Islam in Egypt: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Egypt

The Arab Republic of Egypt has a total area of 1,001,450 sq km includingthe Sinai Peninsula (59,570 sq km) which is in Asia. The map of Egypt ispresented in Figure 3.1.3. It was taken by the British from the OttomanEmpire in 1882 and gained its independence from the UK in 1922. It wasconquered by Muslims in 20H/641AD during the reign of Caliph Omarbnul Khattab. The Muslim troops were led by the Prophet companion Amru bnul Aass and the territories remained under Muslim controlsince then

Based on census data and as shown in Table 3.1.3, the Muslimpopulation increased from 3.4 million or 92.7% in 1848, to 4.2 million or92.5% in 1868, to 9.0 million or 92.2% in 1897, to 10.4 million or 91.8% in1907, to 11.7 million or 91.4% in 1917, to 12.9 million or 91.0% in 1927, to14.6 million or 91.4% in 1937, to 17.4 million or 91.7% in 1947, to 24.1million or 92.8% in 1960, to 27.9 million or 92.9% in 1966, to 34.3 millionor 93.7% in 1976, to 45.4 million or 94.1% in 1986, to 56 million or 94.4%in 1996, to 69 million or 94.7% in 2006. And according to the WorldValues Survey (WVS), the percentage of Muslims was 96.9% in 2017.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will increase by onetenth of a percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population isexpected to reach 155 million or 97.2% by 2050 and 200 million or 97.7%by 2100.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Egypt

The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.