He kept records of the population, mainly by mechanical calculation of birth and death data submitted by provincial statistical committees. These data, published in the Statistical Yearbook of Russia, fairly accurately reflected the natural population growth, but did not fully take into account migration processes - both internal (between provinces, between town and countryside) and external (emigration and immigration). If the latter, due to their small scale, did not have a noticeable impact on the total population, then the errors due to the underestimation of the internal migration factor were much more significant. Since 1906, the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been trying to adjust its calculations, introducing amendments to the expanding resettlement movement. But still, the practiced system of counting the population did not completely avoid the repeated registration of migrants - at the place of permanent residence (registration) and place of stay. As a result, the data of the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs somewhat overestimated the real population, and this circumstance should be borne in mind when using the materials of the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Population according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Population according to the UGVI Ministry of Internal Affairs

According to the adjusted calculations of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of the year was: 1909 - 156.0 million, 1910 - 158.3 million, 1911 - 160.8 million, 1912 .- 164.0 million, 1913 - 166.7 million people.

According to the calculations of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which were based on data on births and deaths, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) on January 1, 1914 was 174,074.9 thousand people, i.e. about 1.1 million people less than according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But the Office considered this figure too high. The compilers of the "Report" of the Office for 1913 noted that " the total population according to local statistical committees is exaggerated, exceeding the sum of the population figures from the 1897 census and the natural increase figures for the elapsed time". According to the calculations of the compilers of the "Report", the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of 1913 was 166,650 thousand people.

Calculation of the population for 1897-1914.

Number, composition and population density by provinces and regions

The population of Russia in comparison with other states

The ratio of urban and rural population

In terms of the ratio of the number of urban and rural population, Russia occupied one of the last places among the largest states of the early 20th century.

As can be seen from the table, the largest percentage of the urban population of the empire is in the Vistula provinces, then in gradual order they go: Finland, Central Asian regions, European Russia, the Caucasus and Siberia.

If we consider the percentage of the urban population in individual provinces, it is clear that a few provinces with large industrial, commercial and administrative centers influence the increase in the percentage. Of the 51 provinces of European Russia, there are seven such provinces: Estonian, Tauride, Courland, Kherson, Lifland, Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the percentage of the urban population is above 20. Of these, two capital provinces stand out especially (50.2% and 74.0% ). In the Vistula region, there are only two out of 9 provinces, where the percentage of the urban population is above 20 (Petrokovskaya - 40.2%, Warsaw - 41.7%). In the Caucasus, there are four out of twenty such provinces (Tiflis - 22.1%, Baku - 26.6%, Batumi - 25.6%, Black Sea - 45.5%). In Siberia, two out of ten (Amur - 28.6% and Primorskaya - 32.9%). There were no such cases among the Central Asian regions, and only in the Fergana region the percentage of the urban population approached 20 (19.8%). Finland also has only one county, Nyland, where the percentage of the urban population exceeded 20 (46.3%). So out of 99 provinces and regions Russian Empire only 14 of them, where urban population accounted for over 20% of the total population, while in the remaining 85 this percentage is below 20.

In two provinces and regions, the percentage of the urban population is below 5%; in forty (including three Finnish) - from 5% to 10%; in twenty-nine (including one Finnish) - from 10% to 15%; in twenty (including two in Finland) - from 15% to 20%.

The percentage of the urban population increases on the one hand to the west and southwest, on the other hand - to the east and southeast of the Ural Range, with exceptions in the form of industrial and commercial provinces: Vladimir, Yaroslavl, etc. In the Caucasus, the percentage of urban dwellers is greater in provinces and regions lying behind the main ridge, except for the Kutaisi province, where it is lower than in all other regions and provinces of the Caucasus. In the Central Asian regions, there is an increase in the percentage of the urban population towards the southeast.

Population in 1800-1913

Other population data

Plan
Introduction
1 Population
1.1 Population according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
1.2 Population according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs
1.3 Calculation of the population for 1897-1914
1.4 Number, composition and population density by provinces and regions
1.5 The population of Russia in comparison with other states
1.6 Ratio of urban and rural population
1.7 Population in 1800-1913
1.8 Other population data

2 Population density
3 Gender composition of the population
4 National composition
5 Religions
6 Age structure
7 Estates
8 Literacy of the population
8.1 Number of students

9 Employment
10 Sources and notes

Introduction

The population of the Russian Empire at all times of its existence was multinational, although the core of the population of the empire, the so-called titular nation, were Russians, who consolidated into a single people from the East Slavic group of tribes in the XIV - XVI centuries.

