Where Does Hindus stand in WORLD?

A Hindu (Devanagari: ??????) , as per modern definition, is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, the religious, philosophical and cultural system that originated in the Indian subcontinent. There are approximately 1 billion Hindus, making Hinduism the third largest religion in the world after Christianity and Islam, of whom approximately 890 million live in India.[1] Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Guyana.[2] Hinduism is believed to be the oldest living religious tradition in the world.[3][4][5] Ancient or Epic India was known as Bharat, named after Bharatha, the grand emperor during the time before the Mahabharata war. Later, after the Muslim Mughul invasion, it became Hindustan, meaning the "land of Hindus". Hindustan continues to remain a popular alternative name for the Republic of India. Origins of the term Hindu is not found in Sanskrit. Many believe that the name Hindu was developed by invading forces who could not pronounce the name of the Sindhu River properly. Hindu is derived from the Persian pronunciation of the Sanskrit word Sindhu (Sanskrit: ??????, the ancient name of the Indus River), located in what is now Pakistan.[6] The Persians, using the word "Hindu" for "Sindhu", referred to the people who lived near or on the other side of the Sindhu River as "Hindus", and their religion later became known as "Hinduism." Prior to that time, Hindus had called their religion Sanatana Dharma (the eternal religion - see also Dharma), Vaidika Dharma (the religion of the Vedas), Arya dharma (the noble religion), or manava dharma (the religion of mankind). Eventually the word "Hindu" came into common use among Hindus themselves,[7] and was borrowed by the Ancient Greeks as Indos, Indikos ("Indian"), into Latin as Indianus.[8] and into Sanskrit, as Hindu (??????), appearing in some early medieval texts.[9 Since Hinduism is a way of life more than a religion it would be difficult to precisely describe who is a Hindu. There could be many ways in which one could describe a Hindu. One of those ways is in accordance with the traditional schools of Hindu philosophical thought. The Sanskrit term Nastika means a non-believer, non-Hindu. The six traditional schools of Hindu philosophy (Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimamsa, Vedanta) define Astika [6] (believer, Hindu) as one who accepts the authority of the Vedas as supreme. These six schools are known as Shat Astik Darshana. Even though these philosophies are studied only formally by the scholars their influence is found in many religious beliefs of the average Hindu. Hence a Hindu could be defined as a person who accepts the authority of the Vedic scriptures as supreme and leads his/her life in accordance with Dharma. (righteousness, good moral and ethical practices in accordance with the scriptures.) The Nastika (non-believer) schools are the ones which deny / reject the authority of the Vedas as supreme. They are Buddhism, Jainism and Lokayata. Thus if you accept the Vedas (by extension Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, etc.) as your scriptural authority, and lived your life in accordance with the Dharmic principles as mentioned in them, you are then a Hindu. Truly out of Hindu practices and beliefs a Hindu is one who practices Bhakti (devotion) on any form of God (see Brahman & Paramatma) or who practices one of the yoga systems for the purpose of Moksha.

Hinduisum is a religion. It si also THE OLDEST RELIGION IN THE WORLD. and that is a fact. Of course there were other relighion before Hindusium such as Ancient Egyptian but still has a large number of followers till this day. Hinduisum has been around in 2500BC. Before there was so many other religion there was only hindusium. Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Mayam, Islam, Hare Rama and hare , and Sikhism followers were once, along time ago , all hindus. The followers are all over the world.

There are 900,000,000 Hindus in the world. Most are of Indian origin. There are some of Balinese, Vietnamese and Thai origin. Then there are a few thousand non-Asian converts belonging to ISKCON and other movements. Hindus are very tolerant and Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, founded 5,000 years ago.