STATISTICS:

As referring to Jews, statistics deal mainly with populations, their ages and distribution, Migration, Morbidity, Mortality, Occupations, Criminality, Births, and Marriages. Most of these topics have already been treated in articles in The Jewish Encyclopedia; it remains to deal here only with the Jewish population as a whole and its distribution.

Ancient Times.

The Pentateuch 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, there were 611,730 males over twenty years of age, and therefore capable of bearing arms; this would imply a population of about 3,154,000. 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 to be all the figures accessible for ancient times, and their trustworthiness is a matter of dispute. The difficulties of commissariat in the Sinaitic desert for such a number as 3,000,000 have been pointed out by Colenso; and the impossibility of the area of Jerusalem containing much more than 80,000 persons with any comfort has been referred to as proving the exaggeration of the figures of Josephus and Tacitus.

In the Hadrianic war 580,000 Jews were slain, according to Dion Cassius (lxix. 14). According to Mommsen, in the first century C.E. there were no less than 1,000,000 Jews in Egypt, in a total of 8,000,000inhabitants; of these 200,000 lived in Alexandria, whose total population was 500,000. Harnack ("Ausbreitung des Christentums," Leipsic, 1902) reckons that there were 1,000,000 Jews in Syria at the time of Nero, 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. 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 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, of which the following is a list, mainly derived from I. Loeb ("R. E. J." vol. xiv.):

Jewish Populations of Medieval Cities.
City.Date.Population.Source.
Aix1341(203families)"R. E. J." xiv. 170.
1,207
Amalfi117020Benjamin of Tudela.
Amsterdam1620(400families)Grätz, "Gesch." ix. 503.
"1671(4,000" )Grätz, "Gesch." x. 257.
Arles1170200Benjamin of Tudela.
Ascoli117040""
Austerlitz1523445Jew. Encyc.
(34houses)
Avignon1358(210families)De Maulde.
Barcelona1391900(?)"R. E. J." xiv. 170.
Benevento1170200Benjamin of Tudela.
Blois117140Joseph Cohen, "'Emeḳ ha-Baka."
Bourg St. Gilles.1170100Benjamin of Tudela.
Brindisi117010""
Capua1170300""
Carpentras.1277-1600(12-119 families)"R. E. J." xii. 190.
"1742(168families)"""
752
Castellon de la Plana1450(31families)Loeb, l.c.
Castrogiovanni.1400(80" )Zunz, "Z. G."
Ceuta1785381Cassel, p. 155b.
"1840150"""
Cologne1348(58nouses)Weyden.
Dyon138452Cassel, p. 111b.
Estella1366(89families)Kayserling, "Die Juden in Navarra," p. 45.
Falces1366(18families)Kayserling, l.c.
Ferrara16011,530Cassel, p. 155b.
"17851,066"""
"18401,800"""
Frankfort-on-the-Main.1241200(? families)Bücher.
Genoa11702Benjamin of Tudela.
Granada1688(1,500houses)Usque.
Hamburg1612(230adults)Grätz, l.c. x. 18.
Lucca117040Benjamin of Tudela.
Lugo1785600Cassel, p. 155b.
Lunel1170 (?)300(? families)Benjamin of Tudela.
Manresa1294(45families)Loeb, l.c.
Marseilles1170300""
Melfi1170200(? families)Benjamin of Tudela.
Messina1170200Zunz, "Z. G."; Benjamin of Tudela.
"1543(180families)
Metz1657(96" )Cassel, p. 113a.
Naples1170500Benjamin of Tudela.
Nuremberg.1338(212adults)Ziemlich; Loeb, in "R. E. J." xiv. 170-M 173.
Otranto1170500Benjamin of Tudela.
Palermo11701,500""
"1490(850families)Grätz, "Gesch." viii.
260.
Palma13911,540(?)"R. E. J." xiv. 171.
Paris1296-97(82families)"i. 63.
Perpignan1413-14(180" )"xiv. 65.
Peralta1366(10" )Kayserling, l.c.
Pisa11702Benjamin of Tudela.
Posquières117040(400 ?)""
Rome1170200""
"15503,000Cassel, p. 155a.
Salerno1170600Benjamin of Tudela.
San Marco1492350Zunz, "Z. G."
Sanguesa1366(25families)Kayserling, l.c.
Strasburg13492,000Loeb, l.c.
"1369(6families; killed)Cassel, p. 113a.
"1383(15families; killed)"""
Tafalla1366(10families)Kayserling, l.c.
Talavera de la Reyna.1477(168" )Loeb, l.c.
Tarento1170200Benjamin of Tudela.
Trani1170200""
Trapani1439200Zunz, "Z. G."
Trevoux1429(15families)"R. E. J." x. 35.
Tudela1366(270" )Rios, "Hist." ii. 285.
"1386(200" )Loeb, l.c.
Venice11521,300Cassel, p. 158b.
"11701,300Benjamin of Tudela.
"1500933Cassel, p. 159a.
Worms1096434Stern.
"1438400Grätz, l.c. vii. 371.
[Where authors' names only are given, the works referred to are Cassel, s.v. "Juden"; Benjamin of Tudela, "Itinerary," ed. Asher; Weyden, "Gesh. der Juden zu Cöln," Cologne, 1867; Bücher, "Bevölkerungen von Frankfort," Tübingen, 1886; Usque, "Consolacão"; Ziemlich, "Machsor Nürnberg," Berlin, 1886; Stern, "Analecten zur Gesch. der Juden."]

