Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 July 15

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 15

How many countries in the world are Muslims?

Is there an accurate answer for the question how many countries in the world are Muslims? 80.246.133.43 (talk) 16:24, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

As being a Muslim is a characteristic of a person and not a country, the answer is zero. To give a clear answer as to how many could be called 'Muslim countries', you'd need to be more specific. Government-endorsed faith? Belief of a majority of the population? A plurality? AlexTiefling (talk) 16:28, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

We have an article on countries ranked according to their Muslim population. Click "Muslim percentage (%) of total population" and you'll have a list of countries according to what percentage of the population is Muslim. Click "Percentage (%) of World Muslim population" to see where most Muslims live in the world (some countries have more non-Muslims but more Muslims in them). The country names also link to the articles where you can find out what percentage are Sunni, what percentage Shia, and so on. Ian.thomson (talk) 16:45, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

Another article that might interest you is Muslim world, particularly its subsection "Religion and State", listing Islamic states, as well as Muslim majority nations that are secular, those that have endorsed Islam as their state religion, and those "without any constitutional or official announcement regarding status of religion or secularism". ---Sluzzelin talk 18:17, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

May be Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will edit:also be of interest although as noted in our articles, even member states don't necessarily have a edit:majority Muslim population e.g. Cameroon. Nil Einne (talk) 19:37, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

HMS, USS and....um....

Ships often have a prefix to their names - British military ships are "HMS" - United states use "USS". What I need to know is what (if any) prefix would have been used in a British merchant ship in the 1700's.

TIA

SteveBaker (talk) 22:48, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

I don't know the answer, but I suspect there was no universal prefix. I also don't think all British military ships necessarily are "HMS". That prefix is reserved for ships in the Royal Navy. Also, according to our article, it only came into use in 1789, so it won't have been used in most of the 1700's. Are you writing a book? --Stephan Schulz (talk) 23:07, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

Nope - running a Kickstarter ([1])...we're adding a Merchant ship model to the product series as a "stretch goal". I kinda suspect your guess is right about the lack of a prefix - but I wanted to know for sure. SteveBaker (talk) 04:02, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Very cool. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 10:21, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Does the article ship prefix help any?--Jayron32 04:12, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Hmmm - you'd think it would totally answer the question - but it's lacking date information, so it's hard to say. Good link though - thanks! SteveBaker (talk) 15:14, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

And if you want to see what a typical ship's name was during that period, the first Lloyd's Register of 1764 is available online. Other's are also available. Nanonic (talk) 06:29, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Unfortunately the register's notation is so abbreviated that prefixes like the "HMS" would probably be suppressed if they were in use at the time. --50.100.189.160 (talk) 08:24, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

I have seen "MV" used, but I don't know what the limits on its use are/were. --ColinFine (talk) 17:33, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Steam Ships only started in 1800, and generally used SS or PS, if no other prefix was available. MV is motor vessel. SY (sailing yacht) seems to be used nowadays, but I've checked a few well known ship of the time, and there seems to be no prefix used. CS Miller (talk) 18:08, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

I'm certain that the answer is that no prefixes were used for British merchant sailing vessels. For a famous example, see Cutty Sark and also our articles List of clipper ships and East Indiaman, none of which seem to be prefixed. The title RMS has been in use since 1840, and seems to have only been used by steamers. Alansplodge (talk) 19:11, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

I'd agree with Alan; almost certain there was no prefix in use (though of course proving a negative is thorny). Andrew Gray (talk) 19:59, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

They used "HM" before 1789 - at least, Captain Cook's first ship is always called "HM Bark Endeavour", and according to our article had been officially commissioned under that name by the Royal Navy in 1768. Adam Bishop (talk) 02:32, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

Agreed; also HMT for a troopship or trawler, HMS/m for a submarine and so on. However, the question was about 18th century merchant vessels. Sorry Adam, I didn't read your comment properly. I'll do some digging later on when I have time. Alansplodge (talk) 16:33, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

A thorough Google search failed to find any contemporary use of the abbreviated pre-fix "HM" for the Endeavour. Everything from Cook's journal to a report by the ship's carpenter uses the full "His Majesty's". Alansplodge (talk) 17:57, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

True...but it is still sort of a prefix, in a way. But I also misread the question, and that was its designation as a Navy ship, so we don't know what it was called (if anything) when it was still a merchant ship. Adam Bishop (talk) 21:24, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

The "1789" in our article seems to be bogus- at least the given reference does not support the claim. I'm busy at a conference right now, so if someone else has the time to fix it, great. I'll try to keep it in mind for later, too. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 22:30, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

Frequently Asked Questions of the Sailing Navy Gallery from the National Museum of the Royal Navy says: "The abbreviation HMS came into common usage around 1790s. Prior to this, ships were referred to as "His Majesty's Ship" in full to indicate it belonging to the Royal Navy. The earliest example of the abbreviation being used is in 1789 when it was used for HMS Phoenix." Alansplodge (talk) 22:45, 18 July 2014 (UTC)