page_title: Coptic diaspora
section_title: Population
hierarchical_section_title: Coptic diaspora / Population
caption_attribution_description: English: St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Bellaire
context_page_description: The Coptic diaspora consists of Copts who live outside of their primary area of residence within parts of present-day Egypt, Libya and Sudan.
  The number of Copts outside Egypt has sharply increased since the 1960s. The largest Coptic diaspora populations are in the United States, in Canada and in Australia, but Copts have a presence in many other countries.
context_section_description: Copts in Egypt make up about 10-20% of the population.
  Copts in Sudan make up about half a million or 1.5% of Sudanese population.
  There are about 60,000 Copts in Libya, 1% of Libyan population, making up the majority of that country's Christian community.
  Outside of the traditional Coptic areas in Egypt, Sudan and Libya, the largest Coptic diaspora populations are in the United States, in Canada and in Australia.
  According to one scholar: "Estimations of the actual number of Egyptian Copts (and their descendants leaving abroad vary enormously, with those circulated by Coptic expatriate activists. The biggest Coptic community abroad, that of the United States, included up to 1,000,000 persons in the late 2010s according to Coptic advocacy groups, but only 300,000 according to the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States itself, and even less—roughly between 100,000 and 200,000—according to the scarce statistical evidence supplied by the Egyptian and U.S. governments." Smaller communities of Copts exist in Australia (estimated 32,000 in 2006) and in Canada (estimates vary: one 2001 estimate placed the population at 10,000 while a 1995 estimate placed the population at 50,000). Smaller communities (under 10,000 people) exist in Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.
  In 2009 one scholar placed the total Coptic population of North America at more than 500,000.
  In 1999, it was reported that there were "over eighty Coptic churches, two theological colleges, and a monastery in the United States in Canada; twenty-five churches, a theological college, three schools, and two monasteries in Australia, and thirty churches and two monasteries in Europe."
  There is also a Coptic presence in Lebanon and Jordan, and well as the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, such as the United Arab Emirates. There is also a Coptic presence (due to recent missionary work) in the sub-Saharan African countries of Zambia, Kenya, Zaire, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.
caption: St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Bellaire, Texas, in the United States.
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