The Ottoman Empire and Jews in the census

Overview

It has the best statistical information on populations in the Ottoman Empire.

A first cencus took place in 1831. The goal was to have better information to collect taxes. Numbers (e.g. Salonica has 12368 Muslims, 21669 Reaya (Greeks) and 5667 Jews) probably represent adult males; Karpat suggests starting at 15 years. This first census did probably not count all persons in the smaller locations. In total 10133 Jews were counted in Europe and 5164 in Anatolia. The total numbers were 1317441 (Europe) and 2323660 (Anatolia). The Jewish percentage of these numbers is about 0.4 percent.

Karpat reports values for the census of 1844: 70000 Jews in Europe and 80000 Jews in Asia. Total population was 15.5 and 16.1 million in Europe and Asia. The Jewish percentages were about 0.5% in both areas.

The table below are the most accurate numbers of different cities and villages and are from the census of 1881/82-1893. Karpat reports that they used the modern method of counting all living people in a census. No data is available from distant regions like Tunis, Egypt etc. It was the first census were both males and females were counted. This was not the case in the provinces of Mosul, Basra and Bagdad, where only males were counted.

By clicking on "Males" in the table below, one can see which cities had the largest numer of Jewish people: Istanbul, Selanik, Bagdat, Izmir, Aleppo, Edirne, Kudus, Damascus. The total number of Jews in the Ottoman Empire was a little bit more than 200.000 in the census of 1881/82-1893.

City	Females	Males
Izmir Central Kaza	7175	7734
Bergama	252	243
Foca	53	44
Urla	142	140
Menemen	128	101
Cesme	54	69
Tire	514	515
Bayindir	18	13
Manisa	652	693
Kasaba	340	391
Akhasir	65	95
Kirkagac	34	40
Alachir	12	15
Aydin	941	954
Nazili	100	95
Bozdogan	5	5
Mugla	2	1
Milas	168	188
Bodrum	45	37
Marmaris		18
Koycegiz		15
Megri	10	16
Total Aydin Prov.	10710	11422
Edirne	4370	4548
Gelibolu	790	814
Dedeagac	11	24
Kirkkilise	425	475
Tekirdagi	780	876
Gumulcine	232	372
Total Edirne Prov.	6608	7109
Erzurum	3	3
Zir (Simdibuan)	225	188
Beypazari		2
Izmit	78	84
Adapazari	3	3
Geyve		1
Total Zir+Izmit	309	280
Bagdat	33	11942
Hille		510
Kerbela		230
Total Bagdad prov.	33	12682
Basra		278
Ammare		143
Total Basra Prov.	0	421
Beyrut	582	615
Sayda (Sidon)	277	297
Akka	62	61
Hayla	212	291
Safat	94	99
Taharya	408	391
Trablus	31	32
Nablis	41	42
Cemain		3
Cenin		3
Total Beyrut Prov.	1707	1834
Canakkale	766	729
Ezine	114	126
Ayvacik		3
Lapseki		17
Total Biga Prov.	880	875
Rodos	1316	1374
Meyis	3	3
Sakiz	80	99
Istankoy	32	35
Kalyot	2	4
Ipsara	2	2
Total Sefio Prov.	1435	1517
Silivri	444	521
Buyukcekmece		1
Total near Silivri	444	522
Halep (Aleppo)	4697	4659
Maras	107	91
Urfa	177	182
Total Halep Prov.	4981	4932
Bursa	1281	1303
Mihalic	38	49
Eskisehir	12	40
Erdek	154	146
Gohen	3	6
Edremit	1	4
Total Hudavendigar Prov.	1489	1548
Diyarbekir	132	153
Siverek	70	39
Cizre	85	64
Nusaybin	154	107
Cermik	128	119
Total Diyarbekir Prov.	569	482
Deyr		2
Total Deyr		2
Sam (Damascus)	3088	3177
Hasbiya	5	7
Total Syria Prov.	3093	3184
Selanik	17169	17354
Toyran	79	88
Usturmca	281	292
Yenice	29	73
Tikves	7	20
Lankaza	4	3
Karaferiye	183	210
Katrin	7	25
Serez	514	481
Cumaibala	13	18
Zihna	15	12
Nevrekop	20	33
Petric		6
Drama	30	28
Kavala	112	100
Total Selanik Prov.	18463	18743
Tokat	104	105
Total Tokat	104	105
Karta		1
Adalar	30	35
Total Adalar	30	36
Carsamba		5
Total Carsamba		5
Uskup	308	416
Istip	260	250
Pristine	152	153
Senice	5	7
Yenipazar	78	72
Yenivaros	2	3
Total Prov. Kosova	805	901
Antalya	104	112
Total Antalya	104	112
Kudus	3535	3570
Yafa	167	227
Halilurahman	291	320
Total Kudus Special District	3993	4117
Hozat (Dersim)		2
Total Hozat		2
Musul		692
Dehuk		496
Akra		283
Zaku		543
Zibar		57
Kerkuk		441
Salahiye		157
Erbil		620
Ranye		45
Koysancak		134
Ravandiz		359
Suleymaniye		218
Gulanber		59
Morge		35
Bazyan		26
Umadiye		121
Total Musul Prov.		4286
Manastir (Bitola)	2095	2179
Kesriye	407	367
Serfice		15
Nastic		9
Total Prov. Manastir	2502	2570
Yanya (Ionnina)	1531	1803
Filat	18	20
Leshovik		3
Knice		3
Pogon	4	12
Permedi	3	1
Ergiri		1
Berat	2	3
Avionya	12	19
Prevese	60	132
Loros	12	34
Margitic		4
Total Prov. Yanya	1642	2035
Istanbul	21967	22394
Total Istanbul	21967	22394
Total in Ottoman Empire	81868	102117

