PIP: This study, which attempts to shed some light on population policies adopted by the Egyptian government since 1962, examines 3 factors, which include: congruency of population policies with the prevalent religious beliefs; responsiveness of these policies to the actual needs of the people of Egypt; and legitimacy of the policies. 3 stages of the population policy are identified. The 1st stage started in 1962 when the Egyptian government adopted a policy which aimed at fertility reduction. The 2nd stage began in 1973 and involved a socioeconomic approach to fertility reduction, which considered 9 factors with known effects on fertility. These factors include: the socioeconomic standard of the family; education; women's status; mechanization of agriculture; industrialization; infant mortality reduction; social security; information, education, and communication (IEC); and family planning services. The 3rd stage was initiated in 1975 and involved a developmental approach to Egypt's population problem. This approach defined the problem as a reduction in the level of welfare of the people, attributable to any of the population factors such as size, distribution, and characteristics. The government took these factors into consideration when the Strategy of National Development was formulated for the 1978-82 period. In discussing family planning from the religious perspective, 2 levels should be distinguished. The first is the level of the individual family which involves its social, economic, and health conditions. The second is the level of the society as a whole, when birth control is viewed as a public policy adopted and enforced by the state. At this level, there is a consensus among Moslem Ulemas to disapprove such policies completely. The population policy failed to distinguish between these 2 levels. The agencies charged with the responsibility of policy implementation have misued the permission granted for the 1st level in propagating the cause of family planning for the whole society. The Egyptian government has long controlled the policy making process, despite the fact that government documents emphasize the right of the people to share the objectives of government institutions and control their activities. Population and family planning activities continue to remain some distance from real monitoring and control by popular councils, particularly at the local level. Regarding legitimacy of population policy, Egyptian farmers, who formed more than 60% of the population at the time when the 1st population policy was adopted in 1962, were given only 25% of the seats in the National Conference of Popular Forces, which approved that policy. Subsequent population policies were made and approved by the Supreme Council for Population and Family Planning without any participation from elected councils. Effectiveness of population policy can be improved by increasing the degree of congruency of policy with religious beliefs, its responsiveness to the needs of the people, and its legitimacy.