Copts (Coptic: ⲚⲓⲢⲉⲙ̀ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀Ⲭⲣⲏⲥⲧⲓ̀ⲁⲛⲟⲥ, romanized: NiRemenkēmi enKhristianos; Arabic: أقباط, romanized: Aqbāṭ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Egypt who have inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptian population, descended from the ancient Egyptians. Copts predominantly follow the Coptic Orthodox Church, with a minority in the Coptic Catholic Church. They are the largest Christian population in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as in Sudan and Libya. Copts account for roughly 5 to 15 percent of the population of Egypt.
Originally referring to all Egyptians, the term Copt became synonymous with native Christians in light of Egypt's Islamization and Arabization after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 639–646 AD. Copts have historically spoken the Coptic language, a direct descendant of the Demotic Egyptian that was spoken in late antiquity.
Following the Arab Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century, the treatment of the Coptic Christians who did not convert ranged from relative tolerance to open persecution. Historically, the Copts suffered from waves of persecution giving way to relative tolerance in cycles that varied according to the local ruler and other political and economic circumstances. Themes of persecution and martyrdom constitute a significant part of Coptic identity due to historic and current conflicts.
Most Copts adhere to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. The smaller Coptic Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church, in communion with the Holy See of Rome; others belong to the Evangelical Church of Egypt. Under Islamic rule, the Copts held important administrative and commercial positions. Copts also played an integral role in the Arab Renaissance (known as Al-Nahda). They contributed to Egypt's social and political life and key debates such as pan-Arabism, governance, educational reform, and democracy. They have historically flourished in business affairs.
While an integral part of broader Egyptian society and culture, Copts also preserve distinct religious traditions and some unique cultural elements. Coptic music is thought to incorporate some influences from earlier Egyptian musical traditions. Copts also maintain the use of the Coptic calendar, which is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar, and remains significant in their liturgical practices.
Many Copts view Arab identity as closely associated with Islam and may not fully identify with it, but they also have a national identity shared with other Egyptians. Copts and Muslim Egyptians are recognized as being physically indistinguishable. In urban cities of Egypt such as Cairo and Alexandria, Copts have a relatively high educational attainment, wealth index, and a strong representation in white-collar job types. Copts also face unique challenges, with most living in Upper Egypt—far from national core cities—working in blue collar jobs and having limited representation in the security agencies which dominate national politics. The majority of demographic, socio-economic, and health indicators are similar among Coptic Christians and Muslims in Egypt.
The English language adopted the word Copt in the 17th century from Neo-Latin Coptus, which derives from the Arabic collective Qubṭ/Qibṭ (قبط), with the demonym Qubṭī/Qibṭī (قبطى), plural Aqbāṭ (أقباط); another variation is Qufṭī/Qifṭī (where the Arabic /f/ reflects the historical Coptic /p/). These are Arabizations of the Coptic word ⲁⲓⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲛ (aiguption), Bohairic for "Egyptian" or in relation to Egypt, or ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲁⲓⲟⲛ (kuptaion), in Sahidic. The Coptic word in turn represents an adaptation of the Greek term for the indigenous people of Egypt, Aigýptios (Αἰγύπτιος).
The Greek term for Egypt, Aígyptos (Ancient Greek: Αἴγυπτος), itself derives from the Egyptian language, but dates to a much earlier period, being attested already in Mycenaean Greek as a3-ku-pi-ti-jo (lit. "Egyptian"; used here as a man's name). This Mycenaean form likely comes from Middle Egyptian ḥwt kꜣ ptḥ (reconstructed pronunciation: /ħawitˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/ → /ħajiʔˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/ → /ħəjˌkuʔpəˈtaħ/, Egyptological pronunciation Hut-ka-Ptah), literally meaning the "estate/palace of the kꜣ ("double" spirit) of Ptah" (compare Akkadian āluḫi-ku-up-ta-aḫ), the name of the temple complex of the god Ptah at Memphis (and a synecdoche for the city of Memphis and the region around it).
The term Aigýptios in Greek came to designate the native Egyptian population in Roman Egypt (as distinct from Greeks, Romans, Jews, etc.). After the Muslim conquest of Egypt (639–646), it became restricted to those Egyptians adhering to Christianity.
In their historic Coptic language, which represents the final stage of the Egyptian language, there is no distinct term equivalent to Copt as a designation separate from Egyptian. Instead, terms such as rem en kēme (in the Sahidic dialect) ⲣⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲉ, lem en kēmi (Fayyumic), and rem en khēmi (Bohairic) ⲣⲉⲙ̀ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ are attested, all of which literally mean "people of Egypt" or "Egyptians"; cf. Egyptian rmṯ n kmt, Demotic rmt n kmỉ. This is not unique to Coptic, as many community endonyms translate simply to "people", though it is understood that by saying "people", an in-group is being referred to. For example, the term Inuit means "the people", and the term Romani derives from words referring to "man" or "people". To an extent it was not necessary to make a distinction between "person of Egypt" as someone other than a Copt throughout much of history, as other groups residing in Egypt (such as the Greeks) had recognized ethnonyms in Coptic, such as "Hellene", that were sufficient. In the medieval era, there also was not always a distinction made between the Christian Copts and their pre-Christian ancestors, and the same ethnonym was sometimes used for both, which means that the identity to the culture of being "Coptic" was not as tightly tied to Christianity as it commonly is today (though it was still often placed as in opposition to being Muslim, usually by Muslims themselves, who ceased identifying a family as "Coptic" after the first generation of converts to Islam).
The Arabic word Qibṭ (Copt) has also been connected to the Greek name of the town of Kóptos (Koine Greek: Κόπτος, now Qifṭ; Coptic Kebt and Keft) in Upper Egypt. This association may have contributed to making "Copt" the settled form of the name.
In the 20th century, some Egyptian nationalists and intellectuals in the context of Pharaonism began using the term Qubṭ in the historical sense to refer to all Egyptians, both Christians and Muslims.
After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., the country came under the rule of Greek Ptolemaic kings. While the majority of the population remained Egyptian, foreign settlers of both Greek and non-Greek origin immigrated to Egypt during that period. While 10% may stand as a very approximate figure for the total immigrant population in Ptolemaic Egypt, including both Greeks and non-Greeks, this figure has been challenged as excessive. The native Egyptian population, which remained Egyptian in language and culture, spoke the latest stage of the Egyptian language, which came to be known later as Coptic. The creation of Coptic as a coherent writing system to express the Egyptian language undoubtedly served to cement the distinction between the native population in Egypt and the ruling Greeks.
Despite the presence of these immigrants and a foreign pharaoh, Egypt remained home primarily to Egyptians, by far the largest group within the population. In fact, most of the rural and urban native population that lived in towns, villages and hamlets the length of the Nile Valley continued their lives little changed during the rule of the Ptolemies. Even in Alexandria, the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt and the largest Greek city outside of Greece, the number of native Egyptians far outnumbered that of Greeks. In numbers and in culture, Egypt remained essentially Egyptian, even as foreign communities were incorporated into the life of the country. Over time, the small numbers of foreigners were integrated into the Egyptian population so that, when Rome took control of Egypt in 30 BC, the vast majority of Greeks in Egypt were essentially categorized by the Roman conquerors as Egyptians.