The Middle Ages were mainly a period of expulsions. In 1290, 16,000 Jews were expelled from England; in 1396, 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 sixteenth century only four great Jewish communities remained: Frankfort-on-the-Main, 2,000; Worms, 1,400; Prague, 10,000; and Vienna, 3,000 (Grätz, "Gesch." 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 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the main centers of Jewish population were in Poland and the Mediterranean countries, Spain excepted.

According to the estimate of Basnage, at the beginning of the eighteenth century the total number of European Jews was 1,360,000, and the Jews of the kingdom of Poland (including Lithuania), according to a census at the first division in 1772, 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 eighteenth 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.

But since then the increase has been remarkably rapid. It was checked in Germany by the laws limiting the number of Jews in special towns, and perhaps still more by overcrowding, regarding which a few details may be given:

Place.Date.Jews.Houses.Average.Authority.
Prague17867,95126629.3Ficker, "Bevolk. Böhmen," p. 55.
Frankfort.18112,21415913.9"The Times" (London), Aug. 8, 1884.
Prague18435,64627920.3Ficker, l.c.

Tchubinsky 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 has undoubtedly been due to the early age of marriage and the small number of deaths of infants in the stable communities (see Generation, Length of). The chief details known for any length of time are for Holland, Hungary, Poland, and Württemberg:

Holland.
Date.Population.
182946,408
183952,245
184958,626
185963,790
186968,003
187981,693
Hungary.
172012,656
178575,089
178677,647
1804124,128
1805127,816
1829202,328
1842241,632
1850352,400
1857413,118
1869516,658
1880624,737
1890725,222
Poland.
*16th century† 200,000
*1659100,000
*1764315,298
1816212,000
1825341,125
1826368,773
1828384,263
1856563,000
1868764,947
1875860,327
18821,045,000
18931,229,000
18971,333,000
Württemberg.
183210,670
184612,356
185811,088
186411,610
187112,245
188013,331
189012,639
190011,916
* From Reclus, "Nouvelle Géographie," v. 397.
† Of these, 16,580 paid taxes.

There is also a certain amount of evidence as to the Jewish increase in proportion to that of adherents of other creeds. The following table is taken from Haushofer, "Lehrbuch," p. 510, and from Oettingen, "Moralstatistik."

