2010 Census, LDS Country population rankings

The Church publishes Country data a few weeks after General Conference each year in April. Summary data is here https://lds.org/church/statistics and country by country data is here http://newsroom.lds.org/facts-and-stats

But I have been keeping track from the printed LDS Almanac since 1995, the same year the church launched their web site.

Here is my table:  see Notes below

Countries with more than 1,000 Members
Rank	Country:	2009		2010	Growth '10 (1yr)	2 yr up/dn	Growth '10(2yr)	% LDS (2008)	Region	First Stake	Stakes
1	Untied States	6,058,917		6,144,582	1.4%	down	2.9%	1.97%	US	Feb-1834	1,488
2	Mexico	1,197,573		1,234,545	3.1%	down	6.6%	1.0%	Mexico	Dec-1895	222
3	Brazil	1,102,428		1,138,740	3.3%	down	7.4%	0.5%	So. Amer.	May-1966	241
4	Philippines	631,885		645,776	2.2%	down	5.1%	0.6%	Asia	May-1973	80
5	Chile	561,904		563,689	0.3%	down	1.6%	3.3%	So. Amer.	Nov-1972	74
6	Peru	480,816		493,563	2.7%	down	6.8%	1.6%	So. Amer.	Feb-1970	94
7	Argentina	380,669		389,393	2.3%	Up	4.7%	0.9%	So. Amer.	Nov-1966	70
8	Guatemala	220,296		226,027	2.6%	Up	5.0%	1.6%	Cent. Amer.	May-1967	39
9	Ecuador	190,498		195,941	2.9%	Up	5.5%	1.3%	So. Amer.	Jun-1978	34
10	United Kingdom	180,831		181,367	0.3%	Up	10.2%	0.2%	U.K. / Ireland	Mar-1960	36
11	Canada	179,801		182,415	1.5%	Up	2.7%	0.5%	Canada	Jun-1895	47
12	Bolivia	168,396		172,640	2.5%	down	5.8%	1.7%	So. Amer.	Jan-1979	24
13	Colombia	168,514		172,534	2.4%	down	5.4%	0.4%	So. Amer.	Jan-1977	28
15	Venezuela	146,987		150,017	2.1%	Up	4.1%	0.5%	So. Amer.	May-1977	30
14	Honduras	136,408		142,258	4.3%	down	8.5%	1.7%	Cent. Amer.	Apr-1977	21
16	Australia	126,767		129,744	2.3%	down	4.9%	0.6%	So. Pacific	Mar-1960	32
17	Japan	124,041		125,107	0.9%	Up	1.5%	0.1%	Asia	Mar-1970	28
18	Dominican Republic	114,571		118,557	3.5%	Up	7.7%	1.1%	Caribbean	Mar-1986	18
19	El Salvador	105,501		109,118	3.4%	Up	6.9%	1.4%	Cent. Amer.	Jun-1978	17
20	New Zealand	100,962		104,115	3.1%	Up	4.7%	2.4%	So. Pacific	May-1958	25
21	Nigeria	93,532		98,359	5.2%	Up	11.3%	0.1%	Africa	May-1988	17
22	Uruguay	93,935		95,726	1.9%	Up	3.9%	2.6%	So. Amer.	Nov-1967	16
23	Korea (South)	82,472		84,380	2.3%	Up	3.9%	0.2%	Asia	Mar-1973	17
24	Paraguay	78,220		80,788	3.3%	down	8.0%	1.1%	So. Amer.	Feb-1979	10
25	Nicaragua	67,275		71,888	6.9%	down	12.4%	1.1%	Cent. Amer.	Mar-1981	9
26	Samoa (Western)	69,244		71,272	2.9%	Up	6.2%	31.0%	So. Pacific	Mar-1962	16
