Demographics of the Ottoman Empire

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1520	11,692,480	—
1566	15,000,000	+28.3%
1683	30,000,000	+100.0%
1831	27,230,660	−9.2%
1856	35,350,000	+29.8%
1881–93	17,388,604	−50.8%
1905	20,884,000	+20.1%
1906	20,975,345	+0.4%
1919	14,629,000	−30.3%

This article is about the demographics of the Ottoman Empire, including population density, ethnicity, education level, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Census

Demographic data for most of the history of the Ottoman Empire is not quite precise. For most of the five centuries of its existence, the empire did not have easily computable valid data except figures for the number of employed citizens. Until the first official census (1881–1893), data was derived from extending the taxation values to the total population. Because of the use of taxation data to infer population size, detailed data for numerous Ottoman urban centers - towns with more than 5,000 inhabitants - is accurate. This data was collaborated with data on wages and prices. Another source was used for the numbers of landlords of households in the Ottoman Empire- every household was assumed to have 5 residents.^[1]

1881-1893 Ottoman Census

The first official census (1881–1893) took 10 years to finish. In 1893 the results were compiled and presented. This census is the first modern, general and standardized census accomplished not for taxation nor for military purposes, but to acquire demographic data. The population was divided into ethno-religious and gender characteristics. Numbers of both male and female subjects are given in ethno-religious categories including Muslims, Greeks (including Greek Macedonians, Asia Minor Greeks, Pontic Greeks, and Caucasus Greeks, all Orthodox Christians under the Greek Patriarchate from extremely distinct ethnic origin), Armenians, Bulgarians, Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Latins, Syriacs and Gypsies.^[2][3]

In 1867 the Council of States took charge of drawing population tables, increasing the precision of population records. They introduced new measures of recording population counts in 1874. This led to the establishment of a General Population Administration, attached to the Ministry of Interior in 1881-1882. Somehow, these changes politicized the population counts.

• Population maps 1893-96
• 

  1893-96, Muslim, Greek and Armenian population

• 

  1893-96, Armenian distribution (in color)

• 

  1893-96, Green shows Muslim majority, red shows Armenian majority.

Ottoman Census Values
Administrative Unit	Total Pop	Armenian Pop	Armenian %
Van Vilayet	132,007	55,051	41.70%
Bitlis Vilayet	338,642	108,050	31.91%
Izmit	228,443	44,953	19.68%
Erzurum Vilayet	637,015	120,147	18.86%
Dersaadet	903,482	166,185	18.39%
Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz	466,579	83,394	17.87%
Diyarbekir Vilayet	414,657	60,175	14.51%
Sivas Vilayet	980,876	129,085	13.16%
Adana Vilayet	398,764	36,695	9.20%
Halep Vilayet	819,238	70,663	8.63%
Ankara Vilayet	1,018,744	81,437	7.99%
Hüdavendigar Vilayet	1,454,294	70,262	4.83%
Trabzon Vilayet	1,164,595	49,782	4.27%
Sehremanati Mülhakati	88,306	3,074	3.48%
Edirne	985,962	18,458	1.87%
Çatalca	61,001	979	1.60%
Biga	143,904	1,842	1.28%
Konya	1,022,834	10,972	1.07%
Aydin	1,478,424	15,229	1.03%
Zor	51,270	474	0.92%
Kastamonu	968,884	6,652	0.69%
Kudüs	258,860	1,610	0.62%
Beyrut	620,763	2,921	0.47%
Suriye	551,135	1,478	0.27%
Selanik	1,038,953	51	0.00%
Cezayir-i Bahri Sefid	286,736	10	0.00%
Manastir	711,466	22	0.00%
		1,139,651

1905-1906 Ottoman census

• Population maps 1905-1906, 1914
• 

  1905-1906 (printed in 1911)

After 1893 the Ottoman Empire established a statistics authority (Istatistik-i Umumi Idaresi) under which results of another official census was published in 1899.

Istatistik-i Umumi Idaresi conducted a new census survey for which field work lasted two years (1905–06). As a factual note this survey's complete (total) documentation was not published. Results of regional studies on this data were published later, which were sorted by their publication date. Included in the publication and subsequent ones was the Ottoman Empire's population as of 1911, 1912, and 1914. The substantial archival documentation on the census has been used in many modern studies and international publications. After 1906 the Ottoman Empire began to disband and a chain of violent wars such as the Italo-Turkish War, Balkan Wars and World War I drastically changed the region, its borders, and its demographics.

