The actual number of Copts living in Egypt is not known, but as a rough
estimate, one may consider about 13 per cent of the total population as real-
istic. The Coptic Church puts the figure at 20 per cent while in its official
publications the government mentions a proportion of less than 6 per cent of
the Egyptian population. The latter figure is obviously too low. It serves the
purpose, however, of minimizing the Christian minority, so as not to jeopard-
ize the country’s role as a leading Islamic country. Another sad consequence is
that it reduces the chances of the Copts of gaining a fair proportion of seats
in parliament and of higher positions in the state apparatus, as well as places
for students in universities. The admittance quota for Christians to popular
institutes such as the Police, Marine and Military Academies is very low at
2 per cent and from the biggest university in the country (184,501 students
in 1999/2000), the famous Al-Azhar University, Christians are completely ex-
cluded, though secular subjects such as medicine and geosciences have been
taught there since 1961. The same applies to more than 5,760 Al-Azhar schools,
which are spread all over the country, although like the universities all these
institutions are being constructed, maintained and run by the tax revenues
paid by Christians and Muslims alike.