The Coptic people are often mentioned as the children of the ancient Egyptians; they are also among the world’s oldest Christians, having worshipped for over nineteen centuries.    Their history dates back to King Mina, or Menas, who united the northern and southern kingdoms of Egypt around the year 3050 B.C.E.[1]  Thousands of years later, Saint Mark brought Christianity to Egypt.  The Coptic Church is based on his teachings.[2]  Some say that the Copts turned to Christianity because of its compatibility with ancient Egyptian beliefs in life after death.  The Copts, along with many other early Christians throughout the Roman Empire, would go on to experience persecution as a result of their new faith.[3]

Demography

The Copts are the largest minority group in Egypt, comprising between eight and fifteen percent of the population,[4] and numbering six to ten million in all.[5]  However group numbers are constantly decreasing as structural discrimination, harassment and continued hardship have resulted in large-scale emigration over the years.[6]

Geographic Distribution

Due to incomprehensive data collection practices on the part of the Egyptian government, it is difficult to obtain an accurate picture of the Copts’ distribution throughout the country.  Upper Egypt has a slightly higher concentration than other regions of the country, but communities are spread throughout.[7]

Historic Hardship

The Copts have been a targeted group since the Arab invasion of Egypt.  In the 12th century, for example, a crushed uprising led to the hangings of 3,000 Copts.  As non-Muslims, Copts have also had to, at times, pay a protection tax, or jizha, for security.  In addition, in the past, Muslim employers were forbidden from hiring non-Muslims.[8]

Beginning in the 19th century, circumstances for Copts began to improve somewhat; this trend continued until the mid 20th century.  In 1923, new articles were inserted into the Egyptian constitution that banned discrimination on the basis of race, language or religion.[9] 

However, after the 1952 coup d'état by the Free Officers, the situation for Copts began to deteriorate.  One of President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s first acts in office was to alter the constitutional changes made in 1923, a move that highlighted his more regressive take on human rights and religious freedom.[10]

Outside of state-sanctioned discrimination, Copts have also long faced targeted attacks on their places of worship and relics, with church arson and destruction far too frequent occurrences.[11]

Ongoing Hardship

Today, Coptic grievances continue to be myriad.  The construction of Coptic churches is strictly regulated and workers have been arrested for simply conducting routine maintenance, some Copts have been forcefully converted to Islam, and, like other minorities in Egypt, Copts are treated as second class citizens.  Copts are also denied equal rights in matters of inheritance and marriage, and a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism over the past two decades has exacerbated religious tensions and led to targeted violence against them – which the Egyptian government has done little to curb.

A number of targeted attacks against Copts have been documented in recent years in annual reports issued by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the State Department.  In April 2006, a 78-year-old Coptic woman was stabbed to death and 18 others were injured when a Muslim man carried out vicious attacks in three churches in Alexandria.[12]  Earlier in the year, in the village of El-Udaysaat, one Copt was killed and 12 others were injured by a group of Muslims who had become angry upon learning that Coptic villagers had been secretly holding mass in a village guest house.[13]  Also in 2006, a blogger who had written about Copts was barred from attending a Coptic conference in the U.S. and arrested on charges of disseminating false information and disturbing Christian-Muslim relations.[14]  In October 2005, mob violence was incited in Alexandria when thousands of Muslims took to the streets in response to the distribution of DVDs featuring a Coptic play that they considered anti-Islamic.[15]  In 2000, a disagreement between a Coptic shopkeeper and a Muslim customer in El-Kosheh escalated into a violent sectarian clash, leaving 21 Copts dead.  Egypt’s highest court later acquitted 94 of the 96 suspects charged in the incident.[16]

Because of the precarious circumstances that they have faced in their homeland, many Copts in recent decades have emigrated to Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and the U.S.

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