The practice of conducting a periodic census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

 began in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 in the second millennium BC, where it was used for tax gathering and to determine fitness for military services.

Pharaonic era (3050 BC)

Egypt is one of the first world countries to conduct a census. This is ensured by papyrus manuscripts, ancient monuments in Pharaonic temples, marking that the first census in Egypt was carried out in 3340 BC and in 3050 BC

Islamic era (600 AD)

A census also took place in the era of Hesham Abdel Malek ben Marwan in the year 600 AD including the number of people, their ages and residences.

Napoleonic era (1798)

• 1798 - Egypt's population was estimated at 3 million when Napoleon
  Napoleon I of France
  Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
  
   invaded the country.

Muhammad Ali era (1848)

• 1848 — After preliminary enumerations in some urban areas and villages the first countrywide census was carried out.

Modern censuses

Census Year	Population (in thousands)	Arithmetic Density (inhabitants/km2)
1882	6,712	6.65
1897	9,669	9.58
1907	11,190	11.09
1917	12,718	12.60
1927	14,178	14.05
1937	15,921	15.78
1947	18,967	18.79
1960	26,085	25.84
1966	30,076	29.79
1976	36,626	36.28
1986	48,254	47.80
1996	59,312	58.76
2006	72,798	70.70

1882

• 1882 — The first census in Egypt had been carried out. The total population was 6.7 million.

1947

• According to the 1947 census, Egypt's population had reached 19 million inhabitants.

  Province or governorate	Population (1947 census)
  Alexandria	928,237
  Aswan Aswan Governorate Aswan Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. The southernmost governorate in Upper Egypt, its capital is Aswan.The Aswan Governorate borders Qena Governorate to the north, Red Sea Governorate to the east, New Valley Governorate to the west, and Sudan to the south...	285,551
  Asyut Asyut Governorate Asyut Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It stretches for about 120 km along the banks of the Nile. The capital of the governorate is the city of Asyut.-Etymology:...	1,379,875
  Beheira Beheira Governorate Beheira Governorate is a coastal governorate in Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, its capital is Damanhur.-Overview:Beheira governorate enjoys an important strategical place, west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile...	1,242,478
  Beni Suef	613,365
  Cairo	2,100,486
  Dakahlia Dakahlia Governorate Dakahlia Governorate is an Egyptian governorate lying north east of Cairo. Its area is about 3,500 km² and it has a population of about 5 million. The capital is Mansoura.-Overview:...	1,366,085
  Damietta	124,104
  Faiyum	671,885
  Frontiers	216,872
  Gharbia	2,316,619
  Girga Girga Girga is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River.Girga was the capital of the Girga Governorate until 1960, when the capital was moved to Sohag and the name of the governorate changed accordingly....  (currently Sohag Governorate)	1,288,425
  Giza	822,424
  Ismailia	132,810
  Minya Minya Governorate Minya Governorate is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, originally known in Sahidic Coptic as Tmoone and in Bohairic as Thmonē , meaning “the residence”, in reference to a monastery formerly in the area...	1,061,417
  Monufia	1,168,777
  Port Said	178,432
  Qalyubia	687,169
  Qena	1,106,296
  Sharqia	1,290,890
  Suez	108,250
  Total population	19,090,447

1986

• In 1986, a census indicated that the population of Egypt reached a total of 50.4 million, including about 2.3 million Egyptians working in other countries.

2006

• In 2006, the thirteenth census in the Egyptian census series revealed that the Egypt's population hit 76.5 million inside and outside the country.

