Maharashtra,
with a population of approximately 96,752,247 inhabitants (as per 2001
census), is the second most populous state in India. The large number of
people that reside in the state belong to numerous religions and
communities. Infact, this huge diversity is what gives Maharashtra a
multi-cultural identity. Though a number of religions are practiced in
the state, the one that is practiced by majority is Hinduism.Infact, Hindus to have been found to comprise of approximately 80.2 percentage of the population. The other major religions practiced in the state are Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Jewish and Zoroastrianism. The breakup of the people following these religions in Maharashtra is - around 10 percent of the population in the state comprises of Muslims, 6 percent comprises of Buddhists, 1.3 percent comprises of Jains and 1 percent of Christians.
The rest of the population comprises of Zoroastrians and Jews. Maharashtra is said to be home to the biggest Jain, Zoroastrian and Jewish populations in India. Of the total Hindus living in the state, around 76 percent speak Marathi, while the others speak Hindi, Gujarati and other languages. Similarly, around 2/3rd of the Muslims living here speak Urdu, while the rest speak Marathi. As for the Buddhists, Jains and Christians of Maharashtra, almost all speak Marathi.
