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Russian Empire Census of 1897 was the first and the only census carried out in the Imperial Russia. In recorded demographic data as of 28 January [O.S. 15 January 15] 1897.

Previously, the Central Statistical Bureau issued statistical tables based on fiscal lists (ревизские списки).

The project of the census was suggested by a famous Russian geographer and chief of the Central Statistical Bureau Pyotr Semenov-Tyan-Shansky in 1877. It was approved by tsar Nicholas II in 1895.

The census was performed in two stages. At the first stage (December 1896 — January 1897) the counters (135,000 persons: literate soldiers, teachers and priests) visited all households and filled the questionaries, which were verified by local census managers. At the second stage (December 28 (O.S.), 1897) the counters simultaneously visited all households to verify and update the questionaries.

The data processing took 8 years using the Hollerith card machines. The publishing of the results started in 1898 and ended in 1905. In total, 119 volumes for 89 guberniyas, as well as a two-volume summary were issued.

The questionary contained the following questions:

• Family name, given name, patronymic or nickname (прозвище)
• Gender
• Relation with respect to the head of the family or household
• Age
• Marital status
• Social status: sosloviye (estate of the realm), rank , or title (сословие, состояние, звание)
• Place of birth
• Place of registration
• Usual place of residence
• Notice of absence
• Faith
• Mother language
• Literacy
• Occupation (profession, trade, position of office or service), both primary and secondary

In census summary tables, nationality was based on the declared mother language of respondents.

The second Russian Census was scheduled for 1915, but was cancelled because of the World War I.

The results of the census are too broad to publish, but its online Russian version can be found here: demoscope.ru.

The total population of the Russian Empire was recorded to be 125,640,021 people (50.2 % female, 49.8 % male).

• Первая всеобщая перепись населенiя Россiйской Имперiи. Под редакцiею Н. А. Тройницкаго. — СПб.: Изданiе центральнаго статистическаго комитета министерства внутреннихъ делъ, 1905. (The First Total Census of Russian Empire. A publication of the central statictical bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Editor N. A. Troynitsky.)
• РОССИЯ. Полное Географическое Описание Нашего Отечества. Под ред. П. П. Семенова-Тян-Шанского. — СПб., 1913. (Semenov-Tyan-Shanskiy, P. P. (Ed.): RUSSIA. Complete Geographical Description of our Fatherland. — St. Petersburg, 1913. This latter work reproduces most of the results of the census, and is a good deal easier to find in western libraries than the original publication.)