How did Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization policies change Alexandria’s population?

Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization policies significantly altered the demographic composition of Alexandria by causing the virtual disappearance of its polyglot foreign community.1

Prior to these policies, this community—comprising immigrants from countries such as Greece, Italy, Syria, and France—represented approximately one-tenth of the city's population as of 1947. Following the widespread nationalization of industries and services, as well as the "Egyptianization" of foreign-owned banks, firms, and insurance companies, thousands of these foreign residents departed the city.12

While this foreign population declined, the city’s overall population continued to grow rapidly due to high birth rates and migration from the countryside, reaching roughly 1.5 million in the decade following the 1952 revolution.1