The Coptic Church

opulation Egypt 6,500,000 10% Israel 700 <0.1% Jordan 2,000 <0.1% Libya 50,000 1% Syria 65,000 0.4% TOTAL *) 6,700,000 1.7% Other countries 3,500,000 *) Calculated for the total population of North Africa and the Middle East, approx. 460,000,000.

The Coptic church is the by far largest Christian group in both Egypt as well as in North Africa/Middle East. According to government figures there are about 2 million Copts in Egypt, but this is not correct. 6.5 million is a realistic estimate.
One of the main reasons for the discrepancy between official governmental figures and actual church adherence is that many Copts do not register their religious affiliation in official papers in order to avoid future discrimination.
The name — from Greek (Aigyptos), throughArabic (qubt) — points in a direction of the Egyptian national origins.
The term, Coptic Church, is sometimes used for the Ethiopian church, too, but this bodym now the Ethiopian Orthodox, declared itself independent from its Egyptian heritage in 1959, and does not accept the term 'Coptic' for itself.
The church is headed by the Pope and Patriarchof Alexandria, Pentapolis and Ethiopia, but he now resides in Cairo. The election of the pope is carried out by both clergy and laity who select from 3 nominees.
There are presently 12 monasteries in Egypt, with around 600 monks. In 6 convents, there are around 300 nuns. The largest monasteries, and most famous, are at Wadi Natrun.
In its early history, the Egyptian church was of great importance to the development of early Christianity. Clement of 2nd century and Origen of the 3rd century were some of the most central Christian personalities in their time. The first Christian monastery, was formed inside the Egyptian church.
The Coptic liturgy is based on the Greek rite of Alexandria, but after the 4th century, it developed its own distinct characteristics. This development happened mainly in the monasteries. Today, it is performed in both Coptic and Arabic.
The Coptic church's relationship with the governments of Egypt has sometimes been difficult, but today the Copts and the Muslims are not treated very differently in comparison with earlier decades. The Copts have, however, recently faced attacks from militant Islamists in Egypt, and there has been some emigration of the Copts.
The Coptic church is active in talks with other smaller churches, and has also found a basis for solving theological differences with the Eastern Orthodox church, recognizing that political and verbal distinctions throughout history sometimes formed the basis for disunity.