Egyptian Americans

Egyptian Americans are the immigrants and their descendants from Egypt, a country of 73.4 million people, as of 2007 estimates. Egyptian Americans represent one of the many diverse groups of the Arab nation, which includes Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Yemen. According to the 2000 census, 113,395 people born in Egypt were resident in the United States, of whom 59.1% were citizens. This entry will look at the background of immigration from Egypt to the United States and the contemporary picture of Egyptian Americans.

Immigration Patterns

Immigration patterns of Egyptians vary from those related to other countries in the Arab world. Egyptian immigration to the United States is comparatively recent, beginning in the second half of the 20th century. Egyptian Americans identify themselves religiously as either Christian Copts or Muslims. Shortly after the 1952 Gamal Nasser revolution, most Egyptian immigrants arriving in the United States were Copts. Because they were a minority in Egypt, they were greatly affected by the social change occurring and had limited economic and educational opportunities. Parents encouraged children to study abroad and make a better life for themselves.

A second wave of Egyptian Coptic immigration occurred during the 1970s, and many of these people were granted visas as refugees fleeing from religious persecution. Muslim Egyptians immigrated for economic and educational reasons; however, some came to the United States because of political uncertainty, others to escape the effects of the Egyptian-Israeli war. Egyptian immigrants (both Copt and Muslim) have arrived steadily since the 1970s.