Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Countries with the Most Latter-day Saints without a Stake or District

I recently updated the list of countries with the most members without a stake and I also wanted to update the list of countries with the most members without a stake or district.  The 2011 list for these countries can be found here.

A district resembles a stake in that it is an administrative organization that includes congregations.  However, a district can only include branches and does not have as much autonomy as a stake.  For example, a mission president conducts temple recommend interviews and most priesthood matters defer to the mission president.  A district is an important preparatory step toward the Church become self-sufficient in an area.  Many countries currently without their own stake or district have few available local priesthood holders due to low member activity rates or recent converts comprising the bulk of nominal church membership.

Each country and territory is provided with the number of members, number of branches, and current, if any, affiliation with another stake or district.  Countries in green appear likely to have their first districts/stakes created in the near future, countries in yellow generally have a large number of recent converts and few active priesthood holders to hold leadership positions but high likelihood to have districts organized in the coming years, countries in red have member activity issues that prevent the creation of a district in the foreseeable future, countries in blue pertain to other stakes or districts and do not appear likely to become their own districts due to reasonably close proximity to their current stake or district headquarters, and countries in dark blue have a poor likelihood of the organization of their first district due to few members spread over large geographic areas.

  1. Bulgaria - 2,251 members - 10 branches
  2. Botswana - 1,693 members - 3 wards, 5 branches, 3 groups? - some units part of Roodepoort South Africa Stake
  3. Macau - 1,308 members - 2 branches
  4. Bahamas - 954 members - 2 branches, 1 group?
  5. Lesotho - 796 members - 2 branches, 1 group - part of the Bloemfontein South Africa District
  6. Northern Mariana Islands - 753 members - 1 branch - part of the Barrigada Guam Stake
  7. Greece - 740 members - 3 branches, 2 groups?
  8. Benin - 676 members - 5 branches, 1 group
  9. Namibia - 674 members - 2 branches
  10. US Virgin Islands - 570 members - 2 branches
  11. Curacao - 568 members - 1 branch
  12. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 508 members - 2 branches
  13. Aruba - 506 members - 2 branches
  14. Palau - 433 members - 1 branch
  15. Mauritius - 418 members - 2 branches
  16. Central African Republic - 406 members - 1 branch
  17. French Guiana - 362 members - 1 branch, 1 group?
  18. Luxembourg - 312 members - 1 ward - part of the Nancy France Stake
  19. Jersey - 299 members - 1 ward - part of the Poole England Stake
  20. Turkey - 293 members - 4 branches
  21. Isle of Man - 291 members - 1 ward - part of the Liverpool England Stake
  22. Grenada - 279 members - 1 branch
  23. Niue - 275 members - 2 branches
  24. Iceland - 257 members - 2 branches
  25. Saint Lucia - 249 members - 2 branches
  26. Saint Maarten/Saint Martin - 213 members - 1 branch
  27. Saint Kitts and Nevis - 206 members - 1 branch
  28. Georgia - 204 members - 1 branch
  29. Slovakia - 203 members - 4 branches, 2 groups - part of the Brno Czech Republic District
  30. Antigua and Barbuda - 200 members - 1 branch

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