States, Sudan, Canada, Australia, Kuwait
and Libya.
Furthermore, some 400,000 native African adherents are located in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. These members,
while under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church, are not considered
Copts, since they are not ethnic Egyptians.
In Egypt, Muslim-Christian relations
Neal Lineback
have remained relatively peaceful until
recently. The two groups do not live sepaand Mandy Lineback Gritzner
rately and are integrated in most aspects of
daily life. However, Copts have long complained of discrimination in the workplace
and little representation in government. In
Egypt, a person may convert to Islam, but
On New Year’s Day, a car bomb explodnot to Christianity, adding to the perceped in front of a Coptic Orthodox Christian
tion of government bias against Christians.
church in Alexandria, Egypt, killing 21
The attack in Alexandria has shaken
worshippers and injuring 79. The attack is
the once-resilient Christian communithe latest in a wave of violence aimed at
ties across the Muslim world. The EgypChristians in the mostly Muslim Middle
tian government now believes the suicide
East.
bomber was from a homegrown extremist
Despite Islam’s strong hold in the Midgroup, not from an international branch of
dle East, the region is the birthplace of
Al Qaeda, as first reported.
Christianity. In fact, some of the world’s
Christian communities in the Middle
most ancient Christian denominations still
East and North Africa are declining bereside in the Middle East. One of those is
cause of a combination of low birth rates,
the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexanemigration and, in some places, persecudria, whose largest population is in Egypt.
tion. On Christmas Eve, Muslim extremThe majority of Egyptian Christians are
ists killed dozens of Christians in the Ni“Copts,” as the etymological meaning of
gerian cities of Jos and Maiduguri. Iraq’s
the word originally referred to all EgypChristians continue to suffer intimidation
tians, not just those who belonged to
and violence from a local Al Qaeda
the Coptic Orthodox Church. Today,
group. This new religious intolerhowever, the meaning of the
ance is a product of a wave
word describes all Egypof extremism that now
tian Christians.
threatens Christian
Copts make up
minorities across
an
ethno-relithe Middle East
gious
group
and beyond.
with an anC o p t i c
cient history.
Christians
Purported
in Egypt are
to be the
the most redirect decent Chrisscendents
tian group
of the anto endure
cient Egypviolence in
tians, Copts’
an otherwise
ancestors bemostly tolercame Christians
ant society.
And that is
in the early cen1,000-10,000
25,000- 60,000
200,000-1 million
15 Million
Geography in the
turies following
Geography in the News 01/21/11 Source: Estimates, Various Sources T. Smith
News™. January
Christ’s life. Eth21, 2011. #1077.
nically, Copts are
Co-authors are
no different from
Sources: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/01/world/la-fg-egypt-church-attack-20110102;
Neal
Lineback,
other Egyptians—
and http://www.scribd.com/doc/2030540/History-of-the-Coptic-Orthodox-Church
Appalachian
they just never
State
University
converted to Islam
Professor Emeritus of Geography, and
members located throughout the world.
when it came to the country. Currently,
Geographer Mandy Lineback Gritzner.
Members of the Coptic Orthodox Church
one in 10 Egyptians is Christian.
University News Director Jane Nicholson
of Alexandria number about 20 million,
In 451 A.D., the Coptic Orthodox Church
serves as technical editor.
with significant populations in the United
split from the Eastern Orthodox and Ro-
Geography
In The
News™
COPTIC
CHRISTIANS
man Catholic churches due to a theological
dispute about the nature of Christ. Today,
however, the Coptic Orthodox Church’s
doctrine is very similar to that of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In 639 A.D., Muslim armies invaded
Egypt. While the invasion disrupted the
country politically, in a religious sense
Egypt remained mostly Christian. Over
the next centuries, however, Egyptians
gradually converted to Islam, rendering
the country mostly Muslim by the end of
the 12th century.
Today, estimates show that Coptic
Christians represent approximately 9 to 20
percent of the 80 million people in Egypt.
Ninety-five percent of those belong to the
Coptic Orthodox Church while the rest belong to either the Coptic Catholic or other
Coptic Protestant churches.
Accurate population estimates of Christians in the majority Muslim country are
difficult to obtain. Religious animosity and
class differences tend to keep estimates of
Coptic Christians low, as many Christians
prefer not to be “open” about their religious beliefs. Estimates show that Coptic
Christians of all persuasions represent the
largest Christian community in the Middle
East.
While the Coptic Orthodox Church began in Egypt and most of its adherents
live in the country, the church also has
Coptic Christians by Country
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