Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East, and the third most populous on the African continent, with about 84 million inhabitants as of 2013. Its population grew rapidly from 1970 to 2010 due to medical advances and increases in agricultural productivity enabled by the Green Revolution. Egypt's population was estimated at only 3 million when Napoleon invaded the country in 1798.
Egypt's people are highly urbanized, being concentrated along the Nile (notably Cairo and Alexandria), in the Delta and near the Suez Canal. Egyptians are divided demographically into those who live in the major urban centers and the fellahin, or farmers, that reside in rural villages.
Ethnic Egyptians are by far the largest ethnic group in the country, constituting 91% of the total population. Ethnic minorities include the Abazas, Turks, Greeks, Bedouin Arab tribes living in the eastern deserts and the Sinai Peninsula, the Berber-speaking Siwis (Amazigh) of the Siwa Oasis, and the Nubian communities clustered along the Nile. There are also tribal Beja communities concentrated in the south-eastern-most corner of the country, and a number of Dom clans mostly in the Nile Delta and Faiyum who are progressively becoming assimilated as urbanization increases.
According to the International Organization for Migration, an estimated 2.7 million Egyptians live abroad. Approximately 70% of Egyptian migrants live in Arab countries (923,600 in Saudi Arabia, 332,600 in Libya, 226,850 in Jordan, 190,550 in Kuwait with the rest elsewhere in the region) and the remaining 30% reside mostly in Europe and North America (318,000 in the United States, 110,000 in Canada and 90,000 in Italy).
Egypt also hosts an unknown number of refugees and asylum seekers, estimated to be between 500,000 and 3 million. There are some 70,000 Palestinian refugees, and about 150,000 recently arrived Iraqi refugees, but the number of the largest group, the Sudanese, is contested. The once-vibrant and ancient Greek and Jewish communities in Egypt have almost disappeared, with only a small number remaining in the country, but many Egyptian Jews visit on religious or other occasions and tourism. Several important Jewish archaeological and historical sites are found in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities.
Languages Main article: Languages of EgyptThe official language of the Republic is Modern Standard Arabic. The spoken languages are: Egyptian Arabic (68%), Sa'idi Arabic (29%), Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic (1.6%), Sudanese Arabic (0.6%), Domari (0.3%), Nobiin (0.3%), Beja (0.1%), Siwi and others. Additionally, Greek, Armenian and Italian are the main languages of immigrants. In Alexandria in the 19th century there was a large community of Italian Egyptians and Italian was the "lingua franca" of the city.
The main foreign languages taught in schools, by order of popularity, are English, French, German and Italian.
Historical Egyptian languages, also known as Copto-Egyptian, consist of ancient Egyptian and Coptic, and form a separate branch among the family of Afro-Asiatic languages. The "Koiné" dialect of the Greek language, though not native to Egypt, was important in Hellenistic Alexandria. It was used extensively in the philosophy and science of that culture, later being the subject of study by Arab scholars.
Religion Main article: Religion in Egypt Religions in Egypt Religions Percent Islam 90.0% Coptic Christianity 9.0% Other Christianity 1.0% Mosque of Muhammad Ali was built between 1828 and 1848 by Ottoman Egyptian wāli Muhammad Ali Pasha in memory of his son Tusun Pasha.Egypt is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with Islam as its state religion. The percentage of adherents of various religions is a controversial topic in Egypt. An estimated 90% are identified as Muslim, 9% as Coptic Christians, and 1% as other Christian denominations
After Islam arrived in the 7th century Egypt emerged as a center of politics and culture in the Muslim world. Under Anwar Sadat, Islam became the official state religion and Sharia the main source of law. It is estimated that 15 million Egyptians follow native Sufi orders, with the Sufi leadership asserting that the numbers are much greater as many Egyptian Sufis are not officially registered with a Sufi order. There is also a minority of Shi'a. The Jewish Center for Public Affairs estimates the Shia population at one to 2.2 million and could measure as much as three million. The Salafi (ultra-conservative) population is estimated at five to six million. Cairo is famous for its numerous mosque minarets and has been dubbed "the city of 1,000 minarets".
Of the Christian minority in Egypt over 90% belong to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Christian Church. Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church of Egypt and various other Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Cairo and Alexandria, the largest formerly being the Christians of Syro-Lebanese, or "Levantine", descent who belong to Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Maronite Catholic denominations. Syro-Lebanese Christians formerly had a much larger community in Egypt before the Nasser regime and the adoption of laws of nationalization. Ethnic Greeks also made up a large Greek Orthodox population in the past. Likewise Armenians made up the then larger Armenian Orthodox and Catholic communities, with Italian Egyptians largely making up the Roman Catholic community.
Egypt hosts two major religious institutions, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, established in the middle of the 1st century CE by Saint Mark the Evangelist, and Al-Azhar University, founded in 970 CE by the Fatimids as the first Islamic University in the world.
Egypt recognizes only three religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Other faiths practiced by Egyptians, such as the small Bahá'í community, are not recognized by the state. Individuals wishing to include such religions on their mandatory state issued identification cards are denied this ability (see Egyptian identification card controversy), and are put in the position of either not obtaining required identification or lying about their faith. A 2008 court ruling allowed members of unrecognized faiths to obtain identification and leave the religion field blank.
Largest cities v t e Largest cities or towns of Egypt world-gazetteer Estimates for 2012 Rank City name Governorate Pop. Rank City name Governorate Pop. ! Cairo Alexandria 1 Cairo Cairo 8,105,071 11 Asyut Asyut 403,202 Giza Shubra El-Kheima 2 Alexandria Alexandria 4,388,219 12 Ismailia Ismailia 352,411 3 Giza Giza 3,348,401 13 Faiyum Faiyum 338,959 4 Shubra El-Kheima Qalyubia 1,072,951 14 Zagazig Al Sharqia 314,331 5 Port Said Port Said 607,353 15 Damietta Damietta 299,296 6 Suez Suez 547,352 16 Aswan Aswan 281,891 7 Luxor Luxor 487,896 17 Minya Minya 253,767 8 Mansoura Dakahlia 480,494 18 Damanhour Beheira 252,017 9 El-Mahalla El-Kubra Gharbia 458,297 19 Beni Suef Beni Suef 223,789 10 Tanta Gharbia 437,793 20 Hurghada Red Sea 223,124
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