Ottoman Empire population in the land of Israel

The terms traditionally applied to citizens of the various religious persuasions in the Ottoman Empire acquired different meanings and new census categories were added as ethnic-national feeling burgeoned in the nineteenth century. The term "Greeks" (Rum) originally encompassed all Orthodox Christians; however, during the nineteenth century it acquired a narrower meaning, and those who retained their allegiance to the Istanbul patriarchate and to other Greek national churches (e.g., the Church of Greece, the Church of Cyprus) came to be termed "Orthodox Greeks." The Orthodox church was broken up into various national churches (Bulgarian, Serbian, Romanian), which continued to use the Orthodox rites (all of Byzantine origin) but were given their own columns in later censuses. By the end of the nineteenth century "Greek" had come to mean simply "Greek-speaking peoples." The term "Armenians" (Gregorians) originally was used to designate members of the Armenian Orthodox church; later, as some ethnic Armenians accepted other faiths, the terms "Catholic Armenians" and "Protestant Armenians" were introduced. (Some Nestorians joined the Armenian Orthodox church and were termed "Armenian Nestorians.") "Latins" were old European Catholics, but the term carried also some connotation of "Latin-speakers" (i.e., persons speaking European languages). "Roman Catholics" were those who were outright Catholics directly affiliated with the Vatican (as opposed to those whose churches merely accepted the authority of Rome).

In the table below are females and males counted. Akka and Belka are part of the Beyrut province. The other parts of the Beyrut area are Beyrut Sancak, Lazkiye Sancak and Trablussam Sancak. A small number of Jews lived in the larger cities (Beyrut: 582+615; Sidon 277+297; Trablius: 31+32). A map of the region in this period is visible in the map of wikipedia Beirut vilayet page. The Kudus/Jerusalem Sanjak was a separate Sanjak.

The Jews in Jerusalem lived mainly from money from the diaspora and from elder people who made money elsewhere and wanted to live in Jerusalem in the last period of their live. The other cities had their typical small percentage of Jews.

	Region	Muslims		Greeks		Armenians		Catholics		Jews		Protestants		Latins		Non-Muslim Gypsies		Foreigners					Muslims	Greeks	Armenians	Catholics	Jews	Protestants	Latins	Non-Muslim Gypsies	Foreigners
Kudüs Central Kaza	Jerusalem	26317	28047	5750	6272	343	504	18	33	3,535	3,570	238	296	2,878	3,174	35	49			39,114	41,945	81059	67.07%	14.83%	1.04%	0.06%	8.77%	0.66%	7.47%	0.10%	0.00%
Yafa	Jaffa	21281	23894	1826	2071	40	52	172	199	167	227	46	63	312	393			475	631	24319	27530	51849	87.13%	7.52%	0.18%	0.72%	0.76%	0.21%	1.36%	0.00%	2.13%
Gazze	Gaza	27951	31566	379	389							6	5	14	19					28350	31979	60329	98.65%	1.27%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.02%	0.05%	0.00%	0.00%
Halilürahman	Hebron	18852	21705	1	14					291	320			3	56			143	148	19290	22243	41533	97.65%	0.04%	0.00%	0.00%	1.47%	0.00%	0.14%	0.00%	0.70%
Total Kudus district		94401	105212	7956	8746	383	556	190	232	3,993	4,117	290	364	3,207	3,642	35	49	618	779	111,073	123,697	234770
Akka Central Kaza	Acre	9,686	10,328	1369	1545			1510	1703	62	61	60	70	104	112					12,791	13,819	26,610	75.21%	10.95%	0.00%	12.07%	0.46%	0.49%	0.81%	0.00%	0.00%
Hayta	Haifa	6,592	7,343	220	232			616	749	212	291	5	10	59	65					7,704	8,690	16,394	85.00%	2.76%	0.00%	8.33%	3.07%	0.09%	0.76%	0.00%	0.00%
Safat	Safed	6,306	6,576	97	121			481	633	94	99									6,978	7,429	14,407	89.41%	1.51%	0.00%	7.73%	1.34%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Nasira	Nazareth	3,463	3,385	1406	1453			442	497			139	149	663	695					6,113	6,179	12,292	55.71%	23.26%	0.00%	7.64%	0.00%	2.34%	11.05%	0.00%	0.00%
Tabarya	Tiberias	2,505	2,656	22	32			80	78	408	391			3	4					3,018	3,161	6,179	83.52%	0.87%	0.00%	2.56%	12.93%	0.00%	0.11%	0.00%	0.00%
Total Akka Sancak		28,552	30,288	3114	3383	0	0	3129	3660	776	842	204	229	829	876	0	0	0	0	36,604	39,278	75,882
Nablis		13804	16982	285	367					13	22	41	42	112	134	98	130			14353	17677	32030	96.12%	2.04%	0.00%	0.00%	0.11%	0.26%	0.77%	0.71%	0.00%
Benisaap		14963	16308	6	46															14969	16354	31323	99.83%	0.17%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Cemain		9837	11443										3							9837	11446	21283	99.99%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.01%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Cenin		13609	16570	155	158								3	13	14	79	77			13856	16822	30678	98.37%	1.02%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.01%	0.09%	0.51%	0.00%
Total Belka Sancak		52213	61303	446	571	0	0	0	0	13	22	41	48	125	148	177	207	0	0	53015	62299	115314