Six_Armenian_vilayets

Six Vilayets

Six Vilayets

Provinces of the Ottoman Empire


The Six Vilayets (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت سته, Vilâyat-ı Sitte), the Six Provinces, or the Six Armenian Vilayets (Armenian: Վեց Հայկական Վիլայեթները Vets' haykakan vilayet'nery; Turkish: Altı vilayet, Altı il[1]) were the main Armenian-populated vilayets ("provinces") of the Ottoman Empire. These were Van, Erzurum, Mamuret-ul-Aziz, Bitlis, Diyarbekir and Sivas.

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Name

The term Six Vilayets was a diplomatic usage referring to the Ottoman vilayets with substantial Armenian populations. European diplomats often referred to the Six Armenian Vilayets during the Congress of Berlin in 1878.[2]

Population

Ethnic groups

Ethnic map of the Six Vilayets according to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1912.
Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire according to the 1914 official population statistics.
Statistical analysis of the racial elements in the Ottoman provinces by the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, 1912[3]

Note: The analysis excludes certain portions of these provinces where Armenians are only a minor element. These portions are as follows: Hakkiari, in the Vilayet of Van; the south of Sairt, in the Vilayet of Bitlis; the south of the Vilayet of Diyarbekir; the south of Malatia, in the Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz; the north-west and west of the Vilayet of Sivas.[3]

Ethnic groups Bitlis Diyarbekir Erzurum Mamuret-ul-Aziz Sivas Van TOTAL %
Armenians180,000105,000215,000168,000165,000185,0001,018,00038.9
Turks148,00072,000265,000182,000192,00047,000806,00030.8
Kurds277,00055,00075,00095,00050,00072,000499,00019.1
Others330,00064,00048,0005,000100,00043,000290,00011.1
TOTAL382,000296,000630,000450,000507,000350,0002,615,000100

1 including Qizilbash
2 including Zaza
3 Assyrians (Nestorians, Jacobites, Chaldeans), Circassians, Greeks, Yazidis, Persians, Lazs, Roma

Ottoman official population statistics, 1914[4]

Note: The Ottoman population statistics doesn't give information for separate Muslim ethnic groups such as the Turks, Kurds, Circassians, etc.

The official Ottoman population statistics of 1914 that were based on an earlier census underestimated the number of ethnic minorities, including the number of Armenians.[5] The Ottoman figures didn't define any ethnic groups, only religious ones. So the “Armenian” population as counted by the authorities only tallied ethnic Armenians who were also adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Ethnic Armenians who professed the Muslim faith, which by that time had grown in number, were counted only as “Muslims” (not as Armenian Muslims or Armenians), while Armenian Protestants, just as Pontic Greeks, Caucasus Greeks, and Laz, were counted as "others".

Ethnic groups Bitlis Diyarbekir Erzurum Mamuret-ul-Aziz Sivas Van TOTAL %
Muslims309,999492,101673,297446,376939,735179,3803,040,88879.6
Armenians119,13265,850136,61887,862151,67467,792628,92816.5
Others44,3484,0205,7974,04778,17311,969148,3543.9
TOTAL473,479561,971815,712538,2851,169,582259,1413,818,170100

Largest cities

All figures are as of early 20th century.

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See also


References

Notes
  1. (in Turkish) İsmail Soysal, Türkiye'nin Siyasal Andlaşmaları, I. Cilt (1920-1945), Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1983, p. 14.
  2. Verheij, Jelle (2012). Jongerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle (eds.). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870–1915. Brill. p. 88. ISBN 9789004225183.
  3. "1914 Population Statistics" (PDF). Turkish General Staff. pp. 603–628. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  4. Steven T. Katz,The Holocaust in Historical Context, 1994, p. 86 ...indicates (based on 1919 British estimates) that though Ottoman data were generally reliable they did underestimate the Armenian population in 1914...
Bibliography
  • Hakobyan, Tadevos (1987). Պատմական Հայաստանի քաղաքները (Cities of historic Armenia) (in Armenian). Yerevan: "Hayastan" Publishing.

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