The number of territories included within the pale of the Faith, embracing
all the sovereign states and chief dependencies of the planet, has now, in
consequence of this prodigious effort, been raised to two hundred and
fifty-one, as a result of the opening of the island of Anticosti, in the
North Atlantic Ocean, by the Knight of Baha'u'llah, Mary Zabolotny, of the
arrival of a pioneer in Mafia Island, off the coast of Tanganyika, and of
the news received recently of the presence of a few followers of the Faith
in the Soviet Republics of Tad_zh_ikistan and of Kirgizia, almost
doubling, within the space of four years, the total number of territories
opened in the course of eleven decades of Baha'i history. Of the hundred
and thirty-one territories listed in the Ten-Year Plan, only Spitzbergen,
Nicobar Islands and the Chagos Archipelago, as well as eleven territories,
which are either incorporated in the Soviet Union or are included within
its orbit, remain to be opened by the band of intrepid warriors intent
upon enlarging the limits, and spreading far and wide the fame, of the
Faith of Baha'u'llah. Every single territory of the hundred and twenty,
mentioned by the Author of the Divine Plan in His memorable Tablets, is
now opened to His Father's Faith, proclaiming the exemplary fidelity of
His followers to the dearest wishes expressed by the Center of the
Covenant in those Tablets.
The total number of localities where the followers of the Most Great Name
now reside has, as a result of their unprecedented scattering over the
surface of the globe, exceeded the forty-two hundred mark, representing an
increase of no less than a thousand centers in the course of the last two
years. Of these localities--foci of the warming and healing light of an
all-conquering Revelation--over a hundred are now established in
Australasia, over a hundred and ten in the British Isles, over a hundred
and ten in the Goal Countries of Europe, over a hundred and ten in the
Dominion of Canada, over a hundred and thirty in Latin America, over a
hundred and thirty in Germany and Austria, over a hundred and forty in the
Indian subcontinent, over two hundred and ten in the Pacific area, over
five hundred and fifty in the African continent, over nine hundred and
eighty in Persia, over fourteen hundred and sixty in the United States of
America.
The northernmost outpost of the Faith has now been pushed far beyond the
Arctic Circle, as far as 76 degrees latitude, in consequence of the
arrival of William Carr, a Canadian believer, in Thule, Greenland, a
settlement situated three degrees above Arctic Bay, Franklin, the most
northerly center hitherto established in the Baha'i world.
The number of local spiritual assemblies organized in all the continents
of the globe, constituting the broad and indestructible foundation of the
edifice of a rising Order, now exceeds one thousand, an increase of more
than a hundred in the space of a single year.
The number of islands now within the pale of the Faith, situated in the
Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Oceans as well as in the
Mediterranean and the North Sea, is now over a hundred, seventy-four of
which have been opened since the inauguration of the World Spiritual
Crusade, including five islands, situated in the Atlantic and Indian
Oceans and not listed as objectives of the Ten-Year Plan.
The number of languages into which the continually expanding literature of
the Faith has been and is being translated has risen to two hundred and
thirty, representing an increase of forty in the course of one year.
Seventy-five of these languages are included in the ninety-one named in
the Ten-Year Plan, while sixty-six have been added to those originally
specified in the provisions of that same Plan. Of this widely disseminated
literature seven books have been lately presented by an adherent of the
Faith residing in Christchurch, New Zealand, to the officer in charge of
the American Antarctic Expedition for its library, while others have been
dispatched, beyond the Antarctic Circle, as far south as the Expedition's
base, at McMurdo Sound, 77 degrees latitude, on the shores of the Ross
Sea.
The number of incorporated spiritual assemblies, whether local or
national, in all the continents of the globe, has now swelled to one
hundred and ninety-five, more than ninety of which are situated in the
United States of America. Outstanding among those that have been recently
registered are the assemblies of Bern, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Germany;
Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Brisbane, Australia; Scarborough, Canada; Aligarh,
India; Mastung, Pakistan; Huncayo, Peru; Cochabamba, Bolivia; Colombo,
Ceylon; Kuala Lumpur, Malaya; Asmara, Eritrea; Monrovia and Bomi Hills,
Liberia; Tuarabu, Gilbert and Ellice Islands; Baro-bai-Amantai, Indonesia;
and Simatalu Saibi, Simatalu Ulu, Sipipajet, Mentawai Islands.
Of the forty-nine National Haziratu'l-Quds enumerated in the Ten-Year Plan
all but three have already been established, involving the expenditure of
over five hundred and seventy thousand dollars, raising thereby the value
of all the edifices, serving as the national administrative headquarters
of the Faith in all the continents of the globe, to over two and a half
million dollars.
Of the fifty-one countries in which, in accordance with that same Plan,
national Baha'i endowments are to be purchased within the space of a
decade, as many as forty-nine have achieved their goals, through the
expenditure of a sum estimated at more than one hundred and thirty
thousand dollars.
The number of sovereign states, dependencies, as well as territories,
federal districts and states of the United States of America, where the
Baha'i Marriage Certificate is recognized is now over thirty, the latest
additions being Vietnam, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Indonesia and
Liberia. The number of countries, states as well as cities of the United
States, where the Educational Authorities have recognized the Baha'i Holy
Days now exceeds forty-five, among which are included Israel, the British
Isles, Samoa, Liberia, Tanganyika, the states of Victoria and of South
Australia. Mention in this connection, moreover, should be made of the
recognition officially extended by the authorities of H. M. Kitalya Farm
Prison in Uganda to its recently converted Baha'i inmates to observe these
same Holy Days.