Historical population figures thread

Thande

Donor
Population figures thread: The purpose of this thread is for people to post data about how the populations of countries has changed over time, helping people who are writing timelines. I will start by posting some population figures for 1820, taken from this contemporary atlas. The spellings are from the original and may differ from modern ones. Often the figures are based on census data some years old, so it may be better to regard these as more accurate for 1810 or so.

United Kingdom
Total population: 17,118,936
England: 9,499,400
Wales: 607,380
Scotland: 1,804,864
Ireland: 5,207,292

Breakdown by county etc
England
Middlesex: 950,040
Cheshire: 227,031
Northumberland: 172,161
Cumberland: 133,744
Durham: 179,805
Westmorland: 45,936
Yorkshire: 978,553
Lancashire: 828,309
Derbyshire: 185,487
Nottinghamshire: 162,900
Lincolnshire: 222,551
Rutland: 16,380
Leicestershire: 150,419
Northamptonshire: 141,353
Warwickshire: 218,893
Shropshire: 194,700
Staffordshire: 296,528
Worcestershire: 161,001
Herefordshire: 94,073
Monmouthshire: 51,274
Gloucestershire: 278,536
Oxfordshire: 119,204
Berkshire: 118,277
Norfolk: 291,982
Suffolk: 333,899
Cambridgeshire: 101,109
Huntingdonshire: 42,208
Bedfordshire: 70,213
Buckinghamshire: 117,650
Essex: 252,473
Hertfordshire: 111,654
Kent: 370,885
Surrey: 323,851
Sussex: 189,245
Hampshire: 245,347
Wiltshire: 193,823
Dorsetshire: 124,693
Somersetshire: 303,181
Devonshire: 383,308
Cornwall: 216,667

Wales
Flintshire: 47,518
Denbighshire: 64,240
Montgomeryshire: 50,606
Anglesea: 37,092
Caernarvonshire: 49,013
Merionethshire: 30,924
Radnorshire: 21,799
Brecknockshire: 37,750
Glamorganshire: 81,268
Cardiganshire: 50,332
Caermarthenshire: 77,217
Pembrokeshire: 60,615

Scotland
Caithness: 23,419
Sutherland: 23,629
Ross and Cromarty: 60,853
Inverness: 78,415
Nairn: 8,251
Murray or Elgin: 23,108
Banff: 34,100
Aberdeen: 136,903
Kincardine or Mearns: 27,439
Angus or Forfar: 107,264
Perth: 135,093
Fife: 104,272
Kinross: 7,245
Clackmannan: 12,010
Stirling: 58,174
Dumbarton: 24,189
Argyle: 85,585
Renfrew: 92,596
Linlithgow: 19,451
Edinburgh: 148,444
Haddington: 31,164
Merse: 30,779
Air: 103,954
Lanerk: 191,752
Peebles: 9,935
Selkirk: 5,809
Roxburgh: 37,230
Dumfries: 62,960
Kircudbright: 32,684
Wigtown: 26,891
Bute: 12,038

Ireland
Leinster: 1,450,212
Munster: 1,410,696
Ulster: 1,739,532
Connaught: 606,852


France
Total population: 29,000,000 (est.)
Reliable figures for France did not exist in 1820 due to the upheavals of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.


Spain
Total population: 10,730,000
Breakdown by province:
New Castille: 1,260,000
Andalusia: 1,370,000
Old Castille: 1,000,000
Arragon: 600,00
Estremadura: 450,000
Gallicia: 1,145,000
Leon: 1,300,000
Catalonia: 900,000
Granada: 650,000
Valencia: 800,000
Biscay: 300,000
Asturias: 230,000
Murcia: 435,000
Navarre: 200,000
Majorca: 140,000
Minorca: 28,000
Ivica: 12,000


Portugal
Total population: 2,550,000 not including Azores (100,000)
Breakdown by province
Entre Douro e Minho: 900,000
Tras los Montes: 140,000
Beira: 520,000
Estremadura: 600,000
Alentejo: 300,000
Algarve: 90,000


Germany
Total population of the German Confederation and all lands tied by royalty including the non-German-speaking possessions of Prussia and Austria: 44,700,000

