Копт=Копти
A
Copt is a native
Egyptian Christian. Today, more than 95% of the Copts belong to the
Coptic Orthodox Church. The remaining (around 500,000) are divided between the
Coptic Catholic Church and Coptic
Protestant churches. The Copts are by far the largest Christian community in
North Africa and the
Middle East.
The number of Copts in
Egypt has been subject to some controversy. Coptic sources put forward figures ranging from 14% to 20% (between 10 and 15 million), but the Egyptian government insists that Copts represent about 6% (4 million) of the Egyptian population. Part of the controversy could be attributed to the increasing number of Copts born outside Egypt and who do not carry Egyptian passports. The number of Copts within Egypt may be very slowly declining due to higher emigration rates caused by harassment and discrimination at the hands of
Islamist militants and the Egyptian government, as well as lower birth rates compared to Muslims. The 2006
World Factbook estimates that 7.6 million or 10% of
Egyptians are Christian (9% Coptic and 1% other denominations).
[2]
Egyptian Copts have occasionally been on the receiving end of violent acts from Islamic extremist groups. Copts have leveled the accusation that the Egyptian government has sometimes been complicit or uncaring in the face of such incidents.
[3]
eferences to Copts in the Coptic language are both Greek and Coptic in origin. The words
kuptaion (Sahidic) and
kubti (Bohairic) are attested, but are used in the surviving texts to refer to the language, rather than the people; these both derive from Greek Αἴγύπτιος
aiguptios "Egyptian".
Coptic, kubti, qubtiy na arapski, ѓупци на нашки, значи грците се чупци.
