Diasporas of Ethnic Minorities in the Towns of Tobolsk Governorate in the Late XIX - Early XX Century: Demographic and Social Features

Abstract

The authors present a comparative description, some socio-demographic features and migration processes of the ethnic groups of the Tobolsk Governorate in order to assess the level of the formation of ethno-confessional communities and diasporas there, to determine strategies for their adaptation and/or integration with local urban society at the turn of the XX century. Special attention is paid to representatives of the Jewish, Polish and German populations. The sources of the study are both the published results of the 1897 First General Census of the Russian Empire for the Tobolsk Governorate and census forms. Using the comprehensive analysis of personal data, there was obtained a sample based on the criterion of native language (Polish, Jewish, German) which included 308 Germans, 1840 Poles and 1876 Jews. The authors come to the conclusion that the number of local natives, the registered population, the structure of their families, and the religious buildings indicate the presence of Jewish and Polish diasporas in Tobolsk, a Jewish community in Yalutorovsk, and a Polish community in Ishim. At the same time, it was established that the German population in the towns was sparse; the Jewish community was the most closed one; mixed marriages were more common in the Polish and German communities and they were actively replenished by immigrants from the Kingdom of Poland and Baltic provinces.