Nationwide demographics

Statement	Total country
% Change in Population compared with Census 1996	% 22
% Change in Population Under 6 Years Old	% 168
% Change in Population Under 15 Years Old	% 256
% Change in Population Over 45 Years Old	% 289
Number of Households	17,265,567
Household Population	72,131,096
Family average	4 to 5
Number of university graduates	5,476,704
Number of Illiterates 2006	16,806,657
Raw Birth Rate	26
Raw Death Rate	6

Population by sex and residence

Residence	Males	Females	Total
Urban areas	1	1	1
Rural areas	1	1	1
Total Egypt	1	1	1

Population by governorate

Governorate	1996	2006	Change %
Cairo	6,800,991	7,786,640	14.49
Giza	4,784,095	6,272,571	31.11
Sharqia	4,281,068	5,340,058	24.74
Dakahlia Dakahlia Governorate Dakahlia Governorate is an Egyptian governorate lying north east of Cairo. Its area is about 3,500 km² and it has a population of about 5 million. The capital is Mansoura.-Overview:...	4,223,338	4,985,187	18.04
Beheira Beheira Governorate Beheira Governorate is a coastal governorate in Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, its capital is Damanhur.-Overview:Beheira governorate enjoys an important strategical place, west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile...	3,994,297	4,737,129	18.6
Gharbia	3,404,339	4,010,298	17.8
Alexandria	3,339,076	4,110,015	23.09
Minya Minya Governorate Minya Governorate is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, originally known in Sahidic Coptic as Tmoone and in Bohairic as Thmonē , meaning “the residence”, in reference to a monastery formerly in the area...	3,310,129	4,179,309	26.26
Qalyubia	3,281,135	4,237,003	29.13
Sohag	3,123,114	3,746,377	19.96
Asyut Asyut Governorate Asyut Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It stretches for about 120 km along the banks of the Nile. The capital of the governorate is the city of Asyut.-Etymology:...	2,802,334	3,441,597	22.81
Monufia	2,760,429	3,270,404	18.47
Qena	2,442,016	3,001,494	22.91
Kafr el-Sheikh Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It lies in the northern part of the country, along the western branch of the Nile in the Nile Delta. Its capital is the city of Kafr el-Sheikh.-History:...	2,223,383	2,618,111	17.75
Faiyum	1,989,772	2,512,792	26.29
Beni Suef	1,859,213	2,290,527	23.2
Aswan Aswan Governorate Aswan Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. The southernmost governorate in Upper Egypt, its capital is Aswan.The Aswan Governorate borders Qena Governorate to the north, Red Sea Governorate to the east, New Valley Governorate to the west, and Sudan to the south...	960,510	1,184,432	23.31
Damietta	913,555	1,092,316	19.57
Ismailia	714,828	942,832	31.9
Port Said	472,331	570,768	20.84
Suez	417,526	510,935	22.37
Luxor	361,138	451,318	24.97
North Sinai	252,160	339,752	34.74
Matruh	212,001	322,341	52.05
Red Sea	157,314	288,233	83.22
New Valley	141,774	187,256	32.08
South Sinai	54,806	149,335	172.48
Total Egypt	59,276,672	72,579,030	22.44%

Future projections

At current pace, Egypt's population is expected to reach 160 million by 2050. However, if the current rate of reproduction diminishes, the population may be limited to 120 million by 2050. Egypt already has one of the highest real population densities

Physiological density

The physiological density or real population density is the number of people per unit area of arable land.A higher physiological density suggests that the available agricultural land is being used by more and may reach its output limit sooner than a nation that has a lower physiological...

 in the world.

See also

• Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics
• Demographics of Egypt
  Demographics of Egypt
  Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East and the third-most populous on the African continent . Nearly 100% of the country's 80,810,912 people live in three major regions of the country: Cairo and Alexandria and elsewhere along the banks of the Nile; throughout the Nile delta, which...
  
  
• Population history of Egypt
  Population history of Egypt
  The land currently known as Egypt has a long and involved population history. This is partly due to its geographical location at the crossroads of several major cultural areas: the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Sahara and East Africa...
  
  

External links

• Population Distribution by Sex
• Average Size of Household and Sex Ratio
• Population Distribution by Educational Status
• Population Distribution by Age Groups
• Population Distribution by Marital Status
• No of Households & % of their Connection to Public Utilities
• 2006 Census Analysis Series