27	Tonga	55,173		58,805	6.6%	Up	7.6%	45.2%	So. Pacific	Nov-1968	17
28	South Africa	51,710		54,996	6.4%	Up	14.3%	0.1%	Africa	Mar-1970	12
29	Taiwan	51,090		53,111	4.0%	down	8.3%	0.2%	Asia	Apr-1976	11
30	Spain	45,729		47,337	3.5%	down	6.8%	0.1%	Europe	Mar-1982	10
31	Panama	45,343		46,425	2.4%	Up	6.2%	1.3%	Cent. Amer.	Nov-1979	8
32	Ghana	40,872		45,094	10.3%	Up	18.0%	0.2%	Africa	May-1967	8
33	Portugal	38,509		39,031	1.4%	Up	2.2%	0.4%	Europe	Jun-1981	6
34	Costa Rica	36,823		38,337	4.1%	down	4.6%	0.9%	Cent. Amer.	Jan-1977	5
35	Germany	37,796		38,257	1.2%	Up	1.9%	0.05%	Europe	Sep-1961	14
36	France	35,427		35,960	1.5%	down	3.0%	0.1%	Europe	Nov-1975	9
37	Dem. Rep of Congo	23,615		27,058	14.6%	Up	29.6%	0.03%	Africa	Nov-1996	7
38	Hong Kong, China	24,114		24,425	1.3%	Up	5.2%	0.3%	Asia	Apr-1976	4
39	Italy	23,430		23,976	2.3%	Up	4.8%	0.04%	Europe	Jun-1981	7
40	French Polynesia	20,805		21,245	2.1%	down	4.7%	7.1%	So. Pacific	May-1972	7
41	Russia	20,276		21,023	3.7%	Up	5.4%	0.01%	Europe	Jun-2011	1
42	Zimbabwe	17,632		18,549	5.2%	Up	7.6%	0.2%	Africa	Dec-1999	4
43	Papua New Guinea	17,315		18,336	5.9%	Up	10.0%	0.3%	Asia	Oct-1995	1
44	Haiti	16,322		16,902	3.6%	down	9.1%	0.2%	Caribbean	Sep-1977	2
45	Thailand	16,258		16,331	0.4%	down	2.9%	0.02%	Asia	Jun-1995	1
46	Fiji	15,613		15,897	1.8%	down	4.3%	1.6%	So. Pacific	Jun-1983	4
47	Ivory Coast	14,417		15,638	8.5%	Up	18.1%	0.1%	Africa	Aug-1997	4
48	Amer. Samoa	14,784		15,159	2.5%	down	2.8%	22.5%	So. Pacific	Jun-1969	4
49	Kiribati	14,172		14,927	5.3%	down	10.8%	11.9%	So. Pacific	Aug-1996	2
50	Ukraine	10,722		10,880	1.5%	Up	4.7%	0.02%	Europe	May-2004	1
51	Cambodia	8,908		10,530	18.2%	Up	26.0%	0.1%	Asia		0
52	Kenya	9,370		10,270	9.6%	Up	22.0%	0.02%	Africa	Sep-2001	1
53	Mongolia	9,239		9,896	7.1%	Up	17.2%	0.3%	Asia	Jun-2009	1
54	Sweden	9,091		9,206	1.3%	Up	2.7%	0.1%	Scandinavia / Nordic	Apr-1975	4
55	India	8,229		9,188	11.7%	Up	21.3%	0.00%	Asia		0
56	Netherlands	8,901		9,052	1.7%	Up	3.9%	0.1%	Europe	Mar-1961	3
57	Uganda	8,216		9,024	9.8%	down	30.4%	0.0%	Africa	Jan-2010	1
58	Sierra Leone	8,330		8,907	6.9%	down	10.6%	0.1%	Africa		0
59	Switzerland	7,947		8,092	1.8%	down	1.9%	0.1%	Europe	Oct-1961	5
60	Cape Verde	7,149		7,456	4.3%	Up	8.0%	1.6%	Africa		0
61	Malaysia	6,404		7,314	14.2%	down	29.5%	0.02%	Asia		0
62	Madagascar	5,516		6,736	22.1%	Up	41.2%	0.02%	Africa	Sep-2000	2
63	Indonesia	6,546		6,683	2.1%	Up	4.5%	0.00%	Asia	May-2011	1