Population distribution of the Millets in the Ottoman Empire in 1906, according to the official census[4]-[5]
Millet	Inhabitants	% of total
Muslims^a	15,498,747 - 15,518,478	76.09% - 74.23%
Greeks^b	2,823,065 - 2,833,370	13.86% - 13.56%
Armenians^c	1,031,708 - 1,140,563	5.07% - 5.46%
Bulgarians	761,530 - 762,754	3.74% - 3.65%
Jews	253,435 - 256,003	1.24% - 1.23%
Protestants^d	53,880	0.26%
Others^d	332,569	1.59%
Total	20,368,485 - 20,897,617	100.00%
Notes: ^a The Muslim Millet includes all Muslims. The largest of them being Turks, Arabs and Kurds. ^b The Greek Millet includes all Christians part of the Greek Orthodox Church. This includes Slavs and Albanians. ^c This includes the various Assyrian Churches. ^d The first source doesn't include Protestants and "others".

1914 Ottoman census

• 

  1914, Muslim, Greek and Armenian population.

1914 Official Census Values (Male-Female Aggregated)[6]
Province	Muslim	Armenian	Greek
Adana	341.903 (74.8%)	52.650 (13%)	8.974 (2.2%)
Ankara	877.285 (92.5%)	51.556 (5.4%)	20.240 (2.1%)
Antalya	235.762 (95.01%)	630 (.02%)	12.385 (4.97%)
Aydın (İzmir)	1.249.067	20.287	299.097
Bitlis	309.999 (72.5%)	117.492 (27.5%)	0
Bolu	399.281	2.970	5.115
Canik	265.950	27.319	98.739
Çatalca	20.048	842	36.791 (63.78%)
Diyarbekir	492.101	65.850	1.935
Edirne	360.411	19.773	224.680
Erzurum	673.297	134.377	4.864
Eskişehir	140.678	8.592	2.613
Halep	576.320	40.843	21.954
Harput	446.379	79.821	971
Hüdavendigâr	474.114	60.119	74.927
İçil	102.034	341	2.507
İzmit	226.859	55.852	40.048
Kale-i Sultaniye	149.903	2.474	8.550
Kastamonu	737.302	8.959	20.958
Karahisar-ı Sahib	277.659	7.439	632
Karesi	359.804	8.653	97.497
Kayseri	184.292	50.174	26.590
Konya	750.712	12.971	25.150
Kostantiniyye	560.434	82.880	205.752
Menteşe	188.916	12	19.923
Kütahya	303.348	4.548	8.755
Maraş	152.645	32.322	34
Niğde	227.100	4.936	58.312
Sivas	939.735	147.099	75.324
Trabzon	921.128	38.899	161.574
Urfa	149.384	16.718	2
Van	179.380	67.792	1
Zor	65.770	232	45
Total	13.390.000	1.173.422	1.564.939

