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Jewish population centers have shifted tremendously over time, due to the constant streams of Jewish refugees created by expulsions, persecution, and officially sanctioned killing of Jews in various places at various times. The 20th century saw a large shift in Jewish populations, due mostly to persecution in Eastern Europe followed by the Holocaust, migration to the United States and the creation of Israel and subsequent expulsions of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews from the Arab world.

Ancient and medieval times[]

The Torah contains a number of statements as to the number of Jews that left Egypt, the descendants of the seventy sons and grandsons of Jacob who took up their residence in that country. Altogether, including Levites, the number given is 611,730. For non-Levites, this represents men fit for military service, i.e. between twenty and sixty years of age; among the Levites the relevant number is those obligated in temple service (males between twenty and fifty years of age). This would imply a population of about 3,000,000. The Census of David is said to have recorded 1,300,000 males over twenty years of age, which would imply a population of over 5,000,000. The number of exiles who returned from Babylon is given at 42,360. Tacitus declares that Jerusalem at its fall contained 600,000 persons; Josephus, that there were as many as 1,100,000, of whom 97,000 were sold as slaves. It is from the latter that most European Jews are descended. These appear (writes Jacobs) to be all the figures accessible for ancient times, and their trustworthiness is a matter of dispute. 1,100,000 is comparable to the population of the largest cities that existed anywhere in the world before the 19th century, but geographically the Old City of Jerusalem is just a few per cent of the size of such cities as ancient Rome, Constantinople, Edo period Tokyo and Han Dynasty Xi'an. The difficulties of commissariat in the Sinai desert for such a number as 3,000,000 have been pointed out by John William Colenso.

In the Hadrianic war of 132-135 AD 580,000 Jews were slain, according to Cassius Dio (lxix. 14). According to Theodor Mommsen, in the first century C.E. there were no less than 1,000,000 Jews in Egypt, in a total of 8,000,000 inhabitants; of these 200,000 lived in Alexandria, whose total population was 500,000. Adolf Harnack (Ausbreitung des Christentums, Leipzig, 1902) reckons that there were 1,000,000 Jews in Syria at the time of Nero in 60's AD, and 700,000 in Palestine, and he allows for an additional 1,500,000 in other places, thus estimating that there were in the first century 4,200,000 Jews in the world. Jacobs remarks that this estimate is probably excessive.

As regards the number of Jews in the Middle Ages, Benjamin of Tudela, about 1170, enumerates altogether 1,049,565; but of these 100,000 are attributed to Persia and India, 100,000 to Arabia, and 300,000 to an undecipherable "Thanaim", obviously mere guesses with regard to the Eastern Jews, with whom he did not come in contact. There were at that time probably not many more than 500,000 in the countries he visited, and probably not more than 750,000 altogether. The only real data for the Middle Ages are with regard to special Jewish communities. The Jewish Encyclopedia provides a table of this data [1].

The Middle Ages were mainly a period of expulsions. In 1290, 16,000 Jews were expelled from England; in 1306, 100,000 from France; and in 1492, about 200,000 from Spain. Smaller but more frequent expulsions occurred in Germany, so that at the commencement of the 16th century only four great Jewish communities remained: Frankfurt, 2,000; Worms, 1,400; Prague, 10,000; and Vienna, 3,000 (Heinrich Grätz, Geschichte der Juden x. 29). It has been estimated that during the five centuries from 1000 to 1500, 380,000 Jews were killed during the persecutions, reducing the total number in the world to about 1,000,000. In the 16th and 17th centuries the main centers of Jewish population were in Poland and the Mediterranean countries, Spain excepted.

The modern world[]

Increase in European Jewish populations before 1900
Date Population
Netherlands
1829 46,408
1839 52,245
1849 58,626
1859 63,790
1869 68,003
1879 81,693
Hungary
1720 12,656
1785 75,089
1786 77,647
1804 124,128
1805 127,816
1829 202,328
1842 241,632
1850 352,400
1857 413,118
1869 516,658
1880 624,737
1890 725,222
Poland
16th century 200,000
1659 100,000
1764 315,298
1816 212,000
1825 341,125
1826 368,773
1828 384,263
1856 563,000
1868 764,947
1875 860,327
1882 1,045,000
1893 1,229,000
1897 1,333,000
Württemberg
1832 10,670
1846 12,356
1858 11,088
1864 11,610
1871 12,245
1880 13,331
1890 12,639
1900 11,916
Source: The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906).