Almost all the peoples of the country were mainly engaged in agriculture, some led a nomadic life. Nevertheless, the share of the urban population has been constantly growing, especially rapidly in late XIX- early XX centuries.

1. Population

At the end of the 19th century, the first general census of the population of the Russian Empire was carried out (January 28, 1897), which most adequately reflected the number and composition of the inhabitants of the empire. Usually, the Central Statistical Committee (CSK) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out population registration, mainly by mechanical calculation of data on births and deaths, presented by the provincial statistical committees. These data, published in the Statistical Yearbook of Russia, fairly accurately reflected the natural population growth, but did not fully take into account migration processes - both internal (between provinces, between town and countryside) and external (emigration and immigration). If the latter, due to their small scale, did not have a noticeable impact on the total population, then the errors due to the underestimation of the internal migration factor were much more significant. Since 1906, the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs tried to adjust its calculations, introducing amendments to the expanding resettlement movement. But still, the practiced system of counting the population did not completely avoid the repeated registration of migrants - at the place of permanent residence (registration) and place of stay. As a result, the data of the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs somewhat overestimated the real population, and this circumstance should be borne in mind when using the materials of the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Population according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Population according to the UGVI Ministry of Internal Affairs

According to the adjusted calculations of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of the year was: 1909 - 156.0 million, 1910 - 158.3 million, 1911 - 160.8 million, 1912 .- 164.0 million, 1913 - 166.7 million people.

According to the calculations of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which were based on data on births and deaths, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) on January 1, 1914 was 174,074.9 thousand people, i.e. about 1.1 million people less than according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But the Office considered this figure too high. The compilers of the "Report" of the Office for 1913 noted that " the total population according to local statistical committees is exaggerated, exceeding the sum of the population figures from the 1897 census and the natural increase figures for the elapsed time". According to the calculations of the compilers of the "Report", the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of 1913 was 166,650 thousand people.

Calculation of the population for 1897-1914. Number, composition and population density by provinces and regions

The population of Russia in comparison with other states The ratio of urban and rural population

The rural population of the empire significantly predominated over the urban population. Of the total population of 174,099,600 people, 24,648,400 people lived in cities, i.e. only 14.2% (data from 1913).

In terms of the ratio of the number of urban and rural population, Russia occupied one of the last places among the largest states of the early 20th century.

As can be seen from the table, the largest percentage of the urban population of the empire is in the Vistula provinces, followed in gradual order by: Finland, the Central Asian regions, European Russia, the Caucasus and Siberia.

If we consider the percentage of the urban population in individual provinces, it is clear that a few provinces with large industrial, commercial and administrative centers influence the increase in the percentage. Of the 51 provinces of European Russia, there are seven such provinces: Estland, Taurida, Courland, Kherson, Livonia, Moscow and St. ). In the Vistula region, there are only two out of 9 provinces, where the percentage of the urban population is above 20 (Petrokovskaya - 40.2%, Warsaw - 41.7%). In the Caucasus, there are four out of twenty such provinces (Tiflis - 22.1%, Baku - 26.6%, Batumi - 25.6%, Black Sea - 45.5%). In Siberia, two out of ten (Amur - 28.6% and Primorskaya - 32.9%). There were no such cases among the Central Asian regions, and only in the Fergana region the percentage of the urban population approached 20 (19.8%). In Finland, there is also only one county, Nyland, where the percentage of the urban population exceeded 20 (46.3%). So, out of 99 provinces and regions of the Russian Empire, only 14 are those where the urban population accounted for over 20% of the total population, while in the remaining 85 this percentage is below 20.

In two provinces and regions, the percentage of the urban population is below 5%; in forty (including three Finnish) - from 5% to 10%; in twenty-nine (including one Finnish) - from 10% to 15%; in twenty (including two in Finland) - from 15% to 20%.

