In 1844, the first ever population census was carried out in the Ottoman Empire, which showed that only 47% of the country’s population was Muslim. In contrast, today, Muslims make up 99% of the population of Turkey.
Where have the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians gone who, according to the census of 1844, accounted for 50% of the country’s population, including 70% in its capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul)?
National and religious composition of the population in the Ottoman Empire in 1844.
Total population 10 million
Ethnic composition: Turks 3 million (30%), Armenians 2.4 million (24%), Greeks 2 million (20%), Assyrians 600 thousand (6%), other peoples 500 thousand (5%)
Religious composition: Christian 50%, Muslim 47%, other religions 3%
PS Turks made up the majority in the central and some western regions of the Ottoman Empire. Armenians lived in the East, Greeks in the West, Kurds in the South-East. In the capital of the empire, Constantinople, Christians accounted for 70% of the population.
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