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A Copt (Coptic: ou.Remenkīmi en.Ekhristianos, literally: Egyptian Christian) is a native Egyptian Christian. Today, more than 95% of the Copts belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church. The remaining (around 500,000) are divided between the Coptic Catholic and the Coptic Protestant churches. The Copts are by far the largest Christian community in North Africa and the Middle East. The word "Coptic" was originally used in Classical Arabic to refer to Egyptians in general (see etymology section), but it has undergone semantic shift over the centuries to mean more specifically Egyptian Christian after the bulk of the Egyptian population converted to Islam.[1] In modern usage, it is frequently applied to members of the Coptic Church irrespective of ethnic origin. Thus Ethiopian and Eritrean Christians (and Nubians before their conversion to Islam) were traditionally referred to as Copts, though this has been falling out of use since their Tewahedo Churches were granted their own patriarchs.