The percentage of the urban population increases on the one hand to the west and southwest, on the other hand - to the east and southeast of the Ural Range, with exceptions in the form of industrial and commercial provinces: Vladimir, Yaroslavl, etc. In the Caucasus, the percentage of urban dwellers is greater in provinces and regions lying behind the main ridge, except for the Kutaisi province, where it is lower than in all other regions and provinces of the Caucasus. In the Central Asian regions, there is an increase in the percentage of the urban population towards the southeast.

Population in 1800-1913 Other population data

2. Population density

The entire population of the empire, i.e. 174,099,600 people (1913), lived in a space of 19,155,588 square miles, therefore, there were 9.1 people per square verst. A significant part of the inhabitants concentrated in the cities, if we take only the rural population, then there were 7.8 people per square verst.

The most densely populated region of the empire was the Privislinsky Territory, where in the Petrokovskaya province there were 190.0 inhabitants per square verst, and the least densely populated region was Siberia, where in the Yakutsk region there were less than 0.1 inhabitants per square verst.

“The densest population stretches in a semicircle, a wider strip to the west from Warsaw through Kiev and Kursk to Moscow, from this strip it thins out more or less quickly and reaches the weakest relation to space in the Far North and the Volga region. In Asiatic Russia, the population is most dense in the Caucasus, of parts of the latter - in Transcaucasia and especially in the valley of the Rion River and the middle reaches of the river. Hens. Then Turkestan follows in terms of population density; the Zeravshan valley and the Fergana region are most densely populated in it. Finally, Siberia, in which the southwestern part, closest to European Russia, is most populated, the further to the east and especially to the north, the population decreases, reaching the ratio of 1 inhabitant per 2 sq. miles."

- Zolotarev A. M. Notes of military statistics of Russia. T.I. SPb., 1894.

3. Sex composition of the population

By gender, the population of the empire was distributed as follows: in European Russia, the Vistula provinces and Finland, there were more women than men, in other regions men predominated. So, in separate parts of the empire, there were women per 100 men:

In general, throughout the empire, there were 99.6 women per 100 men.

In particular, out of 51 provinces of European Russia, in eighteen (St. Petersburg, Taurida, Bessarabia, Kherson, Grodno, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Vilna, Volyn, regions of the Don Army, Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov, Minsk, Moscow, Podolsk, Vitebsk, Kiev and Poltava) the male population prevailed over the female, while in the remaining 32 provinces the female population prevailed over the male. At the same time, women had a noticeable preponderance (over 110 per 100 men) in seven provinces (Tula, Vyatka, Vladimir, Tver, Kostroma, Kaluga and Yaroslavl).

In 9 Privislinsky provinces, the sex ratio is quite the same, the male population predominated in five provinces. The same is true in 8 Finnish provinces, where only Nyland province stood out, in which there were 104.4 women per 100 men.

In the Caucasus, men predominated everywhere, especially in Transcaucasia, only in the Stavropol province and the Kuban region the numbers of women and men are quite close.

Men also prevailed everywhere in the regions of Central Asia, with the greatest predominance in the Samarkand region (82.4 women per 100 men) and the smallest in the Ural region (92.0).

Of the provinces of Siberia, only Tobolsk was dominated by women (100.6), the largest predominance of men in the Primorsky region, in which there were 64.9 women per 100 men, and in Sakhalin, where the male population was twice as large as the female.

During the period under review, only one general population census was conducted in Russia (January 28, 1897), which most adequately reflected the number and composition of the inhabitants of the empire. Usually, however, the Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs kept records of the population, mainly by mechanical calculation of birth and death data submitted by provincial statistical committees. These data, published in the Statistical Yearbook of Russia, quite accurately reflected the natural increase in the population, but did not fully take into account migration processes - both internal (between different provinces, between town and countryside) and external (emigration and immigration). If the latter, given their relatively small scale, did not have any noticeable effect on the total population, then the costs due to the underestimation of the factor of internal migration were much more significant. Since 1906, the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs tried to correct its calculations, introducing amendments to the expanding resettlement movement. But still, the practiced system of counting the population did not completely avoid the repeated registration of migrants - at the place of permanent residence (registration) and place of stay. As a result, the CSK data somewhat overestimated the population, and this circumstance should be borne in mind when using these materials (See: Kabuzan V.M. On the reliability of accounting for the population of Russia (1858 - 1917) // Source study national history. 1981 M., 1982. S. 112, 113, 116; Sifman R.I. Dynamics of the population of Russia for 1897 -1914. // Marriage, fertility, mortality in Russia and the USSR. M., 1977. S.62-82).

