Russia Census

' Russia Census

A census is a count and description of the population.

Census records can provide family relationships, age, year of birth, description of property, religion, and place of birth. Microfilm copies are available at many repositories and through interlibrary loan. Generally, more recent censuses are more complete. They can provide information missing in other records. Use census information with caution because information (which may have been given by any family member) may be incorrect or deliberately falsified.


 * Russian Empire Census (1897), the only complete population census conducted in Imperial Russia
 * Russian Census (2002), the only population census conducted in the post-Soviet Russia

Russian Census of 2002 (Russian: Всеросси́йская пе́репись населе́ния 2002 го́да) was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics (Rosstat).

The census was primarily intended to collect statistical information about the resident population of the Russian Federation. The resident population included:


 * Russian citizens living in Russia (including those temporary away from the country, provided the absence from the country was expected to last less than one year);
 * non-citizens (i.e. foreign citizens and stateless persons) who were any of the following:
 * legal permanent residents;
 * persons who have arrived to the country with the intent to settle permanently or to seek asylum, regardless of whether they have actually obtained the appropriate immigration status;
 * authorized foreign workers or students, provided the period of temporary residence in Russia was expected to last at least one year.
 * All detailed census tables are for the resident population.
 * All (resident) participants were asked questions on their gender, birth date, marital status, household composition, birthplace, citizenship, ethnic or tribal self-identification (национальность), education level, language competence, sources of income, and employment status. A sample of the participants were also asked more detailed questions about their economic and housing situation.

Family lists / local censuses
Research use: Value is the same as for revision lists.

Record type: Population enumerations were conducted after the revisions for the purpose of assessing a poll tax and identifying those for conscription into the military.

General: The term supplemental revision lists was used in some areas when referring to family lists. Since there was no universal mandate as in the case of the revisions to create these records, they occur randomly at different times for different places. Family lists were also created by conscription offices that listed all male members of a family along with their parents.

Time period: 1860-1918.

Contents: Head of household, family members, ages; other details vary.

Location: State archives.

Population coverage: 30% coverage because conducted randomly on a local basis and not always preserved.

Reliability: They are not completely reliable because of efforts to evade taxation or conscription by avoiding correct enumeration.

1897 Russian Empire Census (perepis 1897)
The 1897 census was the only universal census in tsarist Russia. It was conducted on January 28, in the middle of the winter because this was the time when the populace was least mobile. On the appointed day, 150,000 census takers spread out into the environs of the nation and completed over thirty million sheets of returns. Some census workers traveled as much as forty miles to gather the required data. The census tabulated information on name, age, sex, relationship, social class, occupation, religion, native tongue, literacy, birthplace, military status, and disabilities. A copy was made locally and both copies forwarded to the provincial census commission. One of these was kept by that commission and the other sent to the Central Census Bureau in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg copy is no longer extant but the local copy has survived in some regional archives.

Sources in Print
Dunai, Alexander. "The 1897 All-Empire Russian Census." In AVOTAYNU Vol. XXIV, no. 3 (Fall 2008); pp. 12-14. [FHL INTL.296.79 vol. 24].