Summary table

1520	1566	1683	1831	1856	The Administrative reform				1881-1893	1905–1906	1914	1919
11,692,480[7]	15,000,000[8]	30,000,000[9]	7,230,660[7]	35,350,000[7]	region	map	vilayet	sanjaks	17,388,604[7]	20,884,000[7]	20,975,345[10]	14,629,000
Before Administrative reform
						link	Bosnia Vilayet				Region Lost
							Crete Province			Region Lost
							Cyprus Eyalet		Region Lost
							Danube Vilayet		Region Lost
							Eastern Rumelia Province				Region lost
							Herzegovina Vilayet		Region Lost
							Janina Province				Region Lost
							Kosovo Province				Region Lost
							Monastir Province				Region Lost
						link	Salonica Province				Region Lost
							Scutari Province				Region Lost
							Tripolitania Province				Region Lost
						link	Aegean Archipelago Province				Region Lost
							Hejaz Province			400,000		Region Lost
						link	Adrianople Province				604,866 Muslim:360,411 Greek:224,680 Armenian:19,775 Jew: Others:
					Western		vilayet Dardanelles				160,927 Muslim:149,903 Greek:8,550 Armenian:2,474 Jew: Others:
					Western		Istanbul	sanjak of Uskudar			861,786 Muslim:568154 Greek:205,752 Armenian:87,880 Jew: Others: 57,681 Muslim:20,048 Greek:36,791 Armenian:842 Jew: Others:
					Asia Minor		İzmit		218,625 Muslim:129,175 Greek:40,795 Armenian:48,655 Jew: Others:		222,759 Muslim:126,859 Greek:40,048 Armenian:55,852 Jew: Others:
						link	İzmir Vilayet	sanjaks of Manisa İzmir Aydın Denizli Mentese	1,316,722 Muslim:1,093,334 Greek:208,283 Armenian:15,105 Jew: Others:		1,568,451 Muslim:1,249,067 Greek:299,097 Armenian:20,287 Jew: Others: 285,721 Muslim:277,659 Greek:632 Armenian:7,430 Jew: Others: 160,027 Muslim:149,003 Greek:8,550 Armenian:2,474 Jew: Others:
						link	Bursa Vilayet	sanjaks of Balıkesir Bursa Erdogrul Kütahya Afyon	1,636,297 Muslim:1,296,595 Greek:250,711 Armenian:88,991 Jew: Others:		316,649 Muslim:303,348 Greek:8,753 Armenian:4,548 Jew: Others: 609,160 Muslim:474,114 Greek:74,927 Armenian:60,119 Jew: Others: 151,883 Muslim:140,678 Greek:2,613 Armenian:8,592 Jew: Others: 465,934 Muslim:359,804 Greek:97,497 Armenian:8,633 Jew: Others:
						link	Konya Vilayet	sanjaks of Burdur Hamid abad Atalya Konya Nigde	1,071,900 Muslim:989,200 Greek:827,00 Armenian:0 Jew: Others:		788,833 Muslim:750,712 Greek:25,150 Armenian:12,971 Jew: Others: 248,877 Muslim:235,762 Greek:12,485 Armenian:630 Jew: Others: 289,448 Muslim:227,100 Greek:58,312 Armenian:4,036 Jew: Others:
						link	Kastamonu Vilayet	sanjaks of Bolu Çankırı Kastamonu Sinop	1,016,833 Muslim:992,679 Greek:21,507 Armenian:2,647 Jew: Others:		397,332 Muslim:389,261 Greek:5,101 Armenian:2,970 Jew: Others: 767,199 Muslim:737,302 Greek:20,938 Armenian:8,959 Jew: Others:
						link	Ankara Vilayet	sanjaks of Ankara Kırşehir Yozgat Kayseri	891,426 Muslim:763,119 Greek:34,009 Armenian:94,298 Jew: Others:		949,059 Muslim:877,283 Greek:20,240 Armenian:51,536 Jew: Others: 241,064 Muslim:184,292 Greek:26,598 Armenian:30,174 Jew: Others:
						link	Adana Vilayet	sanjaks of Icel (Mersin) Adana Kozan Osmaniye	301,650 Muslim:158,000 Greek:46,200 Armenian:97,450 Jew: Others:		104,882 Muslim:102,034 Greek:2,507 Armenian:341 Jew: Others: 403,527 Muslim:341,903 Greek:8,974 Armenian:52,650 Jew: Others: 221,292 Muslim:188,916 Greek:54 Armenian:32,322 Jew: Others:
						link	Trebizond Vilayet	sanjaks of Samsun Trabzon Gümüşhane Lazistan	1,046,900 Muslim:806,700 Greek:193,000 Armenian:47,200 Jew: Others:		1,121,592 Muslim:921,128 Greek:161,574 Armenian:38,890 Jew: Others: 892,208 Muslim:765,950 Greek:98,739 Armenian:27,519 Jew: Others:
						link	Sivas Vilayet	sanjaks of Sivas Tokat Amasya Şebinkarahisar	1,086,036 Muslim:839,515 Greek:76,088 Armenian:170,433 Jew: Others:		1,162,086 Muslim:939,733 Greek:75,324 Armenian:147,029 Jew: Others:
						link	Erzurum Vilayet		639,474 Muslim:500,782 Greek:3,725 Armenian:134,967 Jew: Others:		812,538 Muslim:673,297 Greek:4,864 Armenian:134,377 Jew: Others:
						link	Bitlis Vilayet	sanjaks of Muş Genç Siirt	385,510 Muslim:254,000 Greek:210 Armenian:131,300 Jew: Others:		427,491 Muslim:309,999 Greek: Armenian:117,492 Jew: Others:
							Diyâr-ı Bekr Vilayet	sanjak of Diyarbakır and the mutasarrifate of Zor	575,814 Muslim:505,446 Greek:650 Armenian:67,718 Jew: Others:		559,886 Muslim:492,101 Greek:1,935 Armenian:65,850 Jew: Others: 65,947 Muslim:65,770 Greek:45 Armenian:132 Jew: Others:
							Mamure-ul-Azil Vilayet		417,212 Muslim:328,644 Greek:94,400 Armenian:79,128 Jew: Others:		166,104 Muslim:149,384 Greek:2 Armenian:16,718 Jew: Others: 527,371 Muslim:446,579 Greek:971 Armenian:79,821 Jew: Others:
						link	Van Vilayet	sanjaks of Van Hakkari	320,998 Muslim:241,000 Greek:0 Armenian:79,998 Jew: Others:		247,173 Muslim:179,380 Greek:1 Armenian:67,792 Jew: Others:
					Ottoman Syria	link	Aleppo Vilayet	(Haleb [Halep])	815,898 Muslim:729,449 Greek:48,450 Armenian:37,999 Jew: Others:		639,117 Muslim:576,320 Greek:21,954 Armenian:40,843 Jew: Others:	Region Lost
							Deir ez-Zor Province					Region Lost
							Beirut Province					Region Lost
							Syria Province[11]					Region Lost
					Ottoman Iraq	link	Mosul Province	(from 1879) sanjaks of Mosul Sehrizor (Kirkuk) Suleymaniyeh				Region Lost
							Baghdad Province					Region Lost
							Basra Province					Region Lost
							Tunis Eyalet
				9,734,405[12]			Khedivate of Egypt