This handbook contains data from the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, given that it was on them that the official materials and calculations used in a number of tables were based. At the same time, other calculated materials and attempts to correct the statistical data of the CSK are also indicated.

Table 2. Permanent population of the Russian Empire according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1897 and 1909-1914 (as of January, thousand people).

* Data without Kholmskaya province, included in 1911 in Russia.

Sources: General summary of the empire for the development of data from the first general population census, conducted on January 28, 1897, St. Petersburg, 1905. V.1. S.6-7; Statistical Yearbook of Russia. 1909 St. Petersburg, 1910. Dep. I S.58-59; Also. 1910 St. Petersburg, 1911. Dep. I. C. 35-59; Also. 1911 St. Petersburg, 1912. Det. I. C.33-57; Also. 1912 St. Petersburg, 1913. Ooa. I. C.33-57; Also. 1913 SPb., 1914 Ooa. I. C.33-57; Also. 1914. Pg., 1915. Dep. I. C.33-57.

According to the adjusted calculations of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of the year was: 1909 - 156.0 million, 1910 - 158.3 million, 1911 - 160.8 million, 1912 .-164.0 million, 1913 - 166.7 million people. (Ni: Sifman R.I. Uka z. Op. p. 66).

Table 2a. Calculation of the population of Russia (without Finland) for 1897-1914.

Source: Sifman R.I. Dynamics of the population of Russia for 1897-1914 aa. // Marriage, fertility, mortality in Russia and the USSR. M., 1977. P. 80.

Table 3. Number, composition and population density of the Russian Empire as of January 4, 4914 by provinces and regions (thousand people)

See also sections: "Armed Forces", "People's Education"

Table 1

Apparent consumption of the most important products in Russia in 1906-1913. (one)

Table 1 (continued)

Table 1 (continued)

A source: Statistical Yearbook for 1914. Ed. IN AND. Sharago. SPb., 1914. S.660

• (1)- The term “apparent consumption” and the methodology for calculating the latter were borrowed by the compilers of the “Statistical Yearbook” from foreign statistics, in which the so-called “apparent consumption” was calculated by adding to the production of one or another product of its import from abroad and subtracting from the resulting export amounts. This table does not take into account the export of part of the bread in the form of flour, amounting to 0.4 to 0.8 percent of the bread remaining for consumption; the consumption of barley also includes the consumption for brewing (about 3.5%), and the consumption for distilling rye, potatoes, and other products (from 9 to 9.5%) is also included. When calculating the consumption of alcohol, its consumption for technical needs, the manufacture of wine and vodka products, and the smoking of alcohol from grapes and fruits are included. For cotton, data are given on its processing in factories. (A.P. Korelin).

table 2

Annual consumption of basic foodstuffs and manufactured goods per capita in Russia in 1913 (in kg)

A source: The national economy of the USSR. 1922-1972. Anniversary Statistical Yearbook. Ed. CSU USSR. M., 1972. S. 372 (T.M. Kitanina)

Table 3

Meat consumption in Russia in 1912-1913

A source: Statistical materials on the issue of meat consumption in the Russian Empire in 1913. Pg., 1915. Data from the Veterinary Administration of the Ministry of the Interior. The summary does not include the Kamchatka and Sakhalin regions, as well as 4 out of 10 Polish provinces.

Line a) contains data on provincial (regional) cities and settlements with more than 50,000 people. both sexes; in line b) - for all other villages and localities.

The compiler singled out information on Polish provinces in a separate group, made a transfer of livestock types to cattle, calculated the number of livestock per capita, and also specified per capita meat consumption - up to hundredths of a pood. It is necessary to take into account the inaccuracy of some indicators specified by the department (A.M. Anfimov).

Table 4

Consumption of peasants in European Russia (per person)

A source: Dikhtyar G.A. Domestic trade in pre-revolutionary Russia. M., 1960. P.30. The author's calculations are based on the results of budget surveys conducted by zemstvo statisticians in 1900-1913. (Norms of consumption of the rural population according to budget research data. M., Economic Department of the All-Russian Union of Cities. 1915. P. 1, 2). “The materials of these surveys,” the author notes, “do not allow us to trace either the dynamics of consumption or the differentiation of food consumption by different class groups of the peasantry.”

