In what Middle Eastern or Oriental countries is Belly Dancing most popular?

Question:

In what Middle Eastern or Oriental countries is Belly Dancing most popular?

I especially wonder if it's done in Egypt.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Yes, it is extremely popular here in Egypt. However, it is also really popular in Greece, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and certain parts of China. Additionally, you'll be interested to know it is also fairly popular in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. The interesting part is that in some parts of Turkey, Morocco and Egypt, the male population of bellydancers is far higher than that of the female. Yes its done all over the world today.
and its most popular in Middle Eastern because thats where it originated from. Turkey Bellydancing is popular in all middle eastern countries. Egypt definitely is one of the major players in the scene of bellydance. It was a major influence during it's golden age of cinema which featured legendary dancers such as Tahiya Carioca, Samia Gamal, and Namia Akef. More famous dancers who drew their inspiration from those greats are Nagwa Fouad, Fifi Abdo, and Souhair Zaki. More modern dancers who have reached fame include dancers like Dina. However, bellydance has a love hate relationship in all middle eastern countries. It is considered un-Islamic so many middle easterners do not like it at all and because of this an increasing number of foreigners are rising as dance stars there. Turkey and Lebanon are also well known for their bellydancing stlyes. Princess Banu was popular in the 80's and 90's, Ozel Turkebas (sp?) was a big name Turkish dancer who also made herself popular in America, Didem (sp?), and Amani are also pretty famous. However, just because some countries are better known for their dancers or have more media produced there does not mean that the dance is neccessarily more popular there. It's equally popular all over the Mid East. You can find some great video clips of the dancers listed here on youtube. It is most popular in the Arabic countries.