Country.Years.Catholic.Protestant.Jews.
Austria1851-578.205.4019.60
"......0.760.763.35
"Western1861-702.862.863.08
Baden1846-641.505.003.60
"1857-630.851.061.04
Bavaria1852-644.504.504.20
France1861-660.361.102.27
Hanover1852-643.305.008.60
Netherlands1849-591.201.600.30
Prussia1831-490.850.941.26
"1852-6411.4011.1012.90
Saxony1854-6427.1015.3068.10
Switzerland1850-605.304.2034.00
Württemberg1846-640.200.403.40

But the 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 nineteenth century, when Jews from Galicia and Poland seized every opportunity of moving westward. On the other hand, Ruppin has shown that within recent years, when forcible measures have been taken to prevent Russian Jews from settling in Germany, the growth of the Jewish population there has almost entirely ceased, owing to the falling off in the number of births, and, possibly, to emigration. The increase of the Jews of England and the United States during the last quarter of a century has, however, been exceptional, owing to extensive immigration.

There is only one further point to be considered in connection with the increase of Jewish population, and that is the losses by conversion which have occurred during the nineteenth century and which are still occurring in the lands where the Jews are persecuted. Leroy ("Judentaufen," im 19. Jahrhundert: Ein Statistischer Versuch," in "Nathanael," iii. and iv., Berlin, 1899) has made the following estimate for the nineteenth century:

Became Protestant.Became Roman Catholic.Became Greek Catholic.Total Loss.
Bavaria3305,000......22,520
Prussia13,128
Saxony770
Württemberg115
Others parts of Germany3,177
Denmark100............100
France6001,800......2,400
Great Britain28,830............28,830
Holland1,800............1,800
Norway and Sweden500............500
Switzerland100............100
Austria6,30028,20020044,756
Hungary2,0568,000
Italy......300......300
Rumania............1,5001,500
Russia3,1361,00069,40084,536
Turkey............3,3003,300
Other parts of the Balkan Peninsula.............100100
Asia and Africa100500......600
Australia200............200
North America11,5001,500......13,000
Totals72,74257,30074,500204,542

This would give an average of only 2,000 per annum throughout the century, but the number has largely increased of recent years. A rough estimate made ten years ago placed the number of conversions at about 3,000 per annum—1,000 in Austria-Hungary, 1,000 in Russia, 500 in Germany, and the remainder in the Anglo-Saxon world. A slight reduction, about 500 a year, must be made in the figures regarding the total losses, because of the converts to Judaism, such conversions resulting mainly through the marriage of Christian women to Jews.

The difficulty of ascertaining to which cause any increase is due—whether to immigration or to natural augmentation—consequent upon the fact that accurate statistics with regard to Jews are available for comparatively few countries, formerly caused the widest diversity to exist as to the total number of Jews in the world, as can be seen from the list of estimates given in the table on page 531.

The approximation of the latest estimates shows that the foundations for enumeration are becoming more sure and the variations possible less wide. The basis of modern estimates is that of I. Loeb, given in 1879, the chief errors of which were theomission of the 1,000,000 Jewish inhabitants of Poland and the estimate of the Falashas at 200,000. Andree gives details founded upon actual censuses, and he has been followed by Jacobs, Harris, and Ruppin. Of the earlier estimates, that of Jost, in the tenth volume of his history, is the most noteworthy, and was founded on a set of careful figures and enumerations derived mainly from censuses taken about 1840. He does not estimate the total, but an addition of his figures results in 3,143,000, a figure probably not far from the truth. Of recent years very much fuller and more accurate details have been obtained as to the number of Jews, especially in Europe, where the majority of countries consider the religious creeds of their inhabitants as part of the census returns.

Authority.Time.Estimated Number.
"French-Jewish Almanac."18284,947,000
Balbi18294,000,000
Hörschelman18336,598,000
Jost18463,143,000
Berghaus18544,000,000
Boudin18573,900,000
Legoyt18684,550,000
Alexander18706,798,029
I. Loeb18796,276,957
Andree18816,193,662
"Encyc. Brit."18816,200,000
Heckler18836,136,662
A. Nossig18876,582,500
J. Jacobs18969,066,534
I. Harris190210,319,402
"American Jewish Year-Book."1904-510,932,777
A. Ruppin190410,456,000
Methods of Estimating Population.