Table 5

Consumption of the peasants of the Tula province according to budget studies 1911-1914.

A source: Food of the peasant population of the Tula province (according to the monographic description of 1911-1914). Tula, 1907. Translation into metric measures made by us. (A.M. Anfimov).

Table 6

Consumption of workers in the Seredsky factory district of the Kostroma province depending on the annual income of workers (1911)

A source: Dikhtyar G.A. Domestic trade in pre-revolutionary Russia. M., 1960. P.56

Table 7

Average per capita consumption of the most important foodstuffs in Moscow in 1898-1912. (poods per year)

A source: Consumption of the most important consumer products in Moscow. Statistical department of the Moscow city government. Issue. IV. M., 1916. S. 14, 15. (A.P. Korelin)

(1)- With an absolute increase in meat consumption over 10 years by 20%, its per capita consumption has decreased. At 184 pounds per year, the average daily per capita consumption was just over 1/2 pound (48.5 spools). 10 years ago it was £205. per year, i.e. 5 pounds.

(2) - Based on 1 pood 40 pieces of herring.

Table 8

The average annual consumption by the population of Moscow of the most important foodstuffs for five years in 1898-1912. (thousand pounds)

Source: Consumption of the most important consumer products in Moscow. Statistical Department of the Moscow City Duma. Issue. IV. M., 1916. S. 5, 7, 10, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 32. (A.P. Korelin).

Table 9

Production and consumption of alcohol in Russia in 1912-1913. (buckets 40 degrees)

Source: Collection of statistical and economic data on agriculture in Russia and foreign countries. Pg., 1917. S. 183-195. In Transcaucasia - data for Tiflis and Kutaisi provinces, in Western Siberia - for Tobolsk, Tomsk, Yenisei provinces. and in the Akmola region, in Eastern Siberia - in the Irkutsk province. and the Trans-Baikal region, in the Amur region - in the Amur and Primorsky regions, in Turkestan - in the Semipalatinsk, Semirechensk and Syr-Darya regions. 1 bucket = 12.3 liters.

Table 9a

Alcohol consumption in Russia per capita of both sexes

A source: National economy in 1913. Pg., 1914. S. 97, 103, 106.

• Bucket = 12.3 liters (A.M.Anfimov)

From the "Explanatory note to the report of state control on the execution of the state list and financial estimates for 1913" Pg., 1914., S.196-198

Sugar consumption

Sugar consumption in our country cannot but be considered extremely insufficient, for it averages only 17-19 pounds per person per year, while in England it reaches 100 pounds, in Germany - 52 pounds, in France - 43 pounds, and in Austria - 31 lbs.

This phenomenon finds its explanation primarily in the inaccessibility of sugar for the population due to its high sale price.

According to the law on the rationing that is in force in our country, for each year the amount of sugar to be released to the domestic market, the size of the emergency stock of sugar at the factories and the marginal prices of sugar within the country, above which the release of sugar from the stock is allowed, are predetermined.

These conditions cannot help but help to keep prices for elevated level which in turn slows down consumption growth. (Sugar prices on the Kiev market in 1913-1914 ranged from 3 rubles 87 kopecks to 4 rubles 04 kopecks per pood).

Table 1c

Annual earnings of industrial and agricultural workers in the regions of European Russia in 1901-1910.

(1) - Agricultural and statistical information on materials received from the owners. Issue. V. Volunteer labor in the households and the movement of workers in connection with the socio-economic review of European Russia in agricultural and industrial relations. Comp. S.A.Korolenko. SPb., 1892. Applications. pp. 142-143.

(2) - A set of reports of factory inspectors for 1901, St. Petersburg, 1903. S. 162-165.

(3) - Materials of the Commission established on November 16, 1901 to study the issue of movement from 1861 to 1900. the well-being of the rural population of the middle agricultural provinces in comparison with other areas of European Russia. SPb., 1903. Ch.P.

(4) - A set of reports of factory inspectors for 1910, St. Petersburg, 1911. S.280-283.

(5) - Labor prices in agriculture private owners of European or Asian Russia in 1910. St. Petersburg, 1913. S.P. HP. (A.M. Anfimov).