Special Reports

Arnold J. Toynbee

During the World War I; The treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was a book by Viscount Bryce and Arnold J. Toynbee which compiled statements from eyewitnesses from other countries including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, who similarly attested to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during 1915-1916. The publication presents Arnold J. Toynbee's analysis on Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire. A summary table of his analysis included in the page 199. In the "vilayet of Van", there were two portions, portions in modern use corresponds to county. As explained by Arnold J. Toynbee in the footprint at page 199, he developed his analysis by excluding certain portions of the province where he said "Armenians were a minor". Arnold Toynbee in finding the ratio of Armenians in vilayet of Van; he removed the values originating from portions of Van (listed in the foot print) where Armenians were in minority. The presented table in page 1999 shows the re-calculated values by Arnold J. Toynbee of these selected provinces using values of the parts (counties, sanjacks) which Armenians were not in minority. The presented map shows the re-calculated values of the stated provinces using values where Armenians are not in minority.

• 

  Ethnic values of the Six vilayets according to presented data.

See also

• Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire

Articles discussing the demographics of the Ottoman Empire:

• Demographics of Turkey
• Ottoman Armenian population
• History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire
• Demographics of Kosovo

References

1. Behar, Cem, ed. 1996. Osmanlı Đmparatorluğu'nun ve Türkiye'nin nüfusu, 1500-1927. Ankara: T.C. Basbakanlık Devlet Đstatistik Enstitüsü = State Institute of Statistics Prime Ministry Republic of Turkey.
2. (Karpat & 1978 pp.237-274)
3. (Shaw & 1978 p.323-338)
4. Studies on Ottoman social and political history, Kemal H. Karpat, p.766, 2002
5. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford Jay Shaw, p.241, 1977
6. 1914 Ottoman Census table from
7. Kabadayı p3
8. (Kinross & 1979 p. 206)
9. (Kinross & 1979 p. 281)
10. (Shaw 1977, pp. 239–241)
11. Damascus
12. McCarthy J. 1976. Nineteenth-Century Egyptian Population. Middle Eastern Studies 12.3: 1–39; Panzac D. 1987. The Population of Egypt in the Nineteenth Century. Asian and African Studies 21: 11–32.

Bibliography

• Shaw, Stanford Jay; Shaw, Ezel Kural (1977). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Cambridge University Press.
• Shaw, Stanford. 1978. The Ottoman Census System and Population, 1831-1914. International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (9):323-338.
• Karpat, Kemal. 1978. Ottoman Population Records and the Census of 1881/82-1893. International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (9):237-274.
• L. Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, 1979
• M. Kabadayı, Inventory for the Ottoman Empire / Turkish Republic 1500–2000