Breakdown by kingdom
Austrian Empire: 25,000,000
Kingdom of Prussia: 6,200,000
Other states (Saxony, Bavaria, Wirtemberg, Baden, Hanover, Nassau, Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt, Lower Rhine, Cleves and Berg, Munster, Oldenburgh, Holstein, Mecklenburgh, Free Cities and other states): 13,500,000


Kingdom of the Netherlands
Total population: est. 5,075,224

Breakdown (based on old 1809 figures, hence French department divisions in Belgium)
Holland: 799,978
Utrecht: 108,820
Zealand: 74,050
Brabant: 207,708
Guelders: 323,282
Overyssel: 174,732
Friesland: 96,846
Groningen: 103,000
(Total former United Provinces: 1,868,416)
Lys: 465,121
Scheldt or Escaut: 629,964
Jemmappe: 443,059
Dyle: 431,959
Deux Nethes: 249,376
Valdère: 225,549
Sambre and Meuse: 190,655
Meuse Inferieure: 267,249
Ourthe: 313,876
Total former Austrian Netherlands: 3,206,808


Italy
Total population: 20,227,204
Breakdown by kingdom
Lombardy and Venice (Austrian): 6,070,927
Kingdom of Naples and Sicily: 6,619,502
States of the Church: 2,000,000
Modena: 470,000
Parma and Placentia: 300,000
Lucca: 172,000
Tuscany: 1,100,000
Sardinia: 3,494,775


Russian Empire
Total population: 45,248,000


Denmark
Total population: 1,448,438
Breakdown by province
Diocese of Zealand: 345,740
Diocese of Funen: 151,512
Jutland—Aarhuys: 125,282
Jutland—Ripen: 83,186
Jutland—Aalborg: 71,242
Wiborg—53,488
Duchy of Sleswick: 251,230
Duchy of Holstein: 311,758
Iceland: 50,000
The Faro Isles: 5,000


Kingdom of Sweden-Norway
Total population: 3,887,417
Sweden: 3,187,417
Norway and Lapland: 700,000


Ottoman Empire
Total population: 23,000,000
Turkey in Europe: 10,000,000
Turkey in Asia: 10,500,000
Egypt: 3,250,000


Persia
Total population: 15,000,000


India
Within the Ganges (former Mughal Empire): 110,000,000
Beyond the Ganges (Aracan, Burmah, Pegu, Tonkin, Siam, Camboja, Cochinchina, Malaya, &c): 25,000,000
Unrelated figures
Longtime British possessions (Bengal, Bahar, Orissa, Benares): 11,000,000
Mysore: 20,000,000
Gentoo (Hindu) population: 100,000,000
Mahometan (Muslim) population: 10,000,000


China
Total population: c. 300,000,000
Breakdown by province:
Peetchelee: 38,000,000
Shensi: 30,000,000
Shansi: 27,000,000
Shantung: 24,000,000
Honan: 25,000,000
Kiangnan: 32,000,000
Setchuen: 27,000,000
Hooquang: 27,000,000
Tchekiang: 21,000,000
Kiangsee: 19,000,000
Yunnan: 8,000,000
Koetcheu: 9,000,000
Quangsi: 10,000,000
Quangtung: 21,000,000
Fokien: 15,000,000


Independent Tartary (Bucharia, Kharasm., etc)
Total population: 8,000,000


British North America
Canada: 250,000
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia: 100,000


Spanish America
Total population: 12,400,000
New Spain: 6,500,000 (3,000,000 of which are natives)
New Granada: 1,800,000
Caraccas: 900,000
Peru: 1,300,000
Buenos Ayres: 1,100,000
Chili: 800,000


