Coptic diaspora

Coptic diaspora
Total population
1 - 2 million (estimates vary)
Regions with significant populations
 United States c. 100,000 to 1 million (late 2010s) estimate[1]
 Canada c. 50,000 (1995 estimate); 10,000 (2001 estimate)[2][1]
 Australia 32,000 (2006)[1]
 Kuwait 65,000[3]
 Italy c. 30,000[4]
 United Kingdom 25,000 – 30,000 (2006)[5]
 United Arab Emirates c. 10,000[6]
 Jordan 8,000+ (2005)[7]
 Kenya 8,000+[8][9]
 Lebanon 3,000 – 4,000 (2012)[10]
 Germany 3,000[11]
 Austria 2,000 (2001)[12]
  Switzerland 1,000 (2004)[13]
Languages
Diaspora: English, French and others
Only in Egypt, Sudan, Libya spoken: Arabic
Liturgical: Coptic language
Religion
Predominantly: Coptic Orthodox Christianity.
Minorities: Coptic Catholicism; various Protestant minorities

The Coptic diaspora 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 has sharply increased since the 1960s. The largest Coptic diaspora populations are in the United States, in Canada and in Australia, but Copts have a presence in many other countries.

Population

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Bellaire, Texas, in the United States.
Coptic flag.

Coptic population in Egypt is at about 9 million or 10% of Egyptian population.[14]

Coptic population in Sudan is at about half a million or 1% of Sudanese population.[16] There are about 60,000 Copts in Libya, making up the majority of that country's Christian community.[17]

There are about 60,000 Copts in Libya, 1% of Libyan population, [18] making up the majority of that country's Christian community.[19]

Outside of the traditional Coptic areas in Egypt, Sudan and Libya, the largest Coptic diaspora populations are in the United States, in Canada and in Australia.[20]

According to one scholar: "Estimations of the actual number of Egyptian Copts (and their descendants leaving abroad vary enormously, with those circulated by Coptic expatriate activists being almost certainly grossly exaggerated. The biggest Coptic community abroad, that of the United States, included up to 1,000,000 persons in the late 2010s according to Coptic advocacy groups, but only 300,000 according to the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States itself, and even less—roughly between 100,000 and 200,000--according to the scarce statistical evidence supplied by the Egyptian and U.S. governments."[1] Smaller communities of Copts exist in Australia (estimated 32,000 in 2006)[1] and in Canada (estimates vary: one 2001 estimate placed the population at 10,000[1] while a 1995 estimate placed the population at 50,000[2]). Smaller communities (under 10,000 people) exist in Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.[1]

In 2009 one scholar placed the total Coptic population of North America at more than 500,000.[21]

In 1999, it was reported that there were "over eighty Coptic churches, two theological colleges, and a monastery in the United States in Canada; twenty-five churches, a theological college, three schools, and two monasteries in Australia, and thirty churches and two monasteries in Europe."[22]

There is also a Coptic presence in Lebanon and Jordan, and well as the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, such as the United Arab Emirates.[23] There is also a Coptic presence (due to recent missionary work) in the sub-Saharan African countries of Zambia, Kenya, Zaire, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.[24]

Causes and history of the Coptic diaspora

The Coptic diaspora began primarily in the 1950s and was driven by the result of growing Islamization in Egypt, as well as discrimination and persecution of Copts in Egypt.[21][20][25][26] After Gamal Abdel Nasser rose to power, economic and social conditions deteriorated and many wealthier Egyptians, especially Copts, emigrated to Europe and the United States.[26][20] Emigration increased following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the emigration of poorer and less-educated Copts increased after 1972, when the World Council of Churches and other religious groups began assisting Copt immigration.[26] Emigration of Egyptian Copts increased under Anwar al-Sadat (with many taking advantage of Sadat's "open door" policy to leave the country) and under Hosni Mubarak.[20]

Many Copts are university graduates in the professions, such as medicine and engineering.[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sebastian Elsässer, The Coptic Question in the Mubarak Era (Oxford University Press, 2014), p. 77.
  2. 1 2 Charles D. Smith, "The Egyptian Copts: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Definition of Identity of a Religious Minority" in Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies (ed. Maya Shatzmiller: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005), p. 60 (giving 1995 estimate).
  3. ↑ "Kuwait". State.gov. November 8, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  4. ↑ Le religioni in Italia. La Chiesa Copta (Religions in Italy. Coptic Church)
  5. ↑ Copts number at least 20,000 in Britain "Archived copy". 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)
  6. ↑ 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."
  7. ↑ "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.
  8. ↑ Come Across And Help Us Book 2 Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ CopticMission Archived January 31, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ Adherents.com: By Location
  12. ↑ Austria 2004 Religious Freedom news
  13. ↑ "Orthodox Copts open church in Switzerland". Swissinfo.org. July 17, 2004. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
  14. ↑ Official population counts put the number of Copts at around 16–18% of the population, while some Coptic voices claim figures as high as 23%. While 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), most 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% and 20%,[15] for example the CIA World Factbook "Egypt". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 27 August 2010., Khairi Abaza and 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. Retrieved 27 August 2010. Furthermore, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Khairi Abaza and 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 Copts in Egypt to be up to 20% of the Egyptian population.
  15. ↑ "Egyptian Coptic protesters freed". BBC. 22 December 2004.
  16. ↑ Minority 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]
  17. ↑ Jason Morgan et al., Culture and Customs of Libya (ABC-CLIO, 2012), p. 40.
  18. ↑ Looklex Encyclopedia: 1% of Libya's population (6 million), or 60,000 people in Libya, adhere to the Coptic Orthodox faith
  19. ↑ Jason Morgan et al., Culture and Customs of Libya (ABC-CLIO, 2012), p. 40.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "Diaspora, Copts in the" at The A to Z of the Coptic Church (ed. Gawdat Gabra: Scarecrow Press, 2009), pp. 91-92.
  21. 1 2 Seteney Shami, "'Aqualliyya/Minority in Modern Egyptian Discourse" in Words in Motion: Toward a Global Lexicon (eds. Carol Gluck & Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing: Duke University Press, 2009), p. 168.
  22. ↑ Otto Friedrich August Meinardus, Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (American University in Cairo Press: 1999), p. 81.
  23. ↑ Otto Friedrich August Meinardus, Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (American University in Cairo Press: 1999), p. 129.
  24. ↑ Otto Friedrich August Meinardus, Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (American University in Cairo Press: 1999), p. 123.
  25. ↑ Afe Adogame, The African Christian Diaspora: New Currents and Emerging Trends in World Christianity (A & C Black, 2013), p. 72.
  26. 1 2 3 Ken Parry, The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), p. 107.

External links

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