In the English-speaking world, especially in England and America, where no religious census is taken, recourse must be had to estimates instead of enumerations. These are mainly derived from three sources: (a) the death-rate, (b) the marriage-rate, (c) school statistics. As regards the first source, the burials in Jewish cemeteries are almost always a sure indication of the number of Jewish inhabitants. If the population is a stable one, an estimate based on the ordinary death-rate of the country would give too small a figure (see Mortality); where much migration has occurred the error would be still greater, owing to the fact that migrants are chiefly of the most viable ages. The estimate deduced from the marriage-rate is generally much above the true figures, if the ordinary marriage-rate is taken, as, owing to the nubile ages of migrants, a larger proportion of Jews marry in the Western countries. It is usual to assume that the children of school age, whose numbers can be very frequently ascertained, are one-fifth of the population. Here, again, Jewish statistics vary somewhat from general statistics, owing to the eagerness of Jewish parents to send their children to school. In cases where no actual enumeration of the number of Jewish children is possible, an estimate can at times be made by finding the number of children absent from school on the Day of Atonement, which, as a rule, corresponds almost exactly to the number of Jewish children attending the schools. See London.

The following list, taken from various sources, gives the numbers of Jews in each country, together with the ratio to its entire population. The cities having a large Jewish population are given under the head of the country to which they belong, their proportion to the general population being given also. As far as possible, the date at which the census was made is given; and where the city estimate is of later or earlier date, this also is mentioned. When no date is given, the census of 1900-1 is meant. Estimates are indicated by asterisks.

