What ethnic groups are there in Egypt?

The main nationalities in Egypt are Arabs, Copts, Nubians, Bedouins, Behas and Berbers.

The nationalities in modern Egypt were formed in the process of national assimilation and integration caused by the constant invasion of foreign enemies. In 640, after the Arabs conquered Egypt, they incorporated it into the territory of the Arab Empire. A large number of Arabs poured into Egypt, including 60,000 Herals and Suleimans who were forcibly relocated in the1/kloc-0 century. In the process of living with local aborigines, these Arabs gradually absorbed some indigenous elements and formed a new national structure with Arabs as the main body. Today's Egyptians are the result of the integration of ancient Egyptians and Arabs, who are mixed with other ethnic minorities.

(1) Arabs

Arabs account for more than 87% of the country's population, living in the beautiful and rich Nile Delta, Nile Valley, banks of Suez Canal and desert oasis, engaged in agricultural production and planting crops such as corn, barley, sugarcane, rice and long-staple cotton. Arabs in Egypt belong to the Mediterranean type of Europa race, who speak Arabic and believe in Islam. It is the largest ethnic group in Africa and the vast majority in China.

(2) Copts

Egypt is actually a country with relatively single ethnic composition in Africa, and Copts are its most important minority except Arabs. The word "Coptic" is the phonetic change of the Greek word "Egyptian", and it is also the name that Arabs call the local original residents after entering Egypt. They are descendants of the real ancient Egyptians, and still maintain their own religious beliefs and languages, accounting for about 1 1.8% of the country's population. Copts are mainly distributed in the provinces of Esyut, Megner, Kina and Suhaki in central Egypt, with a few living in Cairo and Alexandria, mainly engaged in traditional handicrafts, commerce and agriculture, and most of them migrate to cities as employees. The Coptic ancestors accepted Christianity about 250 years ago, forming a Coptic Sect with the unity of man and god. Copts have maintained the original cultural characteristics and styles of ancient Egypt to some extent in calendar, architecture, sculpture, painting and hand-weaving. In order to maintain the traditional national characteristics, Copts' social relations are relatively close and closed, and they refuse to marry foreigners, thus forming a special group in Egyptian society.

(3) Nubians

Nubians living in southern Egypt are one of the ethnic minorities in southern Egypt, with about 200,000 people, accounting for 0.5% of the national population. Nubia is tall and dark, and belongs to the black people in Sudan, so it looks very close to the black people in Africa. They speak Nubian, their mother tongue. Descendants of the aborigines of the Nile valley. Its ancestors made great contributions to the creation of ancient Egyptian civilization, and also established a highly civilized Mero Kingdom in the 6th and 4th centuries BC. There were ancient Chinese characters in the eighth to eleventh centuries, which were later replaced by Arabic characters. Today, the vast majority of Nubians live in Sudan, and most of those who stay in Egypt are concentrated in the southern Kumwambu area. Influenced by Arabic culture, most of them speak Arabic, believe in Islam and belong to Sunnis. However, its traditional society still retains cultural customs similar to those of African aborigines, such as polygamy, male circumcision and female seclusion. Nubians who stayed in the countryside engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, while those who entered the city made a living by handicrafts and commerce.

(4) Bedouins

Bedouin is one of the inhabitants of the Egyptian desert, with a population of about 1 10,000, accounting for 0.25% of the country. They are descendants of the Arab Herar tribe, whose ancestors originally lived in the central plateau of the Arabian Peninsula. After they moved to North Africa in the 1 1 century, most of them were scattered in the Maghreb and a few stayed in Egypt. Bedouins in Egypt can be roughly divided into three parts:

(1) magyars, distributed in Sinai Peninsula;

(2) Baha 'is, distributed in Baha 'i Oasis and Fort Laffrat;

(3) Sadi people, distributed in the Kata Basin and Sitra Oasis in the northwest.

These Bedouins who live a nomadic or semi-nomadic life, together with the nomadic people living in West Asia and North Africa, are collectively called "Bedouins", which means "desert nomads" to distinguish them from settled Arabs. They have largely retained the social form, moral customs and lifestyle of the original Arabian Peninsula residents, lived in tents, are good at riding horses, are brave and generous, and are the most capable Arabs today.

A branch that embodies the characteristics of traditional Arab nomads. They continue the tribal organization and internal marriage system of their ancestors, speak Arabic and believe in Islam, and most of them belong to Wahhabism. Bedouins in the desert live a nomadic life, raising horses, camels and sheep; On the other hand, Bedouins in the oasis mainly manage farms and grow dates and grains.

(5) Behas

Behas (also translated as "bejas") is another ethnic minority in the southeast of Egypt, with about 654.38+00000 people, mainly distributed in the desert areas in the southeast, belonging to a branch of the Ethiopian Kuhits, mainly the Bishalin tribe. Residents of the same ethnic group are mostly distributed in northern Sudan and northwestern Ethiopia, and they are one of the non-ethnic groups in northeast China. Bejas has its own Beza Bishalin dialect. The language has no characters, belonging to the Cusiti family of Semite language family, but most of them can speak Arabic. They have lived a nomadic life so far, living in simple tents and having no fixed place. Its social structure is paternalistic, and the date of migration is usually decided by the patriarch. They migrated in groups of three and five, mainly raising camels and sheep, and planting a small amount of sorghum, millet and dates in some areas.

(6) Berbers

Berbers, about 5,000 people, belong to the Europa Mediterranean type. They mainly live in the Siva Oasis in the northwest of Egypt, so they are also called Siva people. Their mother tongue, Berber, is only an oral language, with no writing, but most of them can speak Arabic. The traditional society of this nation practices polygamy, and both men and women are circumcised. Daily life is mainly about planting dates, olives and grains.

(7) Other immigrant groups

In addition to the above-mentioned ethnic minorities of African descent, there are also some immigrants from other groups living in big cities in northern Egypt, mainly Armenians (about 50,000), Greeks (about 40,000) and Italians (about 20,000). Today's foreign immigrants mainly moved in after the Middle Ages, especially after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in the16th century, among which Armenians were mostly soldiers living in China. They are mainly distributed in big cities such as Alexandria and Cairo, and retain their own Christian beliefs. They speak their own national language in their own society and use Arabic and English in public. The life of these groups of immigrants in cities is relatively stable and the economy is guaranteed. Most of them are engaged in business and service industries, such as opening cafes, hotels and shops, while others make a living by cottage industry and technical work.