{"title":"The Formation of a Per Capita Population Census System of the Russian Empire in the 18th Century","authors":"N. D. Borshchik","doi":"10.1134/s101933162308004x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Abstract</h3><p>A wide range of issues regarding the mechanism of state registration of subjects of the Russian Empire in the 18th century is covered. It is noted that Peter the Great’s large-scale reforms in all spheres of public life logically showed the imperfection of the then household accounting of the population of the Tsardom of Muscovy. The reasons for the transition to a per capita census of the country’s inhabitants are considered, and the evolution of census accountancy and its complication and improvement throughout the 18th century are traced. The procedure of carrying out “people’s censuses” has been studied. It is shown that the first censuses carried out in the first half of the 18th century were of a transitional nature since they contained features of household descriptions of the population of the Muscovy state. The people’s censuses of the second half of the 18th century were organized on a qualitatively new basis: the survey mechanism was simplified, and unified documentation appeared, uniform for the entire country. It is concluded that demographic information contained in census materials is of critical importance.</p>","PeriodicalId":56335,"journal":{"name":"Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1134/s101933162308004x","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
A wide range of issues regarding the mechanism of state registration of subjects of the Russian Empire in the 18th century is covered. It is noted that Peter the Great’s large-scale reforms in all spheres of public life logically showed the imperfection of the then household accounting of the population of the Tsardom of Muscovy. The reasons for the transition to a per capita census of the country’s inhabitants are considered, and the evolution of census accountancy and its complication and improvement throughout the 18th century are traced. The procedure of carrying out “people’s censuses” has been studied. It is shown that the first censuses carried out in the first half of the 18th century were of a transitional nature since they contained features of household descriptions of the population of the Muscovy state. The people’s censuses of the second half of the 18th century were organized on a qualitatively new basis: the survey mechanism was simplified, and unified documentation appeared, uniform for the entire country. It is concluded that demographic information contained in census materials is of critical importance.
期刊介绍:
Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences provides a broad coverage of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ activities. It publishes original works, surveys, speeches, and discussions with participation of the members of Russian Academy of Sciences, leading scientists in Russia and worldwide and presents various viewpoints on important subjects related to all fields of science. The journal addresses the questions of scientist’s role in society and the role of scientific knowledge in the modern world.