Again following Jacobs, Jacques Basnage at the beginning of the 18th century estimated the total number of European Jews at 1,360,000, but according to a census at the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the Jews of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth numbered 308,500. As these formed the larger part of the European Jews, it is doubtful whether the total number was more than 400,000 at the middle of the 18th century; and, counting those in the lands of Islam, the entire number in the world at that time could not have been much more than 1,000,000.

Assuming that those numbers are reasonable, the increase in the next few centuries was remarkably rapid. It was checked in Germany by the laws limiting the number of Jews in special towns, and perhaps still more by overcrowding; Jacobs gives citations for there being 7,951 Jews at Prague in 1786 and 5,646 in 1843, and 2,214 at Frankfurt in 1811.

Chubinsky reports that in 1840 the Jews of southern Russia were accustomed to dwell thirteen in a house, whereas among the general population the average was only four to five (Globus, 1880, p. 340). The rapid increase was undoubtedly due to the early age of marriage and the small number of deaths of infants in the stable communities. The chief details known for any length of time are for the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, and Württemberg; see chart at right.

Jacobs in the Jewish Encyclopedia presents some evidence that Jewish increase in this period may have exceeded that of the general population, but remarks also that such figures of increase are often very deceptive, as they may indicate not the natural increase by surplus of births over deaths, but accession by immigration. This applies especially to Germany during the early part of the 19th century, when Jews from Galicia and Poland seized every opportunity of moving westward. Arthur Ruppin, writing in the late 19th century, when forcible measures were taken to prevent Russian Jews from settling in Germany, showed that the growth of the Jewish population in Germany had almost entirely ceased, owing to a falling birth rate and, possibly, to emigration. Similarly, during this period, England and the United States showed notable Jewish immigration.

This growth in actual numbers was somewhat offset by conversion away from Judaism. While Halakha (Jewish law) says that a Jew who converts is still a Jew, in the climate of persecution that prevailed in much of Europe in this period, conversion tended to be accompanied by a repudiation of Jewish identity, and converts to Christianity generally ceased to be considered part of the Jewish community. The Jewish Encyclopedia gives some statistics on conversion of Jews to Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Greek Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. [2] The upshot is that some 2,000 European Jews converted to Christianity every year during the 19th century, but that in the 1890s the number was running closer to 3,000 per year, — 1,000 in Austria-Hungary, 1,000 in Russia, 500 in Germany, and the remainder in the Anglo-Saxon world. Partly balancing this were about 500 converts to Judaism each year, mainly formerly Christian women who married Jewish men. For Russia, Galicia, and Romania, conversions were dwarfed by emigration: in the last quarter of the 19th century, probably 1,000,000 Jews from this area of Europe emigrated, primarily to the United States, but many also to the United Kingdom.

Toward the end of the 19th century, estimates of the number of Jews in the world ranged from about 6,200,000 (Encyclopædia Britannica, 1881) to 10,932,777 (American Jewish Year-Book, 1904–1905). This can be contrasted with estimates of about half that number a mere 60 years earlier. [3]

The Jewish Encyclopedia article on which this discussion is largely based estimates only 314,000 Sephardic Jews at the end of the 19th century. More recent scholarship tends to suggest that this estimate is low. The same source gives two wildly different estimate for the Falasha, the Ethiopian Jews, variously estimating them at 50,000 and 200,000; the former would be comparable to their present-day population.

