Christianity in the Holy Land
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|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 12–16 million (2011) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Egypt
|
8.9 million (est.) |
 Syria
|
1,700,000–2,300,000 (2011) |
 Lebanon
|
1,500,000–1,800,000 (2011) |
 Cyprus
|
793,000 (2008) |
 Iraq
|
300,000 (490,000) |
 Iran
|
300,000–370,000 |
 Jordan
|
175,000–400,000 |
 Israel
|
144,000 (196,000) |
 Turkey
|
120,000 (310,000) |
 Palestine
|
50,000 (75,000) |
 Bahrain
|
1,000 (88,000) |
 Kuwait
|
400(450,000) |
 Yemen
|
<100 (41,000) |
 Qatar
|
<10 (168,000) |
 Saudi Arabia
|
0 (1,200,000) |
 United Arab Emirates
|
0 (944,000) |
 Oman
|
0 (120,000) |
| Languages | |
| Arabic, Aramaic (Syriac), Coptic, Armenian, Greek, Georgian, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, Bulgarian | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity | |
|
[a].^ (including foreign residents) |
|
8.9 million (est.)
6–11 million (2011)
Christianity, which originated in the Middle East in the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion of the region. Christianity in the Middle East is characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to other parts of the Old World. Christians now make up 10%-15% of the Middle Eastern population, down from 20% in the early 20th century.Cyprus is the only Christian Majority country in the Middle East, with the Christian percentage ranging between 76% and 78% of mainly Eastern Orthodox Christianity (i.e. most of the Greek population). Proportionally, Lebanon has the 2nd highest rate of Christians in the Middle East, with a percentage ranging between 39% and 40.5% of mainly Maronite Christians, followed by Egypt where Christians (especially Coptic Christians) and others account for about 10% and 23% according to different sources.
The largest Christian group in the Middle East is the previously Coptic speaking but today mostly Arabic-speaking Egyptian Copts, who number 15–21 million people, although Coptic sources claim the figure is closer to 12–16 million. Copts reside mainly in Egypt, but also in Sudan and Libya, with tiny communities in Israel, Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia.
The Eastern Aramaic speaking indigenous Assyrians of Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and northeastern Syria, who number 2–3 million, have suffered both ethnic and religious persecution for many centuries, such as the Assyrian Genocide conducted by the Ottoman Turks and their allies, leading to many fleeing and congregating in areas in the north of Iraq and northeast of Syria. The great majority of Assyrians are followers of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Ancient Church of the East, Assyrian Pentecostal Church and Assyrian Evangelical Church. In Iraq, the numbers of Assyrians has declined to between 300,000 and 500,000 (from 0.8–1.4 million before 2003 US invasion). Assyrian Christians were between 800,000 and 1.2 million before 2003. During 2014, the Assyrian population of large parts North Iraq largely collapsed due to the persecution and extermination by ISIL.
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Wikipedia