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Copts (Coptic: ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, romanized: niremənkhēmi; Arabic: الْقِبْط, romanized: al-qibṭ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa[26] who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East,[27] as well as in Sudan[5] and Libya.[28] Copts in Egypt account for roughly 5–15 percent of the Egyptian population;[29][30] Copts in Sudan account for 1 percent of the Sudanese population, while Copts in Libya similarly account for 1 percent of the Libyan population.[6]
Originally referring to all Egyptians,[31] the term Copt became synonymous with native Christians in light of Egypt's Islamization and Arabization after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.[32] Copts have historically spoken the Coptic language, a direct descendant of the Demotic Egyptian that was spoken in late antiquity.
Following the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 639–646 AD, the treatment of the Coptic Christians who refused to convert ranged from relative tolerance to open persecution.[33][34][35][36] Historically, the Copts suffered from "waves of persecution giving way to relative tolerance in cycles that varied according to the local ruler and other political and economic circumstances".[32] Persecution is significantly involved in the Copts' ethnic identity due to historic and current conflicts.[37] Most Copts adhere to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church.[38][39][40] The smaller Coptic Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church, in communion with the Holy See of Rome; others belong to the Evangelical Church of Egypt. The Copts played a central role in the Arab Renaissance as well as the modernization of Egypt and the Arab world as a whole;[32] they also contributed to the "social and political life and key debates such as pan-Arabism, good governance, educational reform, and democracy",[32] and they have historically flourished in business affairs.[41]
While Coptic Christians speak the same dialects and are culturally similar to other Egyptians, they strongly oppose Arab identity and associate it with Islam and Islamism.[42][43] In Egypt, Copts have a relatively higher educational attainment, a relatively higher wealth index, and a stronger representation in white-collar job types, but limited representation in military and security agencies. The majority of demographic, socio-economic, and health indicators are similar among Christians and Muslims.[44]
^ ab"Coptic Orthodox Christmas to be low-key – Tight security: On alert after bombing in Egypt". Montreal Gazette. 4 January 2011. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
^"Copts". 19 June 2015.
^"Egyptian Coptic protesters freed". BBC. 22 December 2004.
^Official population counts put the number of Copts at around 10-15% percent of the population, while some Coptic voices claim figures as high as 23 percent. Some scholars defend the soundness of the official population census (cf. E.J. Chitham, The Coptic Community in Egypt. Spatial and Social Change, Durham 1986), while other scholars and international observers assume that the Christian share of Egypt's population is higher than stated by the Egyptian government. Most independent estimates fall within range between 10 percent and 20 percent,[3] for example the CIA World Factbook estimated 10% are Christian "Egypt". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 27 August 2010., Khairi Abaza; Mark Nakhla (25 October 2005). "The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 27 August 2010., Encyclopædia Britannica (1985), or Macropædia (15th ed., Chicago). For a projected 83,000,000+ Egyptians in 2009, this assumption yields the above figures. In 2008, Pope Shenouda III and Bishop Morkos, bishop of Shubra, declared that the number of Copts in Egypt is more than 12 million. In the same year, father Morkos Aziz the prominent priest in Cairo declared that the number of Copts (inside Egypt) exceeds 16 million. "?". United Copts of Great Britain. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2010. and "?". العربية.نت. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010. Furthermore, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Khairi Abaza; Mark Nakhla (25 October 2005). "The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt". Retrieved 27 August 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica (1985), and Macropædia (15th ed., Chicago) estimate the percentage of Christians in Egypt to be up to 20 percent of the Egyptian population.
^ abMinority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Sudan : Copts, 2008, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49749ca6c.html [accessed 21 December 2010]
^ abKjeilen, Tore. "Coptic Church". LookLex Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
^2009 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau "All Egyptians including Copts 197,160"
^According to published accounts and several Coptic/US sources (including the US-Coptic Association), the Coptic Orthodox Church has between 700,000 and one million members in the United States (c. 2005–2007). "Why CCU?". Coptic Credit Union. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
^"Coptics flock to welcome 'Baba' at Pittsburgh airport". Pittsburgh Tribune (2007). Archived from the original on March 19, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
^"State's first Coptic Orthodox church is a vessel of faith". JS Online (2005). Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
^"Coptic Diaspora". US-Copts Association (2007). Archived from the original on 2007-02-20. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
^Limited, Elaph Publishing. "إجراءات أمنية إستثنائية تسبق إحتفالات "اقباط العالم" بعيد الميلاد". @Elaph. Archived from the original on January 7, 2011.
