Confessional contact zones of the Russian empire by counties and districts according to the results of the 1897 census

Abstract

The first general population census of 1897 is the main source of information about the structure of the population of the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, including the religious composition of the population. At the same time, statistics based on the results of the census make it possible to carry out a cartographic analysis of the religious structure of the population not only at the level of provinces and regions, but at the lower administrative level (counties anddistricts). The purpose of the study is to assess the heterogeneity of the religious structure of the population of the Russian Empire at the level of counties and districts based on the results of the population census of 1897. For this purpose, a cartographic research method was used. The religious mosaic index was used as an indicator that allows dividing mono-confessional and multi-confessional territories and identifying contact zones between the areas of distribution of the main religions of the state (Christianity, Islam and Buddhism). Regions with a mixed religious composition of the population without a strong predominance of any one religion (confessional contact zones) were observed mainly in the border territories of the Russian Empire, especially in its western and southern parts. The center and north of the European part of the country, where the Orthodox population dominated, represented a mono-confessional (Orthodox) “core”.