64	Belgium	5,980		6,019	0.7%	Up	-0.4%	0.1%	Europe	Feb-1977	2
65	Jamaica	5,906		5,721	-3.1%	down	-4.5%	0.2%	Caribbean		0
66	Liberia	5,251		5,447	3.7%	down	8.1%	0.1%	Africa	Jun-2000	1
67	Mozambique	5,079		5,392	6.2%	down	11.2%	0.02%	Africa		0
68	Northern Ireland	5,329		5,347	0.3%	Up	0.7%	0.3%	U.K. / Ireland	Jan-1987	1
69	Marshall Islands	4,725		5,093	7.8%	Up	13.8%	7.1%	So. Pacific	Jun-2009	1
70	Guyana	4,846		5,016	3.5%	down	27.5%	0.5%	So. Amer.		0
71	Congo, Republic of	4,462		4,747	6.4%	Up	13.2%	0.1%	Africa	Oct-1903	1
72	Hungary	4,594		4,738	3.1%	Up	5.9%	0.05%	Europe	Jun-2006	1
73	Finland	4,578		4,629	1.1%	Up	1.8%	0.1%	Scandinavia / Nordic	Oct-1977	2
74	Denmark	4,387		4,378	-0.2%	down	0.4%	0.1%	Scandinavia / Nordic	Jun-1974	2
75	Norway	4,206		4,361	3.7%	Up	4.7%	0.1%	Scandinavia / Nordic	May-1988	1
76	Vanuatu	4,006		4,354	8.7%	Up	15.1%	1.7%	So. Pacific		0
77	Austria	4,203		4,294	2.2%	Up	1.9%	0.1%	Europe	Apr-1980	2
78	Micronesia	3,989		4,193	5.1%	Up	9.2%	3.5%	So. Pacific		0
79	Belize	3,609		3,852	6.7%	Up	12.3%	1.1%	Cent. Amer.		0
80	Singapore	2,938		3,337	13.6%	Up	15.5%	0.1%	Asia	Feb-1995	1
81	Romania	2,800		2,905	3.8%	Up	6.2%	0.01%	Europe		0
82	Ireland	2,799		2,890	3.3%	Up	4.3%	0.1%	U.K. / Ireland	May-1995	1
83	Armenia	2,833		2,888	1.9%	down	5.1%	0.1%	Asia		0
84	Trinidad & Tobago	2,695		2,885	7.1%	down	15.9%	0.2%	Caribbean	Mar-2009	1
85	Zambia	2,395		2,587	8.0%	down	15.6%	0.02%	Africa		0
86	Czech Republic	2,198		2,282	3.8%	Up	9.0%	0.0%	Europe		0
87	Bulgaria	2,151		2,206	2.6%	Up	3.9%	0.03%	Europe		0
88	Guam	1,971		2,140	8.6%	down	14.2%	1.1%	So. Pacific	Dec-2010	1
89	Albania	1,925		1,984	3.1%	down	7.9%	0.04%	Europe		0
90	New Caledonia (France)	1,890		1,949	3.1%	down	3.5%	0.8%	So. Pacific		0
91	Cook Islands (Rarotonga)	1,847		1,853	0.3%	down	1.0%	6.7%	So. Pacific		0
92	Poland	1,602		1,648	2.9%	Up	6.2%	0.00%	Europe		0
93	Botswana	1,300		1,331	2.4%	Up	2.0%	0.1%	Africa		0
94	Sri Lanka	1,307		1,294	-1.0%	down	1.3%	0.01%	Asia		0
95	Swaziland	1,187		1,287	8.4%	Up	13.7%	0.1%	Africa		0
96	Togo	1,034		1,246	20.5%	Up	57.1%	0.01%	Africa		0
97	Suriname	1,162		1,233	6.1%	down	16.7%	0.2%	So. Amer.		0
98	Latvia	1,073		1,102	2.7%	down	7.5%	0.0%	Europe		0
99	Estonia	1,010		1,043	3.3%	down	7.6%	0.1%	Europe		0
100	Macau (China)	1,269		1,000	-21.2%	down	-20.6%	0.2%	Asia		0
101	United Arab Emirates			Not						Apr-2011	1
102	Bahrain			Published						Sep-1999	0
				> 20,000		Up
				41		57

