Although Egyptians are generally known to be a non-migrating people closely tied to their land, the late 1950s and 1960s saw waves of Egyptians leaving their homeland for Europe, North America and Australia. Migration to Australia was limited prior to this period. In 1933, there were only 500 Egyptian-born people recorded as living in Australia. This number jumped to 8,000 in 1954 and 22,000 by 1966. Today there are around 34,000 Egyptian-born people in Australia and approximately 16,500 of them (nearly 50 per cent) live in Sydney.Around three-quarters of Egyptian migrants settled in Australia before 1976. However, there were substantial numbers of 'recent arrivals' (accounting for almost 15 per cent of this group) in 1986–91. Most of these later migrants came under the family reunion scheme. Generally the Egyptian community is a highly educated one, with qualification levels that exceed those of the average Australian. Today many Egyptian migrants living in Sydney belong to the professional and managerial classes.
The Egyptians in Sydney