Table 11

Distribution of workers (in%) by the amount of earnings in June 1914 in various groups of industries

Source: Earnings of factory workers in Russia (June 1914 and June 1916). Issue. 1., M., 1918. S.20-21 (N.A. Ivanova’s calculations).

Table 12

Average annual salary in rubles workers of various industries of the factory industry of European Russia in 1910-1913.

According to the adjusted calculations of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of the year was: 1909 - 156.0 million, 1910 - 158.3 million, 1911 - 160.8 million, 1912 .- 164.0 million, 1913 - 166.7 million people.

According to the estimates of the Office of the Chief Medical Inspector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which were based on data on births and deaths, the population of Russia (excluding Finland) on January 1, 1914 was 174,074.9 thousand people, that is, about 1.1 million people less than than according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But the Office considered this figure too high. The compilers of the "Report" of the Office for 1913 noted that "". According to the calculations of the compilers of the "Report", the population of Russia (excluding Finland) in the middle of 1913 was 166,650 thousand people.

Populated areas of the Russian Empire of 500 or more inhabitants, indicating the total population in them and the number of inhabitants prevailing

The growth of the urban population was uneven in different parts of the country: in the Baltic provinces it amounted to 1863-1897 in 1863-1897. 192.6% (rural - only 10.6%), in the capitals 141.5%, and in the northern Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Olonets provinces - only 30.6%, yielding to the growth in the number of villagers (32.0%). Novorossiysk, Nizhnevolzhsky and Vostochny provinces grew in population by 132.7% in cities and by 87.2% in rural areas.

In the period from 1897 to 1914, the uneven growth of the urban population decreases: if earlier fast-growing territories differed from slow-growing ones by 6.3 times, now they are 1.8 times. The leaders are the metropolitan regions (+65.5%), in the western provinces the growth of the urban population slows down to +37.3%.

78.9% of the population lived in 50 provinces of the European part of the empire, with a fifth in the capitals. About 8% of Russians lived in the Caucasus, 5.1% in Siberia, and 6.8% in Central Asia.

In terms of the ratio of the number of urban and rural population, Russia occupied one of the last places among the largest states of the early 20th century.

As can be seen from the table, the largest percentage of the urban population of the empire is in the Vistula provinces, then in gradual order they go: Finland, the Central Asian regions, the Caucasus, European Russia and Siberia.

Moscow - 1762.7 thousand (an increase of 3 times, mainly due to immigration: 86.2% of the increase in 1871-1881, 75.2% in 1907-1911)

If we consider the percentage of the urban population in individual provinces, it is clear that a few provinces with large industrial, commercial and administrative centers influence the increase in the percentage. Of the 51 provinces of European Russia, there are seven such: Estonian, Tauride, Courland, Kherson, Lifland, Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the percentage of the urban population is above 20. Of these, two metropolitan provinces stand out especially (50.2% and 74.0%) . In the Vistula region, there are only two out of 9 provinces, where the percentage of the urban population is above 20 (Petrokovskaya - 40.2%, Warsaw - 41.7%). In the Caucasus, there are four out of twenty such provinces (Tiflis - 22.1%, Baku - 26.6%, Batumi - 25.6%, Black Sea - 45.5%). In Siberia, two out of ten (Amur - 28.6% and Primorskaya - 32.9%). There were no such cases among the Central Asian regions, and only in the Ferghana region the percentage of the urban population approached 20 (19.8%). In Finland, there is also only one province, Nyland, where the percentage of the urban population exceeded 20 (46.3%). So, out of 99 provinces and regions of the Russian Empire, only 14 are those where the urban population accounted for over 20% of the total population, while in the remaining 85 this percentage is below 20.

In two provinces and regions, the percentage of the urban population is below 5%; in forty (including three Finnish) - from 5% to 10%; in twenty-nine (including one Finnish) - from 10% to 15%; in twenty (including two in Finland) - from 15% to 20%.

The percentage of the urban population increases on the one hand to the west and southwest, on the other hand - to the east and southeast of the Ural Range, with exceptions in the form of industrial and commercial provinces: Vladimir, Yaroslavl, etc. In the Caucasus, the percentage of urban dwellers is greater in provinces and regions lying behind the main ridge, except for the Kutaisi province, where it is lower than in all other regions and provinces of the Caucasus. In the Central Asian regions, there is an increase in the percentage of the urban population towards the southeast.

