historian Pascal Bourdeaux argues that it lacked genuine representativeness. Demographics According to a 2019 study by the UK Home Office's fact-finding mission in Vietnam, Hòa Hảo is the country's fourth largest religion. According to the United States Department of State's 2019 International Religious Freedom Report, Vietnam's total population was 97.9 million, based on estimates from the US government; Vietnam's government statistics from January 2018 found that the Hoahaoists made about 1.5% of the Vietnamese population. Official estimates put the number of Hoahaoists at 1.3 million, although "unofficial" estimates put it at more than 2 million. Other sources estimate 500,000–1 million, 4–5 million or 8 million Hòa Hảo followers. During its inception, the religion's appeal was primarily to the poor peasantry of the Mekong Delta. The religion is still exclusively concentrated in the region, especially in the An Giang Province districts of Chợ Mới and Phú Tân, and the cities of Châu Đốc and Long Xuyên, as well as the surrounding provinces of Kiên Giang, Vĩnh Long, Đồng Tháp and Cần Thơ. In addition, Hòa Hảo devotees can be found in Hồ Chí Minh City, primarily because of the migration of adherents rather than the religion's spread among the urban population. Unregistered Hoahaoists often reside in remote areas that are difficult to access. As a result, understanding how the communities interact each other, or whether they are connected by a communication network, is difficult. Hòa Hảo adherents are "very few" in central Vietnam and there are almost no adherents in northern Vietnam. Overseas communities began to form around the late 1970s, mainly in the United States, Australia, and Canada, as well as smaller groups in France, Germany, and Belgium. It is estimated that there are several tens of thousands of Hòa Hảo followers living abroad. The largest community of Hoahaoists abroad is in Santa Ana, California. References Citations Sources External links Web site of a US-based Hòa Hảo association Web site of Hòa Hảo Ancestral Temple, VN 1939 establishments in Vietnam Religious organizations established in 1939 Buddhist new religious movements Vietnamese folk religion Religious syncretism in Vietnam Mekong Delta Factions of the First Indochina War Factions of the Vietnam War History of South Vietnam