Egyptian Australians#History

{{Short description|Australians of Egyptian descent}}

{{infobox ethnic group

| group = Egyptian Australians

| population = 100,000+ (Membership, 2017){{cite web| url = https://www.ncca.org.au/ncca-newsletter/september-2017-1/item/1141-our-churches#:~:text=An%20estimated%20100%2C000%20Australians%20are,located%20in%20Sydney%20and%20Melbourne = dead}} Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288.
36,532 (by country of birth, 2011){{cite web|title=2011 QuickStats Country of Birth (Egypt)|url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/4102_0|website=Censusdata.abs.gov.au|access-date=2013-05-22|archive-date=2017-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829033638/http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/4102_0|url-status=dead}}

| popplace = Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Newcastle, Brisbane

| langs = Australian English, Egyptian Arabic, Coptic, Nobiin, Sa'idi Arabic

| rels = Christianity (Majority)

Islam, Baháʼí, Judaism (Minority).

| related-c = Egyptians, Copts, Coptic Australians Egyptian diaspora, Arab Australians, Egyptian Americans, Egyptian Canadians

}}

File:Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1456 Egypt Total.svg

Egyptian Australians ({{langx|ar|مصريون أستراليون}}) are Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents of Egyptian descent. According to the Australian 2011 Census, 36,532 Australian citizens and permanent residents declared that they were born in Egypt, while based on the 2006 Census, at least an additional 31,786 declared that they were of full or partial Egyptian ancestry and born in a country other than Egypt (including most numerously Australian-born persons of full or partial Egyptian ancestry).{{cite web| url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?breadcrumb=POLTD&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&subaction=-1&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&documentproductno=0&textversion=false&documenttype=Details&collection=Census&javascript=true&topic=Ancestry&action=404&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&order=1&period=2006&tabname=Details&areacode=0&navmapdisplayed=true&| title = 20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia| format = Microsoft Excel download| publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics| work = 2006 Census| access-date = 2008-06-02| archive-date = 2019-01-06| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190106221802/http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect| url-status = dead}} Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288. The 2021 Census shows that the majority of Egypt-born Australians are located in Sydney (19,680) and Melbourne (13,312).{{cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/4102_2GMEL|title= Melbourne}}{{cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/4102_1GSYD|title= Sydney}}

The majority of Egyptian Australians are Christians, which is in contrast to the religious affiliation to Islam of the majority of the population of ethnic Egyptians within modern Egypt. Some 19,928 Australian citizens and residents declared membership of the Coptic Orthodox Church at the 2006 Census.{{cite web|url=http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/download?format=xls&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Religious|title=Redirect to Census data page|website=Censusdata.abs.gov.au|access-date=28 August 2017|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021092754/https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/cowsredirect|url-status=dead}} Most Egyptian Christians, however, may simply have declared themselves "Christian" without specifying the Coptic denomination, while other Egyptian Christians may belong to various other denominations, either born into or converted. In 2003, however, it was claimed in the New South Wales Parliament that there were in fact 70,000 Copts in New South Wales alone.{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC20031112040|title=Coptic Orthodox Church (NSW) Property Trust Amendment Bill|work=Parliament of New South Wales, Hansard|date=12 November 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304202701/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC20031112040|archive-date=4 March 2015}} An additional 1,890 persons in the 2006 Census reported themselves as being of "Coptic" ancestry. The term Coptic ordinarily refers to adherents of Coptic Christianity, but when used as a term referring to ethnicity means "Egyptian" (almost always in the context of Coptic Christian Egyptians). The 1,890 persons who described their ancestry as "Coptic" are thus most likely Egyptian Australians. Copt as an ethnonym is etymologically derived from the Greek "Aiguptious," literally meaning "Egyptian," from the Late Egyptian word "Gyptios", via the Classical Arabic "Qubt", into the English "Copt". The word ordinarily refers to Coptic Christian Egyptians, though there have been instances of Muslim Egyptians referring to themselves as "Copts" to emphasise the non-Arabian ancestral origin of Egyptians in general.[115][116]

History

First history of short term Egyptians migrants in Australia dates back to 1860s to 1900 period when small groups of mainly Muslim cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to service South Australia's inland pastoral industry by carting goods and transporting wool bales by camel trains, who were commonly referred to as "Afghans" or "Ghans", despite their origin often being mainly from British India, and some even from Afghanistan and Egypt and Turkey.{{cite web|url=http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers|title=Afghan cameleers in Australia|work=Stories of Australia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805054200/http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers |archive-date=5 August 2016}}{{cite journal|title=Traces of the cameleers: Landscape archaeology and landscape perception|journal=Australasian Historical Archaeology|first=Rebecca|last=Parkes|year=2009|volume=27|pages=88–98|url=https://asha.org.au/pdf/australasian_historical_archaeology/27_04_Parkes.pdf}}{{rp|88}}

Permanent emigration from Egypt began in the late 1940s and 1950s, disproportionately so for non-ethnic Egyptian minorities escaping the growing Arab nationalist movement in Egypt which saw the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy and the subsequent Suez Crisis.{{cite web|url=http://museumvictoria.com.au/origins/history.aspx?pid=15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730032437/http://museumvictoria.com.au/origins/history.aspx?pid=15|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 30, 2008|title=Origins: History of immigration from Egypt - Immigration Museum, Melbourne Australia|website=Museumvictoria.com.au|access-date=28 August 2017}}

In total numbers, Egyptian Christians were the largest contingent of emigrants to leave Egypt for other countries, including to Australia. Christians were the second largest in terms of proportion to their original community size in Egypt. Egyptian Jews, as a proportion of their original community size in Egypt, were the largest emigrant community to leave Egypt (they were the second largest in total numbers). The number of Jews in Egypt numbered around 75,000 in 1948; following the establishment of the State of Israel that same year, most of the population left, starting the Jewish exodus from Arab lands, and settling largely in Israel, USA, Europe, Latin America, with around 2,000 settling in Australia.{{cite web|url=http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/1145/1/01front.pdf|title=The Migration Experience of the Jews of Egypt to Australia 1948 – 1967, Rachel Marlene Barda|website=Ses.library.usyd.edu.au|access-date=28 August 2017}} The Egyptian Jewish population in Australia is concentrated particularly in Adelaide, South Australia.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaustralia.com/?Page=communityhistory|title=Jewish Australia|first=Jewish Australia Online|last=Network|website=Jewishaustralia.com|access-date=28 August 2017}} Officially, only 6 Jews remain in Egypt today.{{cite web|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-s-jewish-community-diminished-6-women-after-death-lucy-saul|title=Egypt's Jewish community diminished to 6 women after death of Lucy Saul - Egypt Independent|date=30 July 2016|website=Egyptindependent.com|access-date=28 August 2017}}

Notable people

See also

References

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