^In the year 2003, there was an estimated 70,000 Copts in New South Wales alone: "Coptic Orthodox Church (NSW) Property Trust Act 1990". New South Wales Consolidated Acts.
^In the year 2017, there was an estimated 45,000 Copts in France: "Qui sont les coptes en France ?". La Croix. 16 March 2017.
^"La Chiesa copta". March 10, 2014.
^Copts number at least 20,000 in Britain "Middle Killeavy Parish Web Site". Archived from the original on 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2008-08-16. plus another 5,000 – 10,000 Copts who are directly under the British Orthodox Church (1999 figures)
^Teller, Matthew (12 July 2015). "Free to pray – but don't try to convert anyone". BBC. Retrieved 12 July 2015. Ten-thousand or more live in the UAE, and young, bearded priest Father Markos, 12 years in Dubai, told me his flock are "more than happy – they enjoy their life, they are free."
^"'De Koptische kerk telt in Nederland ongeveer tienduizend leden, die grotendeels afkomstig zijn uit Egypte.'". 12 July 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
^"King commends Coptic Church's role in promoting coexistence". Jordanembassyus.org. June 3, 2005. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
^Cite error: The named reference Come Across And Help Us Book 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference CopticMission was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Lebanon: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor – 2012 Report on International Religious Freedom". U.S. Department of State. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
^Austria 2004 Archived 2007-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Religious Freedom news
^"Orthodox Copts open church in Switzerland". Swissinfo.org. July 17, 2004. Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
^"The ethnic origin of Christians in Israel". parshan.co.il (in Hebrew).
^Minahan 2002, p. 467
^"Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?". CNN. 10 April 2017. The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. About 1 million more Coptic Christians are spread across Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the World Council of Churches.
^Coptic Orthodox Church Listings for Libya, p. 136 Archived July 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^"Egypt's Sisi meets world Evangelical churches delegation in Cairo – Politics – Egypt". Ahram Online. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
^Hackett, Conrad (2011-02-16). "How many Christians are there in Egypt?". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
^Doorn-Harder, Nelly van (3 October 2017). Copts in Context: Negotiating Identity, Tradition, and Modernity. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781611177855.
^ abcdRaheb, Mitri; Lamport, Mark A. (2020-12-15). The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-2418-5.
^Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Egypt : Copts of Egypt". Refworld. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
^Etheredge, Laura S. (2011). Middle East, Region in Transition: Egypt. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9789774160936.
^Lyster, William (2013). The Cave Church of Paul the Hermit at the Monastery of St. Pau. Yale University Press. ISBN 9789774160936. Al Hakim Bi-Amr Allah (r. 996—1021), however, who became the greatest persecutor of Copts.... within the church that also appears to coincide with a period of forced rapid conversion to Islam
^N. Swanson, Mark (2010). The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641-1517). American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 54. ISBN 9789774160936.
^Deighton, H. S. "The Arab Middle East and the Modern World", International Affairs, vol. xxii, no. 4 (October 1946)
^Cite error: The named reference U.S.Dept of State/Egypt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference FCO/Egypt/ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Bailey, Betty Jane; Bailey, J. Martin (2003). Who Are the Christians in the Middle East?. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-8028-1020-5.
^Todros, ch 3–4.
^"Britannica: Egyptian Christians - Copt", britannica.com, retrieved 30 July 2023
^Dobon, Begoña; Hassan, Hisham Y.; Laayouni, Hafid; Luisi, Pierre; Ricaño-Ponce, Isis; Zhernakova, Alexandra; Wijmenga, Cisca; Tahir, Hanan; Comas, David; Netea, Mihai G.; Bertranpetit, Jaume (2015). "The genetics of East African populations: A Nilo-Saharan component in the African genetic landscape". Scientific Reports. 5: 9996. Bibcode:2015NatSR...5E9996D. doi:10.1038/srep09996. PMC 4446898. PMID 26017457.
