The practice of conducting a periodic census began in Egypt in the second millennium BC, where it was used for tax gathering and to determine fitness for military services.
Pre-modern censuses
Pharaonic era
Censuses in Egypt first appeared in the late Middle Kingdom and develops in the New Kingdom.[1]Pharaoh Amasis, according to Herodotus, required every Egyptian to declare annually to the nomarch, "whence he gained his living".[2] Under the Ptolemies and the Romans several censuses were conducted in Egypt by government officials.[3]
In 1798, Egypt's population was estimated at 3 million when Napoleon invaded the country.[citation needed]
1848 and 1868 Censuses
After preliminary enumerations in some urban areas and villages the first countrywide census was carried out in 1848.[4][5] A modern analysis of the 1848 census records, which attempts to adjust for various discrepancies in the data, concluded that Egypt's population was 4.476 million people back then.[6] The 1848 census is said to be the first in a non-Western country to include demographic, social, and economic data on practically all individuals including females, children, and slaves. Digitization of the 1848 and 1868 census records is underway based on documents in the National Archives of Egypt.[7]
Modern censuses
Population censuses
During the last 135 years, Egypt has managed to carry out around 14 official population censuses, the first being in 1882 and the last in 2017.
A census in 1976 revealed that the population had risen to 36.6 million.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
1996
In 1996, the census found a population of 59.3 million.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
2017
A new census was done in 2017. Census day was 18 April 2017 and Egypt's population on that date was estimated to be 94,798,827.[13]
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 in the world.[14]
^Paul Cartledge, Peter Garnsey, Erich S. Gruen Hellenistic Constructs: Essays in Culture, History, and Historiography 242 ss.
^Cuno, Kenneth M.; Reimer, Michael J. (1997). "The Census Registers of Nineteenth-Century Egypt: A New Source for Social Historians". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 24 (2). Taylor & Francis, Ltd: 193–216. doi:10.1080/13530199708705646. JSTOR195772.
^Alleaume, G. and P. Fargues. 1998. La naissance d'une statistique d'état. Histoire & Mesure 13: 147-193
^Saleh, Mohamed. "A Pre-Colonial Population Brought to Light: Digitization of the Nineteenth Century Egyptian Censuses," Historical Methods 46:1 (January 2013) 5-18. (online draft)
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