Yellow shading is for a country whose membership surpassed another country since last year.
"2 yr. up / down" I calculate every other year to see which countries 2 yr growth is higher or lower than the last time, so this is 2010 vs 2008 2 year growth (57 of the countries growth rates were up, 43 were down)
Since the LDS US growth rate is more than double the generic US census growth rate, the %LDS in US is finally over 2.0 % !

Also Note that USA is ranked 12th in % LDS as shown in this 2nd table sorted by % LDS

Rank	Country:	% LDS	Region
1	Tonga	45.2%	So. Pacific
2	Samoa (Western)	31.0%	So. Pacific
3	Amer. Samoa	22.5%	So. Pacific
4	Kiribati	11.9%	So. Pacific
5	French Polynesia	7.1%	So. Pacific
6	Marshall Islands	7.1%	So. Pacific
7	Cook Islands	6.7%	So. Pacific
8	Micronesia	3.5%	So. Pacific
9	Chile	3.3%	So. Amer.
10	Uruguay	2.6%	So. Amer.
11	New Zealand	2.4%	So. Pacific
12	Untied States	2.0%	US
13	Vanuatu	1.7%	So. Pacific
14	Honduras	1.7%	Cent. Amer.
15	Bolivia	1.7%	So. Amer.
16	Guatemala	1.6%	Cent. Amer.
17	Fiji	1.6%	So. Pacific
18	Cape Verde	1.6%	Africa
19	Peru	1.6%	So. Amer.
20	El Salvador	1.4%	Cent. Amer.

3 more stakes created - the first in Indonesia and more in Tahiti and Venezuela

A new stake has been created from the Jakarta Indonesia District. This is the first stake in Indonesia. There are 6,700 LDS members in a country of 240 million. The country is 88% Muslim and 8% Christian. By contrast neighboring Philippines has 650,000 members, 80 stakes and 3 temples. 



A new stake has been created in Puerto La Cruz Venezuela. This is the 30th stake in Venezuela, the first created in 2011, but in 2010, they added 2 stakes .  To compare England has 36 stakes, Ecuador has 34 and Australia has 32, while Japan and Columbia have 28. 


A new stake has been created in Paea Tahiti. The Punaauia Tahiti Stake is the 7th stake in Tahiti (or French Polynesia.) The Church has not created a new stake here since 1997.  The Tahitian temple was dedicated in 1983, the Church's 25th - the same year temples were opened in Samoa and Tonga.


There are now 2,928 LDS stakes worldwide, 1,491 in the US (50.9%)  There are now stakes in 76 countries.

I love maps.

The Book of Mormon (musical) thoughts

So for the first time in my life I watched the Tony Awards; sad since I grew up in New York and went to a lot of Broadway plays, I strongly recommend same day 1/2 price tickets at the big red TCKTS booths, any way I saw that Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) has a lead role in the revival of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" he can sing and he looks short.

Back to The Book of Mormon Musical by the creators of South Park.  From the short skits and songs they did during the 2011 Tony Awards, my first reaction was it looks very funny.  Of course it is religious satirical musical and I laughed, I guess one of the main characters has the F-word as part of his name, but South Park always pokes at people's beliefs and assumptions. The play is wildly successful to whomever votes for the Tony Awards as it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won 9 - most in both categories.  I am too busy with family, job(s), school and hobbies to be offended.

The church's official response was "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ." My emphasis added on "attempt".  The response to the Church's response from the play's creators was "And we were like, 'Nope, they're going to be cool.' We weren't that surprised by the church's response. We had faith in them."  Looks like the South Park creator's "attempt" is going over well and many more people will here about the Book of Mormon.  It is easy to get an actual copy since the church has now printed over 150 Million copies in 107 languages at a current rate of 4.58 Million a year.

