GROWTH IN THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE BAHA'I FAITH

                    1954  |  1963  |  1968  |  1973  |  1979  |  1988     1994
--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-------
National Spiritual        |        |        |        |        |        |
Assemblies          12    |  56    |  81    |  113   |  125   |  149   |  172
                          |        |        |        |        |        |
Local Spiritual           |        |        |        |        |        |
Assemblies          708   |  3379  | 5,902  | 17,037 | 23,634 | 19,486 |17,780
	                  |        |        |        |        |        |
                          |        |        |        |        |        |
Localities where   3,117  | 11,092 | 31,883 | 69,541 | 102,704| 112,137|119,276
Bahá'ís reside            |        |        |        |        |        |
--------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-------

NOTES: Figures taken from P. Smith and M. Momen, "The Bahá'í Faith
1957-1988", p. 70 and The Bahá'í World, 1994-5, p. 317. The drop in
the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies between 1979 and 1988 is
accounted for by a major reorganization in 1987 in India where the area
for each Local Spiritual Assembly was increased to cover more than one
village. The result was a drop in the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies
in India from 15,448 to 4,497. There have since been similar
re-organizations in other countries. 

The Encyclopedia Britannica Year-Book for 1997 has produced the following statistics for the Bahá'í Faith:

Africa 1,923,000
Asia 3,230,000
Europe 95,000
Latin America 722,000
North America 357,000
Oceania 77,000
Total for World 6,404,000
Countries 210

---

Some Other (older) Statistics

*Total number of Bahá'ís worldwide
   --more than 5,000,000

*Number of independent countries where the Faith is established
   ---187

*Dependent territories or overseas departments where the Faith is established
   ---45

*Number of national or regional governing councils (known as National Spiritual Assemblies)
   ---165

*Number of local governing bodies (local Spiritual Assemblies)
   ---18,232

*Number of localities worldwide where Bahá'ís reside
   ---more than 116,000

*Tribes, races and ethnic groups whose members are represented in the Bahá'í world community
   ---more than 2,100

*Languages into which Bahá'u'lláh's writings have been translated
   ---800

*Publishing Trusts
   ---26

*Radio stations
   ---7

*Schools
   ---741

*Literacy programs
   ---203

*Other development projects

   ---670