Religion in Egypt

Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim (estimated to be 85-95% of the population), with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians (with estimates ranging from 5-15%^{[note 1]}). The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.^[2]

Egypt hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar Mosque, founded in 970 CE by the Fatimids as the first Islamic university in Egypt and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria established in the middle of the 1st century by Saint Mark.^[3]

In Egypt, Muslims and Christians share a common history, national identity, ethnicity, race, culture, and language.^[4]

In 2002, under the Mubarak government, Coptic Christmas (January 7) was recognized as an official holiday,^[5] though Christians complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion.^[6][7]

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