Population in 1900[]

The following table is based on a table in the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906, which also places these numbers in context of the distribution of world population at that time. [4]

 

Circa 1900

 

 

 

Region

Population

Percent b

World

11,206,849

100.0

 

 

 

Americas, Total

1,549,621

13.8

 North c

1,522,500

13.5

 Central

1,000

0.00

 South

26,121

0.2

 

 

 

Europe, Total

8,966,781

80.0

 Russia (1897)

3,872,625

34.6

 Poland (Russian) (1897)

1,316,776

11.7

 Austria (Cisleithania, includes Galicia)

1,224,899

10.0

 Kingdom of Hungary

851,378

7.5

 Germany (1901)

586,948

7.5

 Turkey a and Rumelia

282,277

2.5

 Romania (1900)

269,015

2.4

 United Kingdom

250,000

2.2

 Other Europe

312,863

2.7

 

 

 

Asia, Total

300,948

2.6

 Other Arabia and Asia Minor f

95,000

0.8

 Palestine

78,000

0.6

 Caucasus

58,471

0.05

 Persia

35,000

0.3

 Siberia

34,477

0.3

 Other

51,392

0.4

 

 

 

Africa, Total

372,659

3.3

 North e

322,659

2.8

 Sub-Saharan

50,000

0.4

 

 

 

Oceania g

16,840

0.01

a Asian regions of Turkey included in Europe. Turkey at this time includes Mesopotamia, where there were 35,000 Jews in Baghdad; Adrianople had 17,000.
b Minor discrepancies due to rounding.
c U.S. and Canada.
e Including est. 50,000 for Ethiopia
f Excludes Mesopotamia, which is counted with European Turkey and Rumelia.

1900 compared to 2005[]

The Jewish population of each country in 1900, taken from Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906 [5], is compared to 2005 Jewish population (see Jewish population). The names of some of the countries were changed (Abyssinia was changed to Ethiopia, Palestine to Israel, British Isles to United Kingdom, Persia to Iran, Servia to Serbia and Montenegro). If the countries names do not match exactly, only "n/a" appears in the 2005 column below. Some other entries are also problematic: for example, "Germany" today is not exactly the same territory as "Germany" in 1900; the figure given for "Austria, Hungary, Poland" in 1900 corresponds to Austria-Hungary at that time, and would not include all of today's Poland; conversely, it would include the present-day Czech Republic, Slovakia, Transylvania, etc.

Note: The total at the end shows the entire estimated population of the world at that time (1900), not just the listed countries

By country[]

Historical comparison by country
Country Jews (1900 est.) % (1900) Jews (2005 est.) % (2005) Pop change % change
Algeria 51,044 1.07% 100 0.0003% -50,944 -1.07
Arabia 30,000 0.42% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Argentina 20,000 0.42% 395,379 1% 375,379 0.58
Asia Minor and Syria 65,000 0.55% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Australia 15,122 0.49% 90,406 0.45% 75,284 -0.04
Austria, Hungary, Poland 3,393,053 6.36% 93,224 0.164% -3,299,829 -6.196
Belgium 12,000 0.18% 51,821 0.5% 39,821 0.32
Bosnia and Herzegovina 8,213 0.58% 1,006 0.025% -7,207 -0.555
Brazil 2,000 0.01% 95,125 0.051% 93,125 0.041
Bulgaria 33,663 0.9% 2,300 0.031% -31,363 -0.869
Canada 22,500 0.42% 393,660 1.2% 371,160 0.78
Caucasus 58,471 0.77% 23,875 n/a n/a n/a
Central America 4,035 0.12% 14,798 0.035% 10,763 -0.085
China and Japan 2,000 0.0004% 2,002 0.0001% 2 -0.0003
Crete 728 0.24% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Cyprus and Malta 130 0.03% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Denmark 5,000 0.2% 7,062 0.13% 2,062 -0.07
Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile,Uruguay 1,000 0.01% 55,870 0.08% 54,870 0.07
Egypt 30,678 0.31% 100 0.0001% -30,578 -0.31
Ethiopia 50,000 1% 20,000 0.027% -30,000 -0.973
France 86,885 0.22% 606,561 1% 519,676 0.78
Germany 586,948 1.04% 107,160 0.13% -479,788 -0.91
Greece 8,350 0.34% 5,334 0.05% -3,016 -0.29
Guiana, Venezuela and Colombia 2,000 0.03% 28,810 0.042% 26,810 0.012
The Netherlands 103,988 2% 45,000 0.3% -58,988 -1.7
India 18,228 0.06% 5,401 0.0005% -12,827 -0.06
Iran 35,000 0.39% 20,405 0.03% -14,595 -0.36
Israel 78,000 12% 5,593,000 (2009)[6] 76% 5,515,000 64
Italy 34,653 0.1% 30,213 0.052% -4,440 -0.048
Luxembourg 1,200 0.5% 655 0.14% -545 -0.36
Mexico 1,000 0.008% 53,101 0.05% 52,101 0.042
Morocco 109,712 2.11% 5,236 0.016% -104,476 -2.094
New Zealand 1,611 0.2% 5,447 0.135% 3,836 -0.065
Norway and Sweden 5,000 0.07% 19,243 0.142% 14,243 0.072
Portugal 1,200 0.02% 739 0.007% -461 -0.013
Romania 269,015 4.99% 6,029 0.027% -262,986 -4.963
Russia 3,872,625 3.29% 717,101 0.5% -3,155,524 -2.79
Russian Central Asia 12,729 0.16% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Serbia and Montenegro 5,102 0.2% 1,732 0.016% -3,370 -0.184
Siberia 34,477 0.6% n/a n/a n/a n/a
South Africa 50,000 4.54% 88,688 0.2% 38,688 -4.34
Spain 5,000 0.02% 48,409 0.12% 43,409 0.1
Suriname 1,121 1.97% 200 0.046% -921 -1.924
Switzerland 12,551 0.38% 14,978 0.2% 2,427 -0.18
Tasmania 107 0.07% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Tripoli 18,680 2.33% n/a n/a n/a n/a
Tunisia 62,545 4.16% 1,813 0.018% -60,732 -4.142
Turkestan and Afghanistan 18,435 0.22% 1 n/a n/a n/a
Turkey and Eastern Rumelia 282,277 4.91% n/a n/a n/a n/a
United Kingdom 250,000 0.57% 302,207 0.5% 52,207 -0.07
United States 1,500,000 1.97% 6,444,000 (2007)[7] 2,2% 4,944,000 0.23
Total 11,273,076 0.683% 14,641,017 0.227% 3,367,941 -0.456

