Demographics of the Ottoman Empire

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.

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).

Before the establishment of the Danube Vilayet, some 250000-300000 Muslim immigrants from Crimea and Caucasus had been settled in this region from 1855 to 1864.

Another 200–300,000 male and female Circassian and Crimean Tatar refugees settled in 1862-1878 were to a degree excluded from the 1866 census count.

Population of the eyalets (Silistra, Vidin and Niş) which constituted the establishment of the Danube Vilayet, according to the 1858 report of the British consul Edward Neale:[19] The Danube Province was founded in 1864 and consisted of the subprovinces of Ruse, Varna, Tulcea, Tarnovo, Vidin, Sofia and Niş.

In the Ioannina Vilayet, the Orthodox Christians were dominant, a majority of whom were ethnically Albanian according to Ottoman officials and were also three fourths of the Muslims.

[5] Practically all of the Circassians began migrating to Anatolia after the Russian military advances in the last quarter of the century.

The publication presents Arnold J. Toynbee's analysis on Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire.

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".