Table of Ratios of Jewish to Total Population in the Principal Countries and Cities of the World.
Jewish Population.Percentage of Jewish to Total Population.Total Population.
Europe.
Austria1,224,8994.6826,150,708
Brody15,05075.0020,071
Cracow25,43029.1387,274
Czernowitz22,00032.5367,622
Lemberg40,00025.00159,875
Prague20,0009.92201,589
Triest5,1003.22158,344
Vienna150,0008.951,687,954
Belgium*12,000.186,687,651
Antwerp4,5001.58285,600
Brussels6,5001.16561,782
Bosnia and Herzegovina8,213.581,404,000
British Isles*250,000.5741,454,573
England235,000.8527,483,490
Birmingham4,000.77522,182
Leeds15,0003.50428,953
Liverpool7,0001.04684,947
London (1902)150,0002.276,581,327
Manchester28,0005.15543,969
Ireland3,769.084,704,750
Scotland*10,000.244,025,647
Glasgow6,500.86760,468
Wales500.031,519,035
Bulgaria33,663.903,733,189
Rustchuk3,07510.9228,121
Sofia7,00014.8947,000
Crete728.24294,192
Cyprus and Malta130.03376,175
Denmark5,000.202,464,770
Copenhagen3,5001.11313,000
France86,885.2238,595,500
Bordeaux3,0001.17257,471
Lyons2,636.58453,145
Marseilles5,5001.11494,769
Paris58,0002.182,660,000
Germany (1901)586,9481.0456,367,178
Berlin86,1524.561,844,151
Breslau18,4404.36422,738
Cologne8,4002.40372,229
Dresden38,7009.00289,844
Frankfort-on-the-Main22,0007.63289,489
Hamburg17,3082.76625,552
Hanover4,1511.76235,666
Königsberg4,0762.16187,897
Leipsic4,8441.06455,089
Mayence4,3005.1084,500
Munich9,5001.90498,503
Nuremberg6,5002.49261,000
Posen5,8105.00117,014
Greece8,350.342,433,806
Athens300.27111,486
Larissa1,50010.0015,000
Holland103,9882.005,179,100
Amsterdam60,00011.30530,718
Rotterdam12,0004.00222,233
Hungary851,3784.4319,207,103
Budapest168,98523.08732,322
Grosswardein12,29431.8538,557
Miskolez8,55128.0830,444
Szegedin5,8636.9387,410
Temesvar8,91622.3739,850
Italy34,653.1034,000,000
Leghorn4,0504.1298,321
Rome7,8001.17663,000
Turin4,3001.27335,639
Venice3,8002.50151,840
Luxemburg*1,200.50236,543
Norway and Sweden*5,000.077,376,321
Poland (1897)1,316,77616.258,000,000
Czenstochow12,00026.6645,130
Lodz (1903)74,99924.38307,570
Lomza10,38039.4226,075
Lublin22,49544.9050,152
Warsaw (1902)262,82441.18638,209
Portugal*1,200.025,428,659
Lisbon250.08308,000
Rumania (1900)269,0154.995,408,743
Bakau7,85060.3813,000
Botoshani16,66047.6035,000
Braila10,81123.1446,715
Bucharest43,27415.34282,071
Galatz12,97020.8562,678
Jassy30,44138.9978,067
Monastir6,000.90664,379
Russia (1897)3,872,6253.29117,668,000
Berdychev47,00087.5253,000
Biela Zerkow16,00048.4833,000
Bobrinsk19,12554.3335,177
Brest-Litovsk36,65078.8146,502
Byelostok42,00065.6263,925
Dvinsk32,36944.8372,231
Grodno24,61152.4546,871
Homel23,00062.1636,846
Jitomir22,00033.6165,452
Kherson18,96727.1462,219
Kiev16,0006.46247,432
Kishinef50,00049.95108,796
Kovno28,40338.6073,543
Libau9,70015.0464,505
Minsk49,95754.6091,494
Moghilef25,00058.1443,106
Nikolaief16,00017.3992,060
Odessa150,00037.03405,041
Pinsk22,00080.1027,938
Riga18,0007.02256,197
Rostof15,00012.50119,889
St. Petersburg (1900)20,3851.411,439,616
Wilna63,98640.00159,568
Yekaterinoslav36,00029.54121,216
Yelisavetgrad24,34039.2661,841
Servia5,102.202,493,770
Spain*5,000.0218,089,500
Gibraltar3,00010.9027,460
Madrid300.06498,000
Switzerland12,551.383,315,443
Turkey and Eastern Rumelia*282,2774.915,746,986
Adrianople (1904)17,00020.9881,000
Bagdad35,00024.14145,000
Constantinople44,3613.941,125,000
Philippopolis3,8008.8642,849
Salonica60,00057.14105,000
Asia.
Arabia*30,000.427,000,000
Aden3,0597.4241,222
Asia Minor and Syria*65,000.5511,800,432
Aleppo10,0008.54117,000
Brusa3,5004.5876,303
Corfu3,50019.0017,918
Damascus10,0004.44225,000
Smyrna25,00012.44201,000
Caucasus58,471.777,536,828
Baku11,65011.31103,000
China and Japan*2,000.0004427,663,231
Hongkong143.06221,441
India18,228.06231,899,507
Bombay5,357.67776,000
Calcutta1,889.171,125,400
Palestine*78,00012.00650,000
Haifa1,80013.8413,000
Hebron1,5007.5018,000
Jaffa3,5008.7540,000
Jerusalem41,00068.3360,000
Safed6,87027.4825,000
Tiberias2,60065.004,000
Persia*35,000.399,000,000
Shiraz5,00016.6630,000
Teheran5,1002.42210,000
Russian Central Asia12,729.167,740,394
Samarcand4,379.51859,123
Siberia34,477.605,666,659
Turkestan and Afghanistan18,435.228,241,913
Africa.
Abyssinia (Falashas)*50,0001.005,000,000
Algeria (1902)51,0441.074,729,331
Algiers10,80014.4474,792
Constantine7,20015.4746,581
Oran10,63614.2774,510
Tlemcen4,90916.6129,554
Egypt (1897)30,678.319,734,405
Alexandria12,4333.89319,000
Cairo14,3622.51570,062
Morocco*109,7122.115,000,000
Fez10,0006.88145,000
Mogador8,67645.6619,000
Morocco15,70031.4050,000
Sfax5,0007.1470,000
Tangier12,00040.0030,000
Tetuan6,50029.5422,000
Tripoli18,6802.33800,000
Tunis62,5454.161,500,000
Tunis12,0008.96135,000
South Africa*50,0004.541,100,000
Cape Colony20,0001.271,527,224
Natal1,700.31543,983
Durban1,2502.0860,046
Orange River Colony1,500.72207,503
Bloemfontein80011.946,760
Portuguese Territory200
Rhodesia600
Transvaal25,0005.12487,457
Johannesburg10,0009.80102,078
America. (North America.)
Canada22,500.425,369,666
Montreal10,0003.75266,826
Toronto3,5001.68207,971
Winnipeg2,50059.5242,000
Central America*4,035.123,143,968
Mexico*1,000.00811,642,720
United States*1,500,0001.9776,085,794
Baltimore30,0007.90434,439
Boston40,0008.91448,477
Chicago60,0003.531,698,575
Cincinnati18,0005.52325,902
New York672,77619.563,437,202
Philadelphia75,0005.801,293,697
St. Louis45,0009.96451,770
San Francisco20,0006.68298,997
(South America.*)
Argentine Republic20,000.424,659,214
Buenos Ayres10,0001.25800,000
Brazil2,000.0114,002,335
Rio de Janeiro300.03800,000
Dutch Guiana1,1211.9757,388
Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Uruguay1,000.019,318,033
Guiana, Venezuela and Colombia2,000.036,345,539
Australasia.
Australia15,122.493,036,570
New South Wales6,447.561,132,234
Sydney6,0001.33451,000
Queensland733.18406,658
South Australia786.24320,431
Victoria5,897.511,140,405
Melbourne5,5001.11493,956
Western Australia1,2592.5449,782
Perth5001.3836,274
New Zealand1,611.20772,719
Tasmania107.07146,667

