1914 Ottoman census

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1914, Muslim, Greek and Armenian population.

The 1914 Ottoman census was collected and published as the Memalik-i Osmaniyyenin 1330 Senesi Nütus Istatistiki.[a][1] These statistics were prepared by using the figures from the 1905–06 census of the Ottoman Empire and reflecting births and deaths registered in six years from last. The register states that birth and mortality rate used on "nomads" such as the nomadic Nestorians.[1]

The 1914 census list reflected major changes in the territorial boundaries and administrative division of the Ottoman state.[2] The population statistics and 1914 Ottoman general election were major population sources. The empire's total population was provided as 18,520,015.[2] The grand total for 1914 showed a "net gain" of 1,131,454 from the 1905-06 Ottoman census survey. The data reflects the loss of territory and population in Europe due to Balkan Wars, as the total net gain figure would be 3,496,068.[2]

The census underestimated non-Muslim populations.[3][4] For example, in Diyarbekir the Armenian population was reported at 73,226 in the 1914 Ottoman census, but in September 1915 Mehmed Reshid announced that he had deported 120,000 Armenians from the province.[5][6]

Census data[edit]

Vilayet Muslims Greek Orthodox Armenian Orthodox Jews Greek Catholics Armenian Catholics Protestants Latins Syriacs Chaldeans Jacobites Maronites Samarians Nestorians Yazidis Gypsies Druze Cossacks Serbs Wallachians Total
Balkans
Çatalca1 20,048 36,797 842 1,480 - - - ? 59,756
Edirne 360,417 224,459 19,725 22,515 21 48 115 ? 631,094
Constantinople 560,434 205,375 72,962 52,126 387 9,918 1,213 2,905 ? 909,978
Anatolia
Adana 341,903 8,537 50,139 66 437 2,511 5,036 ? 411,023
Ankara 877,285 20,226 44,507 1,026 14 7,069 2,381 ? 953,817
Antalya1 235,762 12,385 630 250 - - - ? 249,686
Aydın 1,249,067 299,096 19,395 35,041 1 892 479 ? 1,608,742
Bitlis 309,999 - 114,704 - - 2,788 1,640 ? 437,479
Bolu1 399,281 5,146 2,961 20 5 9 2 ? 408,648
Canik1 265,950 98,739 27,058 27 - 261 1,257 ? 393,302
Diyarbekir 492,101 1,822 55,890 2,085 113 9,960 7,376 ? 619,825
Erzurum 673,297 4,859 125,657 10 5 8,720 2,241 ? 815,432
Eskişehir1 140,578 2,613 8,276 728 - 316 215 ? 152,726
İçil1 102,034 2,500 341 10 7 - - ? 105,194
İzmit1 226,859 40,048 55,403 428 - 449 1,937 ? 325,153
Kale-i Sultaniye1 149,903 8,541 2,474 3,642 9 - 67 ? 165,815
Karahisar-i Sahip1 277,659 632 7,437 7 - 2 9 ? 285,820
Karesi1 359,804 97,497 8,544 362 - 109 51 ? 472,970
Kastamonu 737,302 20,958 8,959 8 - - - ? 767,227
Kayseri1 184,292 26,590 48,659 - - 1,515 2,018 ? 263,074
Konya 750,712 25,071 12,971 4 79 - 254 ? 789,308
Kütahya1 303,348 8,755 3,910 - - 638 - ? 316,894
Mamuret-ül-Aziz 446,379 971 76,070 - - 3,751 8,043 ? 538,227
Maraş1 152,645 11 27,842 251 23 4,480 6,111 ? 192,555
Menteşe1 188,916 19,923 12 1,615 - - - ? 210,874
Niğde1 227,100 58,312 4,890 - - 45 769 ? 291,117
Sivas 939,735 75,324 143,406 344 - 3,693 4,575 ? 1,169,443
Trabzon 921,128 161,574 37,549 8 - 1,350 1,338 ? 1,122,947
Urfa1 149,384 2 15,161 - 865 1,557 1,652 ? 170,988
Van Vilayet 179,380 1 67,792 1,383 - - - ? 259,141
Levant
Beyrut 648,314 87,244 1,188 15,052 24,210 277 3,823 ? 824,873
Halep 576,320 13,772 35,104 12,193 8,182 5,739 8,643 ? 667,790
Kudüs-i Şerif 266,044 26,035 1,310 21,259 1,086 - 1,733 ? 328,168
Suriye 791,582 60,978 413 10,140 27,662 247 1,873 ? 918,409
Zor1 65,770 18 67 2 27 215 1 ? 66,294
Total 15,044,846 1,729,738 1,161,169 187,073 62,468 67,838 65,844 24,845 54,750 4,133 13,211 6,932 47,406 164 8,091 6,957 11,169 7,385 1,006 14,908 82 18,520,016

As a result of the substantial territorial losses in Europe suffered during the Balkan Wars, the total population of the empire fell to 18,520,016, of whom an even larger percentage than before, 15,044,846, was counted as Muslim, with 1,729,738 as Greek Orthodox, 1,161,169 as Armenian Gregorian, 187,073 as Jewish, 68,838 as Armenian Catholic, 65,844 as Protestant, and 62,468 as Greek Catholic. No separate figures were given for Franks.[7]

The capital, Constantinople (Istanbul) was an important location due to expulsions from Balkan Wars. According to the 1914 census, its population increased slightly, to 909,978, excluding Franks, with 560,434 Muslims, 205,375 Greek Orthodox, 72,963 Armenian Gregorian, 52,126 Jews, 9,918 Armenian Catholics, 2,905 Roman Catholics, 1,213 Protestants, and 387 Greek Catholics.[7]

1 Sanjak

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Population statistics of the Ottoman state in the year 1914 in Istanbul, 1919

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Karpat 1985, pp. 189
  2. ^ a b c Karpat 1985, pp. 190
  3. ^ Gaunt, David (2006). Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I. Gorgias Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-59333-301-0. Both the Armenian and the Assyro-Chaldean leaders ignored the official Ottoman census of 1914, which gave figures for non-Muslims that were thoroughly misleading and inaccurate. As a token of the confused nature of the official census-taking and the lack of coordination between the local correspondents, the Syriac Orthodox population is shown in three separate categories: Süryaniler, Eski Süryaniler, and Jakobiler. Under-registration of minorities was a fact of life in Ottoman statistics.
  4. ^ Kévorkian, Raymond (2011). The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-85771-930-0. From the day the Armenian question was posed, the Armenians' demographic weight in the population became a political problem and was treated as such. Thus, it is not surprising that the Ottoman authorities systematically falsified their own censuses.
  5. ^ Kévorkian, Raymond (2011). The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-85771-930-0.
  6. ^ Gaunt 2006, pp. 69, 301.
  7. ^ a b Shaw 1978, p. 335

Bibliography[edit]

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