By region[]

These tables are based on 1900 data. For comparison with the new tables, see Jews by country. The first percentage, 4th column, is the percentage of population that is Jewish in a region (Jews in the region * 100/total population of the region). The last column shows the Jewish percentage compared to the total Jewish population of the world (Jews in the region * 100/total Jewish population of the world).

Jews in Africa, 1900
Region Total Population Jews  % Jewish  % of Jews total
Central Africa 16,280,556 0 0% 0%
East Africa 30,803,074 50,000 0.162% 0.444%
North Africa 21,763,736 272,659 1.253% 2.419%
Southern Africa 16,708,557 50,000 0.299% 0.444%
West Africa 49,526,638 0 0% 0%
Total 135,082,561 372,659 0.276% 3.306%
Jews in Asia, 1900
Region Total Population Jews  % Jewish  % of Jews total
Central Asia 23,519,135 89,635 0.381% 0.795%
East Asia 458,411,367 2,000 0.0004% 0.018%
Middle East 34,573,593 490,407 1.418% 4.35%
South Asia 246,899,507 18,228 0.007% 0.162%
Southeast Asia 177,148,927 0 0% 0%
Total 940,552,529 600,270 0.064% 5.325%
Jews in Europe, 1900
Region Total Population Jews  % Jewish  % of Jews total
Balkans 10,358,957 56,056 0.541% 0.497%
Central Europe 53,357,811 3,393,053 6.359% 30.099%
Eastern Europe 123,334,659 3,907,102 3.168% 34.659%
Western Europe 224,603,981 1,373,440 0.611% 12.183%
Total 411,655,408 8,729,651 2.121% 77.438%
Jews in The Americas, 1900
Region Total Population Jews  % Jewish  % of Jews total
Caribbean 5,923,844 0 0% 0%
Central America 13,143,968 4,035 0.031% 0.036%
North America 93,098,180 1,523,500 1.636% 13.515%
South America 44,382,509 26,121 0.059% 0.232%
Total 156,548,501 1,553,656 0.992% 13.782%
Jews in Oceania, 1900
Region Total Population Jews  % Jewish  % of Jews total
Oceania 5,955,956 16,840 0.283% 0.149%

Ranking[]

Countries ranked by total Jewish population, 1900 on the left and 2005 on the right.