From this it will be seen that the total number of Jews in the various continents is 11,273,076, distributed as follows:

Europe8,977,581
Asia352,340
Africa372,659
North America1,527,535
South America26,121
Australasia16,840

The accuracy of these figures is doubtful since, as stated above, England and the United States have no religious statistics. With respect to the lands of Islam, an attempt has recently been made by the Alliance Israélite Universelle to obtain some definite data; the result is given below:

Mohammedan Countries.
Algeria63,000
Bulgaria31,064
Egypt30,578
Morocco109,712
Persia49,500
Tripoli18,660
Tunis62,540
Turkey in Europe188,896
(Turkey in Asia.)
Archipelago (Turkish)4,557
Asia Minor77,458
Crete646
Mesopotamia59,235
Syria and Palestine79,234
Yemen35,000
_________
Total810,080

With some of these results may be compared those of Cuinet ("La Turquie d'Asie," Paris, 1892-95): 121,381 for Turkey in Asia, and 70,382 for Syria and Palestine.

The difficulty in securing trustworthy results from Asiatic and Islamic countries may be illustrated by reproducing the various estimates made of the Jewish population of Jerusalem—a subject which is, of course, interesting in itself:

Estimate.Authority.Year.
7,100Prussian consul1867
7,120Zochokke1868
8,000Lemisse1873
9,000English consul Moore1887
14,000Lortel1881
16,000Ritter1895
21,000Luncz ("Luaḥ")1898
25,000-30,000"New International Encyclopedia"1903
28,000Meyer's tours1893
29,000M. A. Meyer (Jew. Encyc. vii. 151)1904
30,000W. W. Wilson ("Encye. Brit.")1902
30,774Cuinet1896
41,000Baedeker and Brockhaus1902
55,000Wilson ("Encye. Brit.")1902