Portuguese Brazil
Total population: 4,000,000


United States of America
Total population: 5,623,465 whites, 1,361,357 blacks (not including territories)
Breakdown by state
Virginia: 557,534 whites, 417,088 blacks
New York: 918,870 whites, 40,350 blacks
Massachussetts: 693,039 whites, 7,706 blacks
Delaware: 55,361 whites, 7,313 blacks
Connecticut: 255,179 whites, 6,763 blacks
Maryland: 235,117 whites, 145,429 blacks
Rhode Island: 73,214 whites, 3,717 blacks
New Hampshire: 213,390 whites, 970 blacks
North Carolina: 376,310 whites, 179,190 blacks
South Carolina: 214,196 whites, 200,919 blacks
New Jersey: 226,868 whites, 18,694 blacks
Pennsylvania: 786,803 whites, 23,288 blacks
Georgia: 145,414 whites, 107,019 blacks
Vermont: 217,163 whites, 750 blacks
Kentucky: 324,237 whites, 82,274 blacks
Tennessee: 215,875 whites, 45,852 blacks
Louisiana: 34,311 whites, 42,255 blacks
Indiana: 23,890 whites, 630 blacks
Mississippi: 24,703 whites, 21,276 blacks
Illinois: 11,555 whites, 627 blacks
Alabama: 20,436 whites, 9,247 blacks
 
It's interesting to me how some countries really haven't gained all that much of a population since then. Great Britain and Ireland had a much smaller difference in population.
 

Thande

Donor
It's interesting to me how some countries really haven't gained all that much of a population since then. Great Britain and Ireland had a much smaller difference in population.

Well in the case of Ireland the population still hasn't recovered to its pre-potato famine level of about 8 million in 1840 (it's currently 6.1 million for the whole island). So it's not only that England's population boomed for various reasons (urbanisation, improvements in farming, sanitation, able to support a bigger population, etc.) but Ireland's fell. This is actually important to recognise, because you can miss out on some historical stuff otherwise--like for example how the Duke of Wellington's British army in the Peninsula was actually one-third Irish. If you look at that from a modern perspective you think "wow, were lots and lots of Irish people signing up for some reason?" But actually it's just that Ireland's population was so much higher then in relation to the rest of the UK's that that was about the proportion you'd expect.
 

Thande

Donor
Here is some data from an American atlas of 1867.

By continent:
Europe: 278,010,086
Asia: 755,000,000
Africa: 200,000,000
America: 72,510,691
Australia: 2,000,000

Countries of Europe
Andorra: 7,000
Anhalt: 180,000
Austria: 35,019,000
Baden: 1,370,050
Bavaria: 4,689,800
Belgium: 4,782,160
Bremen: 98,600
Brunswick: 282,250
Denmark: 2,605,000
France: 37,382,270
Frankfort: 87,520
Great Britain: 29,334,800
Greece: 1,330,950
Hamburg: 230,000
Hanover: 1,888,050
Hesse-Cassel: 738,450
Hesse-Darmstadt: 856,900
Hesse-Homburg: 26,825
Holland (incl. Luxemburg): 3,618,460
Italy: 21,776,870
Lichtenstein: 7,200
Lippe-Detmold: 108,520
Lippe-Schaumburg: 30,800
Lubec: 50,700
Mecklenburg-Schwerin: 548,350
Mecklenburg-Strelitz: 99,030
Monaco: 1,700
Nassau: 457,580
Oldenburg: 295,520
Portugal: 3,693,350
Prussia: 18,491,200
Reuss: 125,500
Rome and Comarca: 445,060
Russia in Europe: 60,122,617
San Marino: 8,00
Saxony: 2,225,180
Saxe-Altenburg: 137,160
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: 159,450
Saxe-Meiningen, Hildburgh: 172,354
Saxe-Weimar Eisenach: 273,240
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: 71,960
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: 65,010
Spain: 18,765,470
Sweden and Norway: 5,350,800
Switzerland: 2,510,350
Turkey in Europe: 15,710,000
Waldeck: 58,500
Wurtemberg: 1,720,800

Countries/regions of Asia
Siberia: 7,000,000
Chinese Empire: 400,000,000
East Indies (this appears to mean British India in this context): 171,000,000
Farther India (i.e. Indochina): 15,000,000
Indian Archipelago (i.e. Indonesia): 80,000,000
Japan: 35,000,000
Tartary (i.e. the 'stans): 8,000,000
Persia: 13,000,000
Afghanistan: 4,000,000
Beluchistan: 2,000,000
Arabia: 5,000,000
Asiatic Turkey: 15,000,000

