The census of the Russian Empire (1897) was not the first event of its kind in Russia. It is reliably known that individual censuses were carried out periodically on the territory of the Russian principalities, khanates, and khanates in order to determine what income could be received from the population of a particular territory. For example, historians have found that censuses from 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 in 1917, about two hundred accounting measures were taken in Russia in various cities, including in the Livonia, Courland and Estland provinces, and a total registration of people living there was made.
The census results took up almost 90 volumes
The census of the Russian Empire in 1897 has been prepared since 1874. In particular, two years before the accounting events in Russia, statistical work related to obtaining data from the population was prohibited. Since June 1895, Tsar Nicholas II signed a corresponding decree, which determined that the census should determine the composition, number and distribution of the population, including all Russian citizens and foreigners. 7 million rubles were allocated for such a large-scale event. And the results were collected and published finally only by 1905, in almost ninety volumes.
A hundred languages ​​were spoken in the Russian Empire
The census of the Russian Empire (1897) established that about 125.64 million people live in the country, of which 55.6 million consider Russian their language, 22 million are Little Russian, and 5.8 million are Belarusian. Since the empire at that time Polish lands entered, then 7.9 million inhabitants spoke this language, and 1.21 million people spoke Moldovan and Romanian. About 5.06 million citizens used the Hebrew language at that time. The smallest languages ​​spoken at that time in Russia included: Spanish and Portuguese - 138 people, Dutch - 335 native speakers, as well as Hindu, Kistin, Lezgi, Chuvan, Afghan.
The census of the Russian Empire (1897) showed that native speakers of such foreign languages ​​live in Russia as: Chinese - 57 thousand people, Japanese - only 2.6 thousand people, Korean - about 26 thousand people. There were quite a few speakers of German - about 1.7 million, Armenian - 1.17 million people. A significant group consisted of Tatar speakers - 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 with respect 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 system language in those days and today is the Russian language, which allows peoples to understand each other, while maintaining their originality.
Only every fifth was literate
The first general census of the population 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 illiterate or illiterate. And such an indicator was reflected in the statistics - at that time only one in five people were literate in Russia, while among men the percentage of “educated” was about 30%, while among women it was only about 13 with a small percentage. An interesting fact is that among the peasants, many answered the question about the name of their spouse that they simply called their wife a "woman."
There were fewer merchants 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 estate of peasants (77 percent of all citizens). The bourgeoisie went next in numbers - 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 accounted for 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 Russian Empire (1897) established that Russia was then peasant-bourgeois, where the bourgeoisie was a collection of small merchants, artisans, urban residents who owned most of the real estate in the 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. Petty bourgeoisie by their position in society were lower than merchants, they were attributed to a certain city (in the urban philistine book). The tradesman could leave his place of residence for a time 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 down.
Between merchants and nobles
What interesting facts has history preserved for us? The census of the Russian Empire (1897) recorded that in Russian society there were so-called “honorary citizens”, which made up 0.3% of the total population. This was an intermediate class between noble noblemen and merchants, which made it possible to protect the former from the penetration of "base 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 spouse, while the 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 Orthodoxy was the main religion, which was practiced by about 70 percent of the population. The second place after the Christians was then Muslims - about 11.1 percent, followed by the followers of the Roman Catholic Church - about nine percent, and 4.2 percent of the population were Jews. The peoples of Russia 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 churches and churches, while the modern Russian Orthodox Church has 29-30 thousand churches, including those located in Belarus, the Baltic states, Ukraine, etc.
Million-plus cities
What facts did the census reveal (1897)? The results of this study give us the opportunity to find out what large settlements were in Russia then. The capital of the state at that time (not Moscow, St. Petersburg) was a millionaire city. More than 1.2 million people lived in it. The second largest "metropolis" was Moscow - 1.038 million people. More than half a million people lived in Warsaw (683 thousand), which was then part of the Russian Empire (the territory of the Polish kingdom). In addition to the above, on the map of the country at that time there were about 40 cities with a population of more than 50,000 people.
Of particular value to modern historians are the census form itself, which reflects primary information. From them one could learn a lot. However, most of the papers were destroyed, so we are satisfied with the processed data.