Assessment of the Population of Medium and Small Towns of Europe in the Last Quarter of the 19th Century in the Works by Professor Alexander Georg Supan

Abstract

The article under studies highlights the results of the population assessment in medium and small European towns in 1875, 1880, 1890, 1904. These were presented by Alexander Supan (1847-1920) in his «Lehrbuch der Geographie nach den Principien der neueren Wissenschaft für österreichische Mittelschulen und verwandte Lehranstalten sowie zum Selbstunterrichte» (Textbook of Geography for Austrian Middle Schools and Related Institutions, as Well as Self-Instruction), published in the second (1875), the fourth (1880), the seventh (1890), and the eleventh (1904) editions. Particular emphasis has been laid on the fact that over the last quarter of the XIX century, the number of medium-populated European towns have exceeded 1/5, whereas that of small towns - 1/10 of all European cities. In addition, the article presents the population dynamics of 131 medium towns of Europe in 1875, 1880, 1890, 1904, as well as ascertains that among the European countries, medium towns were most typical for Austria-Hungary and Germany.