Countries/regions of North America and the West Indies
Russian America (i.e. Alaska): 54,000
British Possessions (most of which would become Dominion of Canada just after this atlas was published): 4,238,687
United States of America: 31,415,573
United States of Mexico: 7,859,564
Central American States: 2,201,450
Spanish Possessions (i.e. Cuba, Puerto Rico etc): 2,014,196
Haiti: 572,000
Dominican Republic: 136,700
French Possessions: 280,902
Dutch Possessions: 28,854
Danish Possessions: 49,515
Swedish Possessions: 9,000
Uncivilized Indians: 1,000,000
Total: 49,860,441

Countries/regions of South America
United States of Colombia: 2,363,054
Venezuela: 1,361,386
Equador: 1,108,042
British Guayana: 127,695
Dutch Guayana: 60,080
French Guayana: 22,010
Brazil: 7,677,800
Bolivia: 2,326,126
Peru: 2,106,492
Chile: 1,558,319
Argentine Republic: 1,156,000
Buenos Ayres: 303,355
Paraguay: 600,000
Uruguay: 177,300
Patagonia: 210,000
Falkland Islands: 2,600
Uncivilized Indians: 1,500,000
Total: 22,650,250

Total World Population in 1867: 1,307,520,777

Population by Religion:
Total Christians: 25.77%, 335,000,000
Roman Catholics: 50.7% of Christians, 170,000,000
Protestants: 26.6% of Christians, 89,000,000
Greeks (i.e. Orthodox): 22.7% of Christians, 76,000,000

Jews: 0.38%, 5,000,000
Mahommedans: 12.31%, 160,000,000
Asiatic Religions: 46.15%, 600,000,000
Other Heathens: 15.39%, 200,000,000

Population by Race:

1. Caucasian (28.86%, 369,000,000)
In Europe (except Lapps and Finns): 270,000,000
In Asia (Turks, 15; Arabs, 5; Persians &c 11; Siberians (in part), 3; foreigners in Eastern Asia, 2): 36,000,000
In Africa (Arabs and foreigners): 4,000,000
In America: 58,000,000
In Australia: 1,000,000

2. Mongolian--In Asia principally; in Europe, Lapps and Finns: 40.61%, 522,000,000

3. Ethiopian: 15.08%, 196,000,000

4. American: 0.08%, 1,000,000

5. Malay (In Father India, 84; In the Indian Islands, 80; in Japan, 35; and in Australia, 1): 15.38%, 200,000,000
 

Thande

Donor
Some notes on the above--I find it funny that even when there were lots of tiny German states around, places like Liechtenstein and Andorra still stand out as miniscule just as they do today. Also, their racial classifications are kinda weird (the Japanese are Malays?)
 
I wish there were more solid figures on pre-Columbian populations, but figuring out a solid estimate is hard enough and average estimates often swing wildly over time. A decade or even a few years ago the average estimate for the Maya population at the height of the Classic Era was 3,000,000, but more modern and accurate assessments now place a more realistic estimate at being 10,000,000 people living in an area roughly the size of the British Isles in 700 AD. For comparison, apparently there were 800,000 people living in England and Wales in 850 AD. If you multiplied that by 2 to get a rough estimate of the entire British Isles population, you still only get 1,700,000 people, barely more than a tenth of the Maya population 150 years earlier.
 

Thande

Donor
For comparison, apparently there were 800,000 people living in England and Wales in 850 AD.

I think it's a bit higher than that, certainly over 1 million (it was between 2 and 3 million in 1066). Your figures may be based on only the Anglo-Saxon population and not the Brythonic or something like that.
 

Thande

Donor
Total US population over time from census data -- taken from this intriguing chart from 1859 which also includes some info on states' population, but organised oddly.

1790: 3,929,827
1800: 5,305,925
1810: 7,239,814
1820: 9,638,131
1830: 12,866,020
1840: 17,069,453
1850: 23,191,876
1860 estimate: 30,986,851
 

Thande

Donor
Total US population over time from census data -- taken from this intriguing chart from 1859 which also includes some info on states' population, but organised oddly.