^Mohamoud YA, Cuadros DF, Abu-Raddad LJ. Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators, QScience Connect 2013:22 doi:10.5339/connect.2013.22
East, as well as in Sudan and Libya. Copts in Egypt account for roughly 5–15 percent of the Egyptian population; Copts in Sudan account for 1 percent of...
Copts in Egypt refers to Coptic Christians born in or residing in Egypt. As of 2019, "Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent...
Copts in Egypt have an Arab identity while Copts in the West tend to identify as "non-Arab", other non-Coptic scholars disagree, stating that "Copts are...
copts were killed in sectarian clashes from 2011 to 2017, and many homes and businesses destroyed. In Minya, 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between...
native Coptic minority, although many Copts in Sudan are descended from more recent Coptic immigrants from Egypt. Copts in Sudan live mostly in northern cities...
The persecution of Copts and discrimination against Coptic Orthodox Christians are historic and widespread issues in Egypt. Their treatment is indicative...
Maria or Mary the Copt may refer to: Mary the Jewess, early alchemist first appearing in Zosimos of Panopolis' (c. 300) writings Maria al-Qibtiyya (died...
Church of Egypt. The attempted union with the Copts failed.[citation needed] The Bull of Union with the Copts denounced Christians who continued to observe...
made up of immigrants from Egypt (see Copts in Egypt). The Coptic population is estimated to number 60,000. The Copts are the largest Christian denomination...
This list of Copts includes notable Copts figures who are notable in their areas of expertise. For saints, please refer to List of Coptic saints. Rami...
religion in Egypt. The vast majority of Egyptian Christians are Copts. As of 2019, Copts in Egypt make up approximately 10 percent of the nation's population...
States. As of 2018, there were some 500,000 Copts living in the United States. The immigration of Copts to the United States started as early as the...
1926 – August 10, 1947), also Apostolic Administrator of Alexandria of the Copts (Egypt) (December 30, 1927 – August 10, 1947); later Coptic Catholic Patriarch...
position for Copts in Egypt. Most Copts live in the south of Egypt but the largest concentrations of Copts lives in Cairo and Alexandria. The Copts, like the...
Churches, the Catholic Church has attempted to achieve reunion with the Copts in Egypt many times. During the Council of Florence in 1442, the Coptic...
Copt Oak is a hamlet in Leicestershire, England. It is located in the North West Leicestershire district near the large village of Markfield and the rural...
(45 percent). Egyptian Jews, Copts and Protestants each made up around 5 percent of arrivals. However, the number of Copts migrating to Australia increased...
the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day. Many of the historic items related to Coptic Christianity...
000 Copts in Canada). Toronto and the surrounding metropolitan region have the largest concentration of Copts in Canada. The immigration of the Copts to...
the country's population, are Orthodox Copts." In 2019, the Associated Press cited an estimate of 10 million Copts in Egypt. In 2015, the Wall Street Journal...
screened at the Vatican Film Library on 15 February 2024. Persecution of CoptsCopts in Libya List of Catholic saints List of venerated persons from Africa...
consists of Copts who live outside of their primary area of residence within parts of present-day Egypt, Libya and Sudan. The number of Copts outside Egypt...
[citation needed] Thus, only Christian Egyptians became known as Copts or Orthodox Copts, and also the non-Chalcedonian Egyptian Church became known as...
February 2018. "Egyptian Copts reject population estimate – Politics". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 28 February 2018. "The Copts and Their Political Implications...
released a report in their online magazine Dabiq showing photos of 21 Egyptian Copts migrant workers that they had kidnapped in the city of Sirte, Libya, and...
million. Copts reside in mainly Egypt, but also in Sudan and Libya, with tiny communities in Israel, Cyprus and Jordan.[citation needed] In Egypt, Copts have...
Retrieved 13 February 2016. Miille, Andrew (3 May 2017). "Catholics and Copts Recognise Shared Baptism". The Philadelphia Trumpet. Archived from the original...
and the Malankara Syrian Church of India, and the Alexandrian Rite of the Copts, Ethiopians and Eritreans. Oriental Orthodox Churches shared communion with...
Eastern Orthodox Mormons Violence against Mormons Oriental Orthodox Armenians Copts Protestants Martyrs (list) Massacre of the Innocents Saint Stephen Carthusian...
ethnic group in the region, followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots. The Middle...