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Buddhist Population in India

According to the census of India 2011, the Buddhist population in India is around 8.4 million which is around 0.7% of the total population, which makes Buddhism a minority religion in India. The majority of Buddhists in India are concentrated in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland, as well as in Maharashtra, West Bengal, and the union territory of Ladakh. The Buddhism in India has a long history, it was brought to India by Emperor Ashoka in 3rd century BC . And it's believed that the Buddhism reached its peak in India during the reign of Ashoka and his son, but it's been declining in India since 12th century AD and it's been replaced by Hinduism and Islam.


State Total Population Buddhist Population Buddhist % Significance
Sikkim 610,577 167,216 27.39 % Significant
Arunachal Pradesh 1,383,727 162,815 11.77 % Significant
Mizoram 1,097,206 93,411 8.51 % Significant
Maharashtra 112,374,333 6,531,200 5.81 % Significant
Tripura 3,673,917 125,385 3.41 % Minority
Himachal Pradesh 6,864,602 78,659 1.15 % Negligible
Jammu and Kashmir 12,541,302 112,584 0.90 % Negligible
Nagaland 1,978,502 6,759 0.34 % Negligible
Meghalaya 2,966,889 9,864 0.33 % Negligible
West Bengal 91,276,115 282,898 0.31 % Negligible
Madhya Pradesh 72,626,809 216,052 0.30 % Negligible
Chhattisgarh 25,545,198 70,467 0.28 % Negligible
Manipur 2,855,794 7,084 0.25 % Negligible
Assam 31,205,576 54,993 0.18 % Negligible
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 343,709 634 0.18 % Negligible
Karnataka 61,095,297 95,710 0.16 % Negligible
Uttarakhand 10,086,292 14,926 0.15 % Negligible
Punjab 27,743,338 33,237 0.12 % Negligible
Delhi 16,787,941 18,449 0.11 % Negligible
Chandigarh 1,055,450 1,160 0.11 % Negligible
Uttar Pradesh 199,812,341 206,285 0.10 % Negligible
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 380,581 338 0.09 % Negligible
Daman and Diu 243,247 217 0.09 % Negligible
Goa 1,458,545 1,095 0.08 % Negligible
Gujarat 60,439,692 30,483 0.05 % Negligible
Andhra Pradesh 84,580,777 36,692 0.04 % Negligible
Puducherry 1,247,953 451 0.04 % Negligible
Orissa 41,974,218 13,852 0.03 % Negligible
Jharkhand 32,988,134 8,956 0.03 % Negligible
Haryana 25,351,462 7,514 0.03 % Negligible
Bihar 104,099,452 25,453 0.02 % Negligible
Tamil Nadu 72,147,030 11,186 0.02 % Negligible
Rajasthan 68,548,437 12,185 0.02 % Negligible
Lakshadweep 64,473 10 0.02 % Negligible
Kerala 33,406,061 4,752 0.01 % Negligible