Modern Egypt: Difference between revisions

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Although Arabic is the major language of Egypt, the majority of Egyptians are not ethnically Arab according to the traditional definition; rather, your average Egyptian descends chiefly from the actual Ancient Egyptians, with at most a small number of ancestors hailing from the Arabian Peninsula. Whether or not Egyptians ought to be considered Arabs anyway [[Patriotic Fervor|is a point of contention]]. The Coptic Christian minority tends to identify more with Egypt's native ethnic group — Copts — seeing Arabization and Islam as hand-in-hand representations of foreign invaders (they still speak Arabic as a first language, of course, and Coptic only as a liturgical language). The Muslim majority is more divided: while some emphasize a common Arab identity, others prefer an Egyptian one, and still others prefer to identify with the Muslim ''Ummah'' (community of believers) as a whole. Many more, perhaps most, see no contradiction between the three.

However, Egypt, by dint of its large population (80 million out of ~200 million Arabic-speakers) and other factors, is widely considered to be the center of Arabic culture today: a very large proportion of Arabic movies, [[Soap Opera]]s, music and literature come out of Egypt. In fact, the joke in Arab high culture is that Egypt writes, [[Lebanon]] publishes, and [[Iraq]] reads. The cultural impact of Egypt is—or at least was—great enough to deserve two articles: one on [[Egyptian Culture]], and one on their biggest cultural export, [[Egyptian Movies]].

However, Egypt, by dint of its large population (80 million out of ~200 million Arabic-speakers) and other factors, is widely considered to be the center of Arabic culture today: a very large proportion of Arabic movies, [[Soap Opera]]s, music and literature come out of Egypt. In fact, the joke in Arab high culture is that Egypt writes, [[Lebanon]] publishes, and [[Iraq]] reads. The cultural impact of Egypt is—or at least was—great enough to deserve two articles: one on [[Egyptian Culture]], and one on their biggest cultural export, [[Egyptian Movies]]. (Sadly, they're not written yet.)

Egypt is also a largely Muslim country (80% to 90%), and the native Coptic Christian church (a form of [[Orthodox Christianity|Oriental Orthodoxy]]) provides most of the rest. Despite what you might see in certain media, the numbers of Egyptians still worshiping [[Egyptian Mythology|Ra, Osiris and the others]] are not thought to be great.<ref>[[Neo-Paganism|And anyway, of those that still do there are probably more outside of Egypt than inside]].</ref>