Top 10 countries with the most members without stakes

Below is a list of the nations with the most LDS members which do not have a stake organized in them yet.

1. Russia - 19,180 members, 15 mission districts, 121 branches
2. Cambodia - 7,874 members, 4 mission districts, 20 branches
3. Mongolia - 7,306 members, 2 mission districts, 20 branches
4. Sierra Leone - 6,938 members, 2 mission districts, 17 branches
5. Cape Verde - 6,501 members, 3 mission districts, 18 branches
6. India - 6,454 members, 3 mission districts, 26 branches
7. Indonesia - 6,144 members, 3 mission districts, 24 branches
8. Jamaica - 5,768 members, 4 mission districts, 21 branches
9. Liberia - 4,522 members, 2 mission districts, 9 branches
10. Marshall Islands - 4,439 members, 2 mission districts, 11 branches

Several of these nations are very close to having stakes organized in them. There has been talk of the first stake in Russia to be organized in St. Petersburg sometime soon. The Moscow Russia District could have become a stake last year, but was split into two districts to try to increase convert baptisms and retention. The LDS Church News reported that the Bo Sierra Leone District is preparing to become a stake as well as the Majuro District in the Marshall Islands. The Bangalore India District's goal to become a stake was commented on in a article on at http://www.lds.or.in/ when the KFG branch was organized earilier this year. The first stake was almost organized in Jamaica a few years ago, but was not due to a lack in priesthood holders.

It has been difficult to establish stakes in Russia due to membership spread accross such a large area as well as inactivity. Cambodia and Mongolia are two nations which 10 years ago both had less than a 1,000 members and have experienced rapid growth. Cambodia's growth has slowed recented, probably due to an emphasis on reactivation. Although most Mongolian members reside in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, 70% of the members are single, which indicates the young age of most of the members in that country. This has also prolonged the time for the first stake to be established in that country. Liberia had its first stake established back in 2000, but was dissolved earlier this year for reasons I am not quite sure. However, it coincided with the organization with the first mission in Sierra Leone which administers to Liberia and is probably related. Sometimes this occurs in preparation to make two stakes in the future (as was the case in Tuxtla Gutierrez which dissolved a stake there back in 2005 and ealier this year two stakes were organized in the region).

There are other countries with a smaller LDS membership which are also close to having a stake established in their country. The countries which fit this criteria also tend to have membershp focused to one or a couple cities and also have high growth rates. Examples of these kind of countries include Armenia and Uganda.