The census of the Russian Empire (1897) was not the first event of its kind in Russia. It is reliably known that separate censuses were carried out periodically on the territory of the Russian principalities, khanates, and kaganates in order to determine how much income could be received from the population of a particular territory. For example, historians have established that the censuses of the time of Peter the Great determined the total population of the Russian Empire (at that time) at the level of thirteen million people. In the period from the abolition of serfdom to 1917, about two hundred registration activities were carried out in Russia in various cities, including in the Livonian, Courland and Estland provinces, a total registration of the people living there was made.
The results of the census took almost 90 volumes
The 1897 census of the Russian Empire has been prepared since 1874. In particular, two years before the accounting events inRussia was banned statistical work related to obtaining data from the population. Since June 1895, Tsar Nicholas II signed a corresponding decree, which determined that the census should determine the composition, size and distribution of the population, including all Russian subjects and foreigners. 7 million rubles were allocated for holding such a large-scale event. And the results were collected and finally published only by 1905, in almost ninety volumes.
One hundred languages were spoken in the Russian Empire
The census of the population of the Russian Empire (1897) found that about 125.64 million people live in the country, of which 55.6 million consider Russian their language, 22 million Little Russian, and 5.8 million Belarusian. as the empire at that time included Polish lands, this language was spoken by 7.9 million inhabitants, and Moldovan and Romanian by 1.21 million people. The Jewish language at that time was used by about 5.06 million citizens. The smallest languages spoken at that time in Russia were: Spanish and Portuguese - 138 people, Dutch - 335 native speakers, as well as Hindu, Kist, Lezgi, Chuvan, Afghan.
The census of the Russian Empire (1897) showed that in Russia there are speakers of such foreign languages as: Chinese - 57 thousand people, Japanese - only 2.6 thousand people, Korean - about 26 thousand. people There were quite a lot of German speakers - about 1.7 million, Armenian - 1.17 million people. A significant group was made up of speakers of the Tatar language - 3.73 million, Bashkir - 1.31 million people, Kyrgyz - about 4 million people.
Historical documents have preserved for us the position of scientists regarding the origin of a particular language at that time, which is sometimes erroneous in relation to modern data. For example, the Yakut language was attributed to the Turkish-Tatar dialects. In total, in the Russian Empire of that time, there were more than a hundred officially established languages and dialects that were native to the population in a particular region. The systemic language in those days and today is the Russian language, which allows peoples to understand each other, while maintaining their identity.
Only every fifth was literate
The first general census of the Russian Empire (1897) was conducted by specially trained census takers who received a medal for participating in such an event. They did a great job, filling out a total of about thirty million questionnaires, since in the countryside many peasants were semi-literate or illiterate. And such an indicator was reflected in the statistics - at that time in Russia only every fifth person was literate, while among men the percentage of "educated" was about 30%, while among women - only about 13 percent. An interesting fact is that in the peasant environment, when asked about the name of the spouse, many answered that they simply call the wife “a woman.”
Kuptsovthere were fewer than priests
According to the census of the Russian Empire (1897), the majority of the population lived in rural areas (about 87 percent) and represented the class of peasants (77 percent of all citizens). Next in terms of numbers were philistines - about 11 percent, "foreigners" - about 6.5 percent, Cossacks - 2.3 percent. The people of the Russian Empire in those days were mainly engaged in cultivating the land, and not trading. Merchants were counted 0.2 percent, which was less than representatives of the clergy (half a percent) and nobles (one and a half percent). Other persons also appeared on the lists - 0.4 percent.
Many needed permission to move
The census of the population of the Russian Empire (1897) established that Russia was then a peasant-philistine, where the bourgeois were a collection of small merchants, artisans, urban residents who owned most of the real estate in cities and were the main taxpayers. By the time of the census, this estate was no longer subject to corporal punishment, which was applicable to it until the middle of the nineteenth century. The philistines were lower in their position in society than the merchants, they were assigned to a certain city (in the city philistine book). A tradesman could leave his place of residence for a while with a temporary passport, and move to another settlement only with the permission of the authorities. Perhaps, in those days when it was possible to move around Russia only through bureaucratic formalities, the low mobility of the modern population was laid.
Between merchants and nobles
What interesting facts has history preserved for us? The census of the population of the Russian Empire (1897) recorded that in Russian society there were so-called "honorary citizens", who accounted for 0.3% of the total population. It was an intermediate class between the noble nobles and the merchants, which made it possible to protect the former from the penetration of "ignoble blood" and to satisfy the personal ambitions of the latter. Honorary citizenship, like the nobility, could be personal and hereditary. Personal honorary citizenship extended only to the holder of this title and his wife, while hereditary, respectively, belonged to the descendants of the holder of this title.
In those days there were more believers and temples than now
The census of the Russian Empire (1897) showed that the main religion was Orthodoxy, which was practiced by about 70 percent of the population. In second place after Christians then were Muslims - about 11.1 percent, followed by followers of the Roman Catholic Church - about nine percent, and 4.2 percent of the population were Jews. The peoples of Russia at that time were distinguished by exceptional piety, in connection with which a large number of religious institutions were erected. For example, in Russia at the time of the Great October Socialist Revolution there were about 65,000 Orthodox temples and churches, while modern RussianThe Orthodox Church has 29-30 thousand churches, including those located in Belarus, the B altic States, Ukraine, and others.
Million-plus cities
What facts did the population census (1897) reveal? The results of this study give us the opportunity to find out what large settlements were in Russia at that time. The capital of the state at that time (not Moscow, St. Petersburg) was a million-plus city. More than 1.2 million people lived in it. Moscow was the second largest metropolis with 1.038 million people. More than half a million people also lived in Warsaw (683 thousand), which was then part of the Russian Empire (the territory of the Polish kingdom). In addition to the above, there were about 40 cities with a population of more than 50,000 people on the map of the country at that time.
The census sheets themselves, which reflect primary information, are of particular value to modern historians. From them one could learn a lot of new things. However, most of the papers were destroyed, so we are content with the processed data.
