Land censuses in Russia

A land census is a continuous statistical survey of land tenure and land use at a certain point, which is an important source for studying the dynamics and structure of land tenure.

Until 1917, three land censuses were carried out in Russia - in 1877, 1887 and 1905. In 1917, an agricultural and land census was conducted. The data of these censuses are widely introduced into scientific circulation and have repeatedly become the subject of special studies.

The land census of 1877 was carried out by sending and collecting through the local county police questionnaires to the rural municipality administrations and private landowners. The round-trip census results for 49 provinces of European Russia were published in two editions, each of 8 issues: "Land statistics ..." and "Volosts and the most important villages ...". Upon publication, the results of the census were summarized in six tables, which contain train information on the total amount of land distributed by category (private property, property of peasant communities, treasury and various institutions); on lands of private personal property with a distribution of land holdings; distribution of private personal property among the classes of owners; allotment details; number of populated areas by category; the number of residential buildings in all villages together and peasant separately.

The publication “Volosts and Most Important Villages” contains district information on the number of rural societies and communities, households, the population and land tenure. Information on the number of communities and societies is especially valuable, since they provide an opportunity to analyze the ratio of these unions.

The next census was carried out in 1887 . Along with general data on land tenure, materials were collected on the use of land in agriculture. The results of the 1887 census are published in 46 issues of "Statistics of the Russian Empire" (T. 22). The publication contains information on the distribution of land between different categories of owners; distribution by land (arable land, hayfields, forest, pastures); on the use of arable land; distribution of crops by crops. These data are of great interest in the study of farming systems and agricultural crops. However, for a number of reasons, the first and second censuses are almost incomparable. In general, the 1887 census was less organized and much shorter than the 1877 survey.

The 1905 census took place under a program similar to the 1877 land census program. Therefore, the data of the first and third censuses are generally comparable among themselves, which is especially important when analyzing the dynamics of land ownership in the post-reform period. The 1905 census provides information on the total number and distribution of land ownership in three main groups of owners: ownership of private owners, allotment lands, state lands, churches and institutions. The first group, in turn, is divided into personal private property and the property of societies and partnerships, and is also distributed among the estates. Allotment lands are divided into the lands of former owner, state and specific peasants, as well as the lands of communal and courtyard type of ownership. The third group includes the lands of the treasury, inheritances, churches, monasteries, cities and other institutions. For private and allotment of land information is given on the distribution of land by the size of the plots.

The results of the third census are published in separate issues in 50 provinces of European Russia, as well as in the general “Data Code”. In publications, census data of 1905 are compared with the corresponding survey data of 1877.

In 1917, in the 57 provinces and regions of Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture conducted an All-Russian land and agricultural census . Among others, the census collected information on land tenure and land use. The most complete publication of 1923 contains train information distributed on “private ownership farms” and “peasant farms” on the total land area, distributed on “convenient” and “inconvenient”, by land (arable land, hayfields, forest, pasture). The publication of information also includes an indicator of the number of landless peasant farms and farms that had merchandise land.

Despite some shortcomings, in general, the data of all censuses are quite accurate, especially on the scale of large territorial units. The most accurate results of the 1877 census, the least - 1887.