Accurate or reliable data for historical populations of Armenians is scarce, but scholars and institutions have proposed estimates for different periods.
Tadevos Hakobyan estimated, based on the available information such as army size and tax records, that ancient Armenia's population did not exceed 5–6 million.[1]Elizabeth Redgate also suggested that Armenia's historical population may have never exceeded 5 or 6 million as most of its extent was not fit for settlement.[2] Similarly, David Marshall Lang noted that while its areas historically equaled that of England and Wales together, it "never supported a population of more than five or six millions" as "almost two thirds of the territory of historical Armenia must be classified as unfit for settled habitation."[3]
Based on historical records, Igor M. Diakonoff estimated the population of Urartu as having "certainly exceeded one million and may have reached two or three million".[4] He also found 6 to 7 million a "plausible figure."[5] For around 585 BC, John M. Douglas proposed an approximate population of 3 million for Urartu and 2 million for Proto-Armenians.[6]
Ruben L. Manaseryan estimated the population of the short-lived empire of Tigranes the Great (r. 95 – 55 BC) at 10 million.[7] Sedrak Krkyasharyan estimated over 10.5 million people in his empire, including around 4 million Armenians.[8] Earlier estimates by non-historians such as Jacques de Morgan, Isaac Don Levine and Bodil Biørn put it considerably higher, at 25 and 30 million.[9][10][11]Hakob Manandian posited that the population of Armenia during the reigns of Artaxias I and Tigranes II was "much larger than that of later centuries."[12]
Based on tax records, Arsen Shahinyan estimated the population of Arminiya, an administrative unit of the Abbasid Caliphate, in the 8th and 9th centuries at 1.5 million, including 750,000 in Arminiya I (Greater Armenia), around 650,000 in Arminiya II (Arran, i.e. Caucasian Albania), and around 100,000 in Arminiya III (Jurzan, i.e. Eastern Georgia).[19]
Serob Poghosyan estimated Armenia's population in the 9th–11th centuries, when much of it was ruled by the Bagratids, at 5 to 6 million.[20] Mikayel Malkhasyan estimated Vaspurakan's population in the same period at no less than a million people.[21]
Hakobyan suggested that Armenia's population reached 5 to 6 million only in the 13th century, prior to the Mongol invasion, when he estimated 4.5 million people in rural areas and around 500,000 in cities.[1] Others have estimated Armenia's population in the mid-13th century at 4 million.[22][23] Based on tax records, Manandian estimated the combined population of eastern Armenia, Kars and eastern Georgia (Kartli and Kakheti) in the mid-13th century at 4 to 5 million.[24]
Modern Armenian scholars believe that the medieval Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia had a population of around one million, most of whom were Armenians.[25][26]
19th and early 20th century
August von Haxthausen quoted Catholicos Nerses V (then archbishop) as having told him in 1843 that he can assert with confidence the existence of more than eight million Armenians worldwide, including 30,000 Catholic Armenians in the Russian Caucasus.[27]
In 1847 John Wilson estimated the total Armenian population at 2.5 million, with 1 