Probably 95 per cent of the persons included in these estimates of Jewish populations are Ashkenazim. As far as can be ascertained, the numbers of Sephardim are as follows:

TurkeyinEurope90,000
""Asia45,000
Egypt, etc.10,000
Algeria40,000
Morocco50,000
France6,000
Italy18,000
Holland, etc.50,000
America5,000
_______
Total314,000

But there are others, besides these two groups, who may be included under the heading "Jews"; the following classes may be enumerated:

Nativity.Number.Per cent of Whole.
A. Jews both by religion and by birth.....................11,000,00098.9
AshkenazimTeutonic and Slavonic10,475,00092.8
SephardimRomance, Levantine, African.314,0005.1
Samaritans (?)Nablus150
B. Jews by religion, but not by birth.....................75,0001.1
FalashasAbyssinian50,000
KaraitesCrimean6,000
Daggatouns, etc.Saharic10,000
Beni-IsraelBombay6,500
CochinCochin1,600
C. Jews by birth, but not by religion.....................12,0000.2
ChuetasBelearic Isles6,000
MaiminimSalonica4,000
Gedid al IslamKhorasan2,000

The following list summarizes the proportion of Jews to general population in the several countries:

Per cent.
Poland16.25
Palestine12.00
Rumania4.99
Austria4.68
Hungary4.43
Russian Empire3.29
Morocco2.11
Holland2.00
United States1.97
Prussia1.11
Algeria1.07
Germany1.04
Bulgaria.90
United Kingdom.57
Luxemburg.50
Argentine Republic.42
Canada.42
Persia.39
Switzerland.38
Australasia.38
Greece.34
Egypt.31
France.22
New Zealand.20
Servia.20
Denmark.20
Belgium.18
Italy.10
Norway and Sweden.07
India.06
Portugal.02
Spain.02
Town and Country.

Turning from distribution to social characteristics, the most marked one is the preference for living in towns, though this tendency, of course, is now common. A few figures with regard to this point may be here inserted. Dr. S. Neumann ("Die Fabel von der Jüd. Masseneinwanderung," p. 65) gives the following percentage of Jews living in the open country in Prussia, to which has been added, after Jannasch, the proportion of the general population:

Year.Older Parts.New Possessions.Together.Proportion.
184920.85..............73.48
185821.75..............70.39
186719.7339.3822.8868.70
187118.4134.8921.9067.67

Here the decrease in the rural population is not so very marked, but the small proportion to the general population is noteworthy. In countries in which the Jewish population is smaller the contrast is more striking. Thus, in Saxony, in 1880, while 72 per cent of the general population dwelt in the country, only 3 per cent of Jews lived outside of towns ("Statist. Jahrb. für Sachsen," 1883, p. 5). At the last census of Victoria, in 1881, the percentages of the population were as follows ("Religions of the People," part iii.):

Towns, etc.Shires.Outside Local Jurisdiction.
General50491
Jews9370

The following table, taken from Ruppin, "Die Juden der Gegenwart," gives the number of Jews in large cities in the countries named for the year 1900:

Country.Percentage of Jews in Large Cities.Percentage of Christians in Large Cities.Percentage of Inhabitants of Large Cities Who Are Jews.
Austria23.3310.609.76
Holland42.7215.902.75
Hungary26.116.3915.89
Prussia49.2116.553.30

The same writer gives an equally interesting table of the proportion of Jews in the following important cities:

Map of the Western Hemisphere, Showing Chief Centers of Jewish Population.Map of the Eastern Hemisphere, Showing Chief Centers of Jewish Population.
City.Percentage of Jews in City.Permillage of Jews of Country.Permillage of Others.
Amsterdam13.4056080
Berlin4.8823553
Bucharest13.3016150
Budapest23.0819931
Copenhagen1.04800143
London1.59585157
New York17.4652845
Rome1.1817920
St. Petersburg35.7719357
Vienna8.7712361

In this connection it is interesting to give a list of the chief cities having more than 10,000 Jews:

Adrianople17,000
Aleppo10,000
Alexandria12,433
Amsterdam60,000
Bagdad35,000
Baku11,650
Baltimore30,000
Berdychev47,000
Berlin86,152
Biela Zerkow16,000
Bobrinsk19,125
Boston40,000
Botoshani16,660
Braila10,811
Breslau18,440
Brest-Litovsk36,650
Brody15,050
Bucharest43,274
Budapest168,985
Buenos Ayres10,000
Byelostok42,000
Cairo14,362
Chicago60,000
Cincinnati18,000
Constantinople44,361
Cracow25,430
Czenstochow12,000
Czernowitz22,000
Damascus10,000
Dresden38,700
Dvinsk32,369
Fez10,000
Frankfort-on-the-Main.22,000
Galatz12,970
Grodno24,611
Grosswardein12,294
Hamburg17,308
Homel23,000
Jassy30,441
Jerusalem41,000
Jitomir22,000
Johannesburg10,000
Kherson18,967
Kiev16,000
Kishinef50,000
Kovno28,403
Lemberg40,000
Lodz74,999
Lomza10,380
London150,000
Lublin22,495
Minsk49,957
Moghilef25,000
Montreal10,000
Morocco15,700
New York672,776
Nikolaief16,000
Odessa150,000
Paris58,000
Philadelphia75,000
Pinsk22,000
Prague20,000
Riga18,000
Rostof15,000
Rotterdam12,000
St. Louis45,000
St. Petersburg20,385
Salonica60,000
San Francisco20,000
Smyrna25,000
Tangier12,000
Tunis12,000
Vienna150,000
Warsaw262,824
Wilna63,986
Winnipeg25,000
Yekaterinoslav36,000
Yelisavetgrad24,340

Owing to the large dispersion of the Jews of Russia, Galicia, and Rumania during the past twenty-five years, amounting probably to 1,000,000, a somewhat peculiar statistical condition occurs in the Jewish population of the English-speaking world, where for the most part the emigrants have been received (see Migration). The latter are largely of the most viable ages—between fifteen and forty-five—and therefore the death-rate is very low and the marriage-rate very high. The absence of the aged from the stream of immigration also tends to reduce the death-rate, though it increases the proportion of deaths under the age of five to an abnormal degree. This, for example, is the reason why in London such deaths are more than 50 per cent of the total number of deaths.

Another example of the result of the Russian emigration is the distribution of males and females in the Jewish as compared with the general population; this can be seen from the following table:

Number Of Women To 100 Men.
Jews.General.
Bavaria106105
Denmark110103
France99101
Holland105102
Hungary103103
Ireland89105
Italy10199
Prussia108103
Russia104102
Sweden103109

Notwithstanding the fact that the number of male births among Jews is larger than among other races, the proportion of Jewesses to Jews is greater than that of females to males in the general population. This is due in large measure to the frequent emigration of young men to seek their fortunes in other lands; hence, in America and England there is a much larger proportion of young men to young women, which again leads to a higher marriage-rate.

Bibliography:
  • L. Zunz, Grundlinien zu einer Kunftigen Statistik der Juden, in G. S. i. 134-141;
  • R. Andree, Zur Volkskunde der Juden, pp. 287-296;
  • Boudin, Traité de Géographie et Statistique Medicale, ii. 128-142, Paris, 1857;
  • Langeau, in Académie des Sciences Politiques et Morales, April 4, 1882;
  • Loeb, in Vivien de St. Martin, Dictionnaire de Géographie, s.v. Juifs;
  • Jacobs, Studies in Jewish Statistics, 1885;
  • idem, in Jewish Year Book, 1896;
  • I. Harris, ib. 1900 et seq.;
  • Jüdische Statistik, pp. 430-552;
  • Ruppin, Die Juden der Gegenwart, pp. 26-44;
  • Bulletin de l'Alliance Israélite Universelle, 1904, pp. 149-170.
J.