By population
Rank Country Jews (1900)  % Jewish (1900) Country Jews (2005)  % Jewish (2005)
1 Russia 3,872,625 3.29% United States 6,444,000 (2007) 2,2%
2 Austria, Hungary, and Poland 3,393,053 6.36% Israel 5,593,000 (2009) 76%
3 United States 1,500,000 1.97% Russia 800,000 0.5%
4 Germany 586,948 1.04% France 606,561 1%
5 Turkey and Eastern Rumelia 282,277 4.91% Argentina 395,379 1%
6 Romania 269,015 4.99% Canada 393,660 1.2%
7 United Kingdom 250,000 0.57% United Kingdom 350,207 0.5%
8 Morocco 109,712 2.11% Ukraine 142,276 0.3%
9 Netherlands 103,988 2% Germany 107,160 0.13%
10 France 86,885 0.22% Brazil 95,125 0.051%
11 Palestine 78,000 12% Australia 90,406 0.45%
12 Asia Minor and Syria 65,000 0.55% South Africa 88,688 0.2%
13 Tunisia 62,545 4.16% Belarus 72,103 0.7%
14 Caucasus 58,471 0.77% Hungary 60,041 0.6%
15 Algeria 51,044 1.07% Mexico 53,101 0.05%
16 South Africa 50,000 4.54% Belgium 51,821 0.5%
17 Ethiopia 50,000 1% Spain 48,409 0.12%
18 Iran 35,000 0.39% Netherlands [8] 45,000 0.2%
19 Italy 34,653 0.1% Moldova 31,187 0.7%
20 Siberia 34,477 0.6% Uruguay 30,743 0.9%
21 Bulgaria 33,663 0.9% Italy 30,213 0.052%
22 Egypt 30,678 0.31% Venezuela 25,375 0.1%
23 Arabia 30,000 0.42% Poland 24,999 0.065%
24 Canada 22,500 0.42% Chile 20,900 0.131%
25 Argentina 20,000 0.42% Iran 20,405 0.03%
26 Tripoli 18,680 2.33% Ethiopia 20,000 0.027%
27 Turkestan and Afghanistan 18,435 0.22% Sweden 18,003 0.2%
28 India 18,228 0.06% Uzbekistan 17,453 0.065%
29 Australia 15,122 0.49% Turkey 17,415 0.025%
30 Russian Central Asia 12,729 0.16% Switzerland 14,978 0.2%
31 Switzerland 12,551 0.38% Panama 10,029 0.33%
32 Belgium 12,000 0.18% Latvia 9,092 0.397%
33 Greece 8,350 0.34% Austria 8,184 0.1%
34 Bosnia and Herzegovina 8,213 0.58% Georgia 7,951 0.17%
35 Serbia and Montenegro 5,102 0.2% Azerbaijan 7,911 0.1%
36 Spain 5,000 0.02% Denmark 7,062 0.13%
37 Norway and Sweden 5,000 0.07% Romania 6,029 0.027%
38 Denmark 5,000 0.2% New Zealand 5,447 0.135%
39 Central America 4,035 0.12% India 5,401 0.0005%
40 Guiana, Venezuela and Colombia 2,000 0.03% Greece 5,334 0.05%
41 China and Japan 2,000 0.0004% Morocco 5,236 0.016%
42 Brazil 2,000 0.01% Kazakhstan 4,100 0.027%
43 New Zealand 1,611 0.2% Lithuania 3,596 0.1%
44 Portugal 1,200 0.02% Colombia 3,436 0.008%
45 Luxembourg 1,200 0.5% Czech Republic 3,072 0.03%
46 Suriname 1,121 1.97% Slovakia 3,041 0.056%
47 Mexico 1,000 0.008% Peru 2,792 0.01%
48 Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile,Uruguay 1,000 0.01% Costa Rica 2,409 0.06%
49 Crete 728 0.24% Bulgaria 2,300 0.031%
50 Cyprus and Malta 130 0.03% Estonia 1,818 0.136%
51 Tasmania (As Colony) 107 0.07% Tunisia 1,813 0.018%

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

See also[]

References[]


cs:Vývoj židovské populace

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