You can read more about the play here wikipedia.org/The_Book_of_Mormon_(musical)
and get a free Book of Momorn here http://mormon.org/book-of-mormon/
or read or have any scriptures read to you here: http://lds.org/scriptures

Temple updates for 6 temples

The San Salvador, El Salvador Temple has official open house dates and a dedication date set for 8/21/2011. This is the first temple in El Salvador, so the saints will no longer have to travel to Costa Rica or Guatemala.

The Quetzaltenango, Guatemala Temple has official open house dates and a dedication date set for 12/11/2011. This is the second temple in Guatemala, after the Guatemala City temple was completed in 1984.

The Kanas City, Kansas temple has the Angel Moroni statue in place. (1st temple in Kansas)
The Phoenix, Arizona temple had it's ground breaking in June. (4th temple in Arizona) 
The Ft. Lauderdale, Florida temple had it's ground breaking in June. (2nd temple in Florida)   
The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania temple has a new location. (1st temple in Pennsylvania )

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/construction/

There are now 160 temples (77 in US, 83 foreign)
134 are open (66 in US, 68 foreign)
  14 are under construction
    2 have dedication dates

Three (3) New Stakes announced - Nigeria, Honduras & in Utah

A new stake has been created in Nigeria called the Lagos Nigeria South Stake. Nigeria now has 17 stakes, 5 more than South Africa and 9 more than Ghana. The African continent has 58 stakes so Nigeria has 29 % of them. The three temples in Africa are in South Africa, Ghana an Nigeria 

A new stake has been created Honduras called the Tegucigalpa Honduras Loarque Stake. Honduras now has 21 stakes, 18 less than Guatemala, but 4 more than El Salvador. The Central American region now has 100 Stakes - which does not include Mexico. The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple is about 33% complete.

A tenth YSA stake was created in the Salt Lake Pioneer Area. Utah now has 561 stakes, 13 created this year.  The US now has 1,491 stakes, or 51.0% of the 2,925 total.  There have been 24 stakes created in 2011.  

www.ldschurchnews.com/New-stake-presidents

First LDS Stake in Russia, created in Moscow

Almost 170 years after the Prophet Joseph Smith sent 2 missionaries to Russia and 11 years after the former USSR recognized the church, the vast nation's 21,000 members in 116 units finally have a full stake.
The new unit includes six wards and three branches. Yakov Mikhaylovich Boyko was called to preside over the stake, with Vladimir Nikolaievich Astashov and Viktor Mikhaylovich Kremenchuk serving as first and second counselor.  Evidently you need a "v" in both your first and middle name to be in the stake presidency. 
www.ldschurchnews.com/Moscow-Russia-Stake-organized-June-5-2011
How long until the St. Petersburg stake?

For comparison here is a list of countries with similar membership as Russia ranked by LDS membership as of Dec 31, 2010 with number of stakes

Rank	Country	Membership	Stakes
35	Costa Rica	38,337	5
36	France	35,960	9
37	Dem. Rep of Congo	27,058	7
38	Hong Kong, China	24,425	4
39	Italy	23,976	7
40	French Polynesia	21,245	6
41	Russia	21,023	1
42	Zimbabwe	18,549	4
43	Papua New Guinea	18,336	1
44	Haiti	16,902	2
45	Thailand	16,331	1
46	Fiji	15,897	4
47	Ivory Coast	15,638	4
48	Amer. Samoa	15,159	4
49	Kiribati	14,927	2
50	Ukraine	10,880	1
51	Cambodia	10,530	0
52	Kenya	10,270	1
53	Mongolia	9,896	1
54	Sweden	9,206	4
55	India	9,188	0
56	Netherlands	9,052	3
57	Uganda	9,024	1
58	Sierra Leone	8,907	0
59	Switzerland	8,092	5
60	Cape Verde	7,456	0

* Yellow highlight means they moved up in ranking since the previous year