In fact the atlas where the chart is from is excellent for this--it has individual pages on US states giving the population in 1850 by county. Potentially very useful for US Civil War timelines. And the same for towns and cities in European countries and provinces in China, you just have to find the right page.

Also, this gives a rundown of all the states of the German Confederation in the 1850s, their populations, armies, economies and so on.
 
Some notes on the above--I find it funny that even when there were lots of tiny German states around, places like Liechtenstein and Andorra still stand out as miniscule just as they do today. Also, their racial classifications are kinda weird (the Japanese are Malays?)

And since when did racialists classify Finns as Mongoloid?
 
I think it's a bit higher than that, certainly over 1 million (it was between 2 and 3 million in 1066). Your figures may be based on only the Anglo-Saxon population and not the Brythonic or something like that.
Yeah, I was using that site someone linked to earlier, maybe they just used Anglo-Saxon population. Still though, even if you increase the population of the 850 AD Isles to 2 million or so, that's a fifth at best of the Mayan population a hundred years earlier, which is just insane given they occupy roughly the same amount of land.
 
US Census data

...some population figures for 1820...
United States of America
Total population: 5,623,465 whites, 1,361,357 blacks (not including territories)
Breakdown by state
Virginia: 557,534 whites, 417,088 blacks
New York: 918,870 whites, 40,350 blacks
Massachussetts: 693,039 whites, 7,706 blacks
Delaware: 55,361 whites, 7,313 blacks
Connecticut: 255,179 whites, 6,763 blacks
Maryland: 235,117 whites, 145,429 blacks
Rhode Island: 73,214 whites, 3,717 blacks
New Hampshire: 213,390 whites, 970 blacks
North Carolina: 376,310 wh ites, 179,190 blacks
South Carolina: 214,196 whites, 200,919 blacks
New Jersey: 226,868 whites, 18,694 blacks
Pennsylvania: 786,803 whites, 23,288 blacks
Georgia: 145,414 whites, 107,019 blacks
Vermont: 217,163 whites, 750 blacks
Kentucky: 324,237 whites, 82,274 blacks
Tennessee: 215,875 whites, 45,852 blacks
Louisiana: 34,311 whites, 42,255 blacks
Indiana: 23,890 whites, 630 blacks
Mississippi: 24,703 whites, 21,276 blacks
Illinois: 11,555 whites, 627 blacks
Alabama: 20,436 whites, 9,247 blacks


These numbers are from the Census of 1810, not 1820. "Blacks" includes both slaves and free colored. Some of the numbers are wrong. The correct numbers are

1810 / total / white / slave / free black
CONNECTICUT / 261942 / 255179 / 310 / 6453
DELAWARE / 72674 / 55361 / 4177 / 13136
GEORGIA / 252433 / 145414 / 105218 / 1801
KENTUCKY / 406511 / 324237 / 80561 / 1713
MAINE (territory) / 228705 / 227736 / 0 / 969
MARYLAND / 380546 / 235117 / 111502 / 33927
MASSACHUSETTS / 472040 / 465303 / 0 / 6737
Mass w/Maine / 700745 / 693039 / 0 / 7706
NEW HAMPSHIRE / 183660 / 182690 / 0 / 970
NEW JERSEY / 245562 / 226868 / 10851 / 7843
NEW YORK / 959049 / 918699 / 15017 / 25333
NORTH CAROLINA / 555500 / 376410 / 168824 / 10266
OHIO / 230760 / 228861 / 0 / 1899
PENNSYLVANIA / 810091 / 786804 / 795 / 22492
RHODE ISLAND / 76931 / 73214 / 108 / 3609
SOUTH CAROLINA / 415115 / 214196 / 196365 / 4554
TENNESSEE / 261727 / 215875 / 44535 / 1317
VERMONT / 217713 / 216963 / 0 / 750
VIRGINIA / 974622 / 551534 / 392518 / 30570

This data is from the Historical Census Browser at the University of Virginia Library (http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu). It has full census data from 1790 to 1960, down to the county level. A superb resource, with a very slick interface.

I do note that the UVa data doesn't include any Territories.
 
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