; Angola; Azerbaijan; Baltic States; Bulgaria; Central Asia; Congo Republic (reformed); Greenland; Hungary; Niger (reformed); Poland; Russia, Georgia and Armenia; Ukraine, Bielarus and Moldova (as many new NSAs came into existence in this one year as all the NSAs that existed in 1953.)

1994: Cambodia; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Mongolia; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; Slovenia and Croatia

1995: Armenia; Belarus; Eritrea; Georgia; Russian Federation; Sicily; Ukraine and Moldova

1996: Moldova; São Tome and Principe

1997: Rwanda (reformed)

1998: Czech Republic; Liberia (reformed); Sabah; Sarawak; Slovakia

1999: Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania

2000: Indonesia (reformed)

2004: Iraq (reformed)

2008: Vietnam (reformed)

2011: Burundi (reformed)

2021: Croatia; São Tome and Principe (reformed); Timor-Leste

See also

• National Spiritual Assembly
• Administration

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Statistics on National Spiritual Assemblies.