Wikipedia Deep Dive

Egyptian Americans

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The Copts Who Built America's Egyptian Community

Here's something that might surprise you: the majority of Egyptian Americans aren't Muslim. In a country where Muslims make up roughly 90 percent of the population, most Egyptians who've made their home in America are Coptic Christians—members of one of the oldest Christian traditions on Earth, tracing their roots back nearly two thousand years to the apostle Mark himself.

This demographic flip tells a story about who leaves, why they leave, and what they're leaving behind.

The Numbers Behind the Community

According to the 2016 United States Census, approximately 256,000 Americans claim Egyptian ancestry. Of these, about 182,000 were born in Egypt itself—first-generation immigrants who made the journey across the Atlantic. That might sound like a modest figure in a nation of 330 million, but Egyptian Americans punch well above their weight in education, professional achievement, and cultural influence.

If you want to find Egyptian Americans, head to New York City. The greater New York metropolitan area, stretching into northern New Jersey and Long Island, is home to nearly 40,000 Egyptians—the largest concentration in the country. Los Angeles comes second with about 19,000, followed by the Washington, D.C. corridor. But you'll also find thriving Egyptian communities in unexpected places: Nashville, Tennessee has emerged as a significant hub, as has the Detroit area, particularly around Dearborn, Michigan.

California claims the largest Egyptian population of any state, which makes sense when you consider the pull of good weather, established immigrant networks, and economic opportunity.

Why They Left: A History of Departures

Egyptian migration to America didn't happen all at once. It came in waves, each triggered by upheaval back home.

The first significant wave arrived in the second half of the twentieth century, and these weren't refugees fleeing persecution. They were doctors, engineers, accountants, lawyers, and university professors—Egypt's professional class, drawn by American universities and the promise of career advancement. Many came for graduate degrees and simply never went back.

Then came 1952.

The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 overthrew King Farouk and eventually brought Gamal Abdel Nasser to power. Nasser nationalized industries, implemented land reforms, and pursued a socialist agenda that made many educated Egyptians nervous about their future. The professionals who had the means to leave began doing so.

But 1967 was the real turning point, especially for Copts.

The Six-Day War was a catastrophe for Egypt. In less than a week, Israel decisively defeated the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, seizing the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. The humiliation shook Egyptian society to its core. For Coptic Christians, who already occupied a sometimes uncomfortable position as a religious minority in a predominantly Muslim nation, the defeat and subsequent instability made emigration increasingly attractive.

Between 1967 and 1977, more than 15,000 Egyptians immigrated to the United States alone. That's roughly 1,500 people per year, a substantial flow from a country that had previously sent few emigrants to America.

The Door Opens Wider

American immigration policy played a crucial role in shaping who came and when.

Before 1965, the United States used a quota system that heavily favored immigrants from Western Europe. If you were from Egypt—or most of Asia, Africa, or Southern and Eastern Europe—your chances of getting in were slim. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 changed everything. It abolished the old quota system and instead prioritized family reunification and professional skills.

Suddenly, Egyptian doctors and engineers had a clear path to American residency. The law specifically favored scientists and other professionals, and Egypt had plenty of both.

This policy decision shaped the character of Egyptian America for generations. Because the first wave consisted largely of highly educated professionals, they established networks that pulled in more highly educated professionals. Family reunification provisions meant that siblings and children could follow, and they often brought the same cultural emphasis on education and professional achievement.

The Assassination and Its Aftermath

In 1981, President Anwar Sadat was assassinated during a military parade, shot by extremists within his own army. His successor, Hosni Mubarak, would rule Egypt for the next thirty years.

Those three decades saw Egypt's economy stagnate. Population growth outpaced job creation. Educated young Egyptians found themselves with university degrees and no prospects. The combination of economic frustration and political repression under Mubarak's increasingly authoritarian rule pushed more and more Egyptians to look abroad.

The United States, with its universities, its job market, and its civil liberties, became an obvious destination. So did Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The wealthy Gulf states—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar—attracted Egyptian workers too, though usually as temporary laborers rather than permanent residents.

But for Egyptians who wanted to build new lives rather than just earn money to send home, America remained the dream.

The Arab Spring and Its Refugees

In 2011, Egypt erupted.

The Arab Spring brought millions into the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, and cities across the country. Protesters demanded the end of Mubarak's three-decade rule. They got it—Mubarak resigned in February 2011—but what followed was years of instability, a brief experiment with democratic elections, a military coup, and eventually another authoritarian government under Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The chaos sent a new wave of Egyptians seeking refuge in America. In 2011, 751 Egyptians were granted asylum in the United States. The following year, that number jumped to 2,571—more than triple. These weren't economic migrants seeking better opportunities. They were people fleeing genuine persecution, many of them activists, journalists, and religious minorities caught in the crossfire of Egypt's political turmoil.

By 2016, asylum numbers had dropped back to 690, reflecting both Egypt's relative stabilization under military rule and America's own tightening immigration policies. But the community had grown significantly, and the character of Egyptian America had changed. It now included not just professionals and their families but also political refugees with very different stories to tell.

The Diversity Visa Lottery

There's another pathway to America that plays an outsized role in Egyptian immigration: the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, often called the green card lottery.

Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, this program sets aside 55,000 visas annually for people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Egypt qualifies, and Egyptians apply in large numbers. Winners are selected randomly, but they must meet educational requirements—either a high school diploma or two years of work experience in a field requiring significant training.

In 2016, about 29 percent of Egyptians who obtained legal permanent resident status came through this diversity program. That's an enormous share, especially compared to immigrant groups from countries like Mexico or China, where family reunification dominates the numbers.

The educational requirement built into the diversity visa program has an interesting effect: it selects for educated Egyptians, reinforcing the community's already high educational attainment. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of academic achievement.

The Education Gap

Egyptian Americans are strikingly well-educated. In 2016, Egyptian immigrants were more than twice as likely to hold a bachelor's degree as the general American population. Twenty percent had graduate or professional degrees—doctors, lawyers, engineers with advanced credentials—compared to just 12 percent of Americans overall.

This isn't an accident. It's the result of selective immigration policies, economic conditions in Egypt that pushed educated people to leave, and cultural values that prioritize educational achievement.

Consider the Egyptian job market. Egypt produces university graduates at a prodigious rate, but the economy can't absorb them. Youth unemployment, especially among the educated, has been a chronic problem for decades. An Egyptian with a medical degree might face limited opportunities at home but find American hospitals eager for qualified physicians willing to practice in underserved areas.

The result is a brain drain from Egypt and a brain gain for America.

What They Do

All that education translates into professional success. Nearly half of Egyptian-born Americans work in management, business, science, and arts occupations—the kinds of jobs that typically require advanced degrees and pay accordingly. That's compared to 37 percent of the general American population.

On the flip side, fewer than 4 percent of Egyptian Americans work in natural resources, construction, and maintenance—blue-collar work that employs about 9 percent of Americans overall.

This occupational profile makes Egyptian Americans unusual even among immigrant groups. They're concentrated at the professional end of the job market in ways that few other communities can match.

The Coptic Factor

We return to where we started: the religious composition of Egyptian America.

Copts have lived in Egypt for nearly two millennia. The word "Copt" itself derives from the Greek word for Egyptian, and Coptic Christians see themselves as the true heirs of ancient Egyptian civilization, maintaining a distinct identity even after the Arab conquest brought Islam to Egypt in the seventh century.

Today, Copts make up somewhere between 10 and 15 percent of Egypt's population—the exact number is politically sensitive and hotly debated. They've faced discrimination, occasional violence, and restrictions on building churches. When Egypt experienced political instability, Copts often found themselves vulnerable.

Given all this, it's unsurprising that Copts emigrate at rates far exceeding their share of Egypt's population. A community that represents perhaps one-tenth of Egypt makes up a much larger share of Egyptian America. The Universal Union of Egyptian Expatriates, an organization that connects Egyptians abroad, reports that about 25 to 30 percent of its members are Coptic—still a minority, but a much larger one than in Egypt itself.

Building Institutions

As Egyptian Americans have grown in numbers and prosperity, they've built institutions to serve their community and advocate for their interests.

In 2001, the Universal Union of Egyptian Expatriates was established to connect the estimated six million Egyptians living abroad. In 2012, shortly after the Arab Spring uprisings, a coalition launched the American Egyptian Strategic Alliance to advocate for Egyptian American interests in Washington.

There are cultural associations, professional networks, and religious institutions—Coptic Orthodox churches have proliferated across America, from major cities to suburbs where Egyptian Christian families have clustered.

Notable Egyptian Americans

The list of prominent Egyptian Americans spans sciences, arts, media, and business.

Ahmed Zewail won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 for his pioneering work in femtochemistry—the study of chemical reactions on timescales of femtoseconds (one quadrillionth of a second). His work allowed scientists to observe the actual moment when chemical bonds break and form, something previously thought impossible.

Mohamed Atalla, an Egyptian-born engineer, invented the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, or MOSFET—the fundamental building block of virtually all modern electronics. Every computer, smartphone, and digital device you've ever used depends on technology he pioneered.

In entertainment, Rami Malek won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. Hoda Kotb co-anchors the Today show. Ramy Youssef created and stars in his acclaimed Hulu series exploring the life of a young Egyptian American Muslim.

Bassem Youssef became famous as "the Jon Stewart of Egypt" for his satirical news program that drew millions of viewers during the Arab Spring—until political pressure forced him into exile in America, where he's continued his comedy career.

In finance and policy, Mohamed El-Erian has been one of the most influential voices in economic commentary, while Dina Powell has served in senior positions in both the Trump and Biden administrations.

Looking Forward

Egyptian Americans occupy a unique position in the American mosaic. They're Arab but often Christian. They're immigrants but disproportionately professional. They've built a community that's relatively small in absolute numbers but punches well above its weight in education, professional achievement, and cultural influence.

The community continues to grow, shaped by conditions in Egypt and immigration policies in America. Economic stagnation and political repression push Egyptians to leave. Family reunification and the diversity visa lottery determine who can come. The result is a steady stream of educated Egyptians building lives in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, and Nashville.

What started as a trickle of professors and doctors in the mid-twentieth century has become a substantial community with its own institutions, its own advocacy organizations, and its own distinctive place in American life. The Copts who fled uncertainty after 1967, the professionals who came through diversity visas, the refugees who escaped the chaos of the Arab Spring—they've all contributed to building Egyptian America.

And they're still coming.