The entire population of the empire, that is, 174,099,600 people (1913), lived in a space of 19,155,588 square versts, hence there were 9.1 people per square verst. A significant part of the inhabitants concentrated in the cities, if we take only the rural population, then there were 7.8 people per square verst.

The most densely populated region of the empire was the Privislinsky Territory, where in the Petrokovskaya province there were 190.0 inhabitants per square verst, and Siberia was the least densely populated, where in the Yakutsk region there were less than 0.1 inhabitants per square verst.

Professor A. M. Zolotarev outlines the geographical distribution of the population density of the empire as follows:

“The densest population stretches in a semicircle, a wider strip to the west from Warsaw through Kiev and Kursk to Moscow, from this strip it thins out more or less quickly and reaches the weakest relation to space in the Far North and the Volga region. In Asiatic Russia, the population is most dense in the Caucasus, of parts of the latter - in Transcaucasia and especially in the valley of the Rion River and the middle reaches of the river. Hens. Then Turkestan follows in terms of population density; the Zeravshan valley and the Fergana region are most densely populated in it. Finally, Siberia, in which the southwestern part, closest to European Russia, is most populated, the further to the east and especially to the north, the population decreases, reaching the ratio of 1 inhabitant per 2 sq. miles."

The gender composition of the urban population, for individual regions of the empire, was expressed as follows:

By 1917, over 100 peoples lived in the Russian Empire, not counting small ethnic groups.

According to the 1897 census (during which the question was asked not about nationality, but about mother tongue) Great Russians made up 44.35% of the population (55.667 million people), Little Russians - 17.81% of the population (22.381 million people), Belarusians - 4.69% (5.886 million people). All of them were officially considered Russians, the number of which, therefore, amounted to 83.934 million people. or 66.81%. Together, the Slavs (East Slavic peoples, as well as Poles, Bulgarians and others) made up about 75% of the population of the empire. Jews were a significant national group - 5.2 million people (4.1%).

Although the official, as well as the most common, native language in the empire was Russian, its distribution and ownership was far from being as universal as it is now, in the era of mass education and mass media. Even the Germans, a significant part of whom lived among the Russians in the Volga region, continued to speak their native language and had a poor command of Russian. Assimilation was a rather rare phenomenon, although it affected some of the Finno-Ugric peoples. One way or another, the Russian language was considered native by less than half of the country's population.

focus Orthodox The population was the area between Finland, Lake Peipus and the Dnieper in the west and the Ural Range and the line of the Ufa, Belaya, Kama and Volga rivers in the east. In 14 of the 33 provinces located here, Orthodox accounted for 99%, and only in 5 provinces there were less than 90% of them: in Saratov 88.85%, in St. Petersburg 83.05%, Podolsk 78.79%, Tauride 74, 68% and Kazanskaya 70.43%. According to the 1897 census, there were 443,009 Orthodox people in the Trans-Baikal region, including 36,485 people in the cities; 36623 Old Believers, including 329 in cities; 1869 Catholics, 472 of them in the cities; 669 Protestants, 112 of them in cities.

On the lower Volga, Muslims were added to the Orthodox, who then completely inhabited the Central Asian steppes and Turkestan. In the east, the solid Orthodox population continued directly into Asia. In the Vyatka province, the Orthodox accounted for 95.31%, in Perm 94.16%, in Tobolsk 94.04%, in Tomsk 95.58%. These two provinces of Western Siberia were the center of the most dense Orthodox population in Asia; at the same time, although the percentage of Orthodox Christians fell somewhat to the east (in Central Siberia 86.77%, in Eastern Siberia 83.16%), it is still very high everywhere, and only in the outlying Primorsky region fell to 62.24%, to the south but from the Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces, the percentage of Orthodox quickly fell and an almost continuous Muslim population began.

The next largest group after the Orthodox were Muslims (Mohammedans)- 10.83% of the total population of the state. The place of the main concentration of Muslims was Turkestan, in the regions of which their number did not fall below 96%, then the Central Asian steppes, from the regions of which the majority had at least 80% of Muslims. Then the predominance of Muslims in the East of the Caucasus is very high, where in the Dagestan region they accounted for 94.69%, in Baku 82.05% and Elizavetpol 62.96%. From these places of the greatest concentration of followers of Islam, their percentage fell in all directions, while they mixed everywhere with the Orthodox, and in Transcaucasia with the Armenian Gregorians.

Muslims were followed by Catholics, which accounted for 8.91% of the total population of the country. Catholics were concentrated mainly in the Vistula region, especially in the provinces of the left bank of the Vistula, and in the North-Western region, near the border. So, in 8 out of 10 Privislinskie provinces, Catholics accounted for more than 70%, and only in Lublin and Sedletska - less than two-thirds (62.42% and 60.50%).

In general, the proportion of Catholics outside the western border zone (except for the Vitebsk province) is completely insignificant - less than 1.5%; only in 5 provinces did it rise slightly higher: in Primorskaya 2.20%, Taurida 2%, Samara 2.08%, Livonia 2.27% and St. Petersburg 3.02%.

Catholics were followed by Protestants, which accounted for 4.85% of the total population of the country. Protestants were concentrated in 8 Finnish (at least 90%) and 3 Baltic provinces (90%, 80% and 76%). Outside these provinces, Protestants were scattered throughout Russia, making up a larger percentage in the St. Petersburg province (12.59%), in the Privislinsky region, especially in the border provinces in the southwest, south and southeast.

The Protestants were followed by Jews, which accounted for 4.05% of the total population of the state. The Jews lived mainly to the west of the Dvina and the Dnieper and in the Vitebsk province. Here, in 6 out of 22 provinces they accounted for more than 15%, in 13 provinces - over 10% and in 3 provinces - over 7%. Outside this territory, the number of Jews was small, and only in Chernigov, Yekaterinoslav, Tauride and Poltava provinces did it rise from 4 to 5%.

The Jews are followed in number by "the rest of the Christians", almost exclusively Armenian Gregorians, which accounted for 0.96% of the total population of the state. The Armenian Gregorians concentrated mainly in Transcaucasia, where they accounted for 53% in Erivan province, 34.05% in Elizavetpol, 25.10% in Kars and 21.83% in Tiflis. Outside these provinces, their percentage was more significant in the Black Sea (10.85%) and Baku (6.16%). In others it is quite low.

Aliens lived mainly in Central Asia (889 per 1000) and Eastern Siberia, meeting in European Russia only in the provinces of Astrakhan (393 per 1000) and Arkhangelsk (17 per 1000), and in the Caucasus in the Terek regions (103 per 1000) and Stavropol (48 per 1000).

Cossacks lived exclusively in the Cossack regions, amounting to 1000 people in the Don region 400, Orenburg 228, Kuban 410, Terskaya 179, Astrakhan 18, Amur 179, Transbaikal 29.1, Primorskaya 62, Akmola 109, Semipalatinsk 42, Semirechenskaya 30 and Ural 177 people .

Upon the accession of foreigners and Cossacks to peasants, you get a general group of rural inhabitants, which in general for the whole of Russia is 86%.

The second largest estate was tradesmen(107 per 1000). If we add to them honorary citizens and merchants(5 per 1000), then in general there will be a group of predominantly townspeople, which, per 1000 inhabitants:

The third largest class group was nobles. Already by the middle of the XIX century. 60% of the nobility did not have peasants and over 40% were engaged in agricultural activities themselves.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the classes characteristic of capitalism accounted for only about a third (37.4%) of the population of Russia, including the urban and rural bourgeoisie - 1.5%, prosperous smallholders - 18.4%, proletarians - 17.5% (a total of 5 million people, and 3 million (60%) were workers in the first generation.

Political power gradually passed to the bureaucracy (together with the army, which accounted for 1.7% of the population), and ideological power to the intelligentsia (together with the clergy, 1.3% of the population).

The literacy of the population of the Russian Empire was very low compared to other European countries. According to the 1897 census, 78% of the population was illiterate throughout the empire (excluding Finland). In the 1897 census forms, in the literacy column, the question was: "Can he read?" Thus, literacy in the 1897 census meant only the ability to read.

At the same time, primary education was free, since 1908 it became compulsory. This system of general education was subsequently adopted by the Bolsheviks.