I have just completed a project for The Cumorah Foundation mapping over 500 metropolitan areas worldwide with one million or more inhabitants and the status of LDS outreach in each location. Please see below for all of these maps. The purpose of this project was to emphasize the importance of reaching these major population centers and how LDS growth has significantly varied from major metropolitan area to major metropolitan area. In addition to detailed LDS statistics, each city has a brief analysis of successes, opportunities, and challenges for growth.
North America
View Major Metropolitan Areas in North America in a larger map
Latin America and the Caribbean
View Major Metropolitan Areas in Latin America and the Caribbean in a larger map
Oceania
View Major Metropolitan Areas in Oceania in a larger map
Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia
View Major Metropolitan Areas in Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia in a larger map
East Asia (Excluding China)
View Major Metropolitan Areas in East Asia (Excluding China) in a larger map
China
View Major Metropolitan Areas in China in a larger map
South Asia and Southeast Asia
View Major Metropolitan Areas in South Asia and Southeast Asia in a larger map
Middle East and North Africa
View Major Metropolitan Areas in the Middle East and North Africa in a larger map
Sub-Saharan Africa
View Major Metropolitan Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa in a larger map
These are so neat! It makes me wonder why we haven't put more resources into India.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the exact standards for blue vs. green? I see the key that says that blue means "no LDS presence in the country" and green means "no LDS presence in the metropolitan area but elsewhere in the country". Is that strictly for native LDS units, not counting expat situations, such as in China? I'm just confused, because it looks like Baghdad has a unit but the other Iraqi locations are blue. Is it because it's only military units? How does that play into the coloring of Chinese cities that may have expat units but not native ones (or vice-verse)?
The main reason we haven't put more resources into India is that only missionaries of Indian descent are permitted to serve there. There are also religious freedom and/or safety concerns in some areas.
ReplyDeleteIs the restriction on Indian-only missionaries new? I had a very white friend (last name: Erikson, so, yeah) who served in India. It was a few years ago, but he's probably in his mid-twenties now.
ReplyDeleteVery insightful, thanks Matt. I always gravitate to anything on your blog about Sweden. Your analysis of Stockholm is very accurate. Another factor that has caused some "wheat & tares" sifting in Stockholm has been the recent apostasy of former general authority, Hans Mattson (a former Seventy, and a former Stake President of the Stockholm Stake), and his recent very outspoken criticism of Church history. While many members have had to re-evaluate their own testimonies, which is probably a good thing, it has caused some slowing down of local growth as well. The Church will always survive apostasy, but it can certainly hurt in the short-term.
ReplyDeleteThe Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission Branch, Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission, was created on 25 June. There are now 5 independent branches in the mission:
ReplyDeleteYamoussoukro Cote d'Ivoire District
Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission Branch
Divo Branch
Konankro Branch
Meagui 1st Branch
Plateau Branch
The Cotorro Branch, Caribbean Area, was created on 15 June, in Cotorro, Cuba.
The Republic of Congo Brazzaville Mission Branch, Republic of Congo Brazzaville Mission, was created on 25 June. There are now 8 independent branches in the mission:
Yaounde Cameroon District
Aeroport Branch
Bangui Branch
Bonaberri Branch
Douala Branch
Libreville Branch
Mpaka Branch
Pointe-Noire Branch
Republic of Congo Brazzaville Mission Branch
The Bangkok Thailand West District, Thailand Bangkok Mission, was created on 15 June. There are 2 branches in the district:
Asoke Branch
Bangkhae Branch
Grant Emery - As far as I know there isn't a ban on foreign missionaries serving in India per se, but because of their history of religious conflict the government there is very careful when it comes to anything that could upset the religious balance of the country. The number of visas issued to foreign missionaries has always been limited.
ReplyDeleteTo the extent we can get foreign visas I think we continue to call foreign missionaries to India, but we've definitely had some ups and downs in how many we're allowed. I think there was even a time when even the mission president couldn't get a visa.
Thanks for this, Matt! These are wonderful! I do want to urge a little bit of nitpicky caution on a few of your conclusions. Notably, for Miami, Florida, USA, you talk about "closing the Spanish stake." I was a full-time missionary present at the stake conference that did that, and I would really call it combining stakes, not closing one, or if one was closed, then it was the English one. The Spanish stake, though definitely stagnant, probably could have continued to survive as a small stake, but not one English ward had over 100 people attending sacrament meeting (most were below 50). Combining the stake was done to overcome the barrier of members going Spanish for cultural reasons (even if they were fluent in English) and to bring the strength of the Spanish members to English wards that desperately needed it.
ReplyDeleteOn the write up for Osaka, you state that the "Church closed the Japan Kobe Mission in 2001 and renamed the Japan Osaka Mission to the Japan Kobe Mission in 2007."
ReplyDeleteThis isn't really accurate. The Japan Osaka Mission was actually closed and merged with the Japan Kobe Mission in 1995. The Kobe Mission was dissolved in 2001 and the area was split between the Nagoya and Hiroshima missions. In 2007, Tokyo South was merged with Tokyo North to create the Tokyo Mission, and boundaries were shifted across the board to make room for the reopening of the Kobe Mission. The total number of missions in the country stayed the same with this change, but the change seems like more than a "renaming", and certainly not of the Osaka mission, as that had ceased to exist more than a decade earlier.
The Akai Branch, Nsit Ubium Nigeria Stake, was created on 15 June. There are now 7 wards and 5 branches in the stake:
ReplyDeleteEdim Idim Okpot Ward
Ikot Ekwere Ward
Ikot Eyo 2nd Ward
Ikot Eyo 1st Ward
Ikot Ubo Ward
Ukat Aran 1st Ward
Ukat Aran 2nd Ward
Akai Branch
Ikot Ekpene Udo Branch
Ikot Esen Branch
Ikot Imo Branch
Ndiya Branch
The Doniphan Ward, Liberty Missouri Stake, was created on 22 June. There are now 11 wards and 4 branches in the stake:
Cameron 1st Ward
Doniphan Ward
Far West Ward
Gallatin Ward
Kearney 1st Ward
Kearney 3rd Ward
Liberty 1st Ward
North Kansas City Ward
Shoal Creek Valley Ward
Shoal Creek Ward
Wood Heights Ward
Cameron 2nd Branch (Correctional Facility)
Chillicothe Branch
Liberty YSA Branch
Trenton Branch
The Friedrichsdorf Germany Stake was created on 22 June. There are 6 wards and 1 branch in the stake:
Friedrichsdorf Ward
Hanau Ward
Usingen Ward
Wetterau Ward
Wetzlar Ward
Wiesbaden Ward
Koblenz Branch
The Nueva Galicia Ward, Guadalajara México Bugambilias Stake, was created on 22 June. There are now 7 wards in the stake:
Buenos Aires Ward
Bugambilias Ward
Cruz del Sur Ward
Del Valle Ward
Nueva Galicia Ward
Patria Ward
Tlajomulco Ward
Actually, the Church has sent missionaries to India of no Indian ancestry, but the numbers of such as extremely limited.
ReplyDeleteTechnically Mattson was not a General Authority, he was an Area Authority. Apostasy by such figures is still disturbing, but is not quite the same as if a general authority had apostasized.
ReplyDeleteSo are there political and visa issues that limit the non-Indian missionaries in the two missions established in the subcontinent?
ReplyDeleteHow is the missionary work in Sri Lanka?
Does anybody know how many native missionaries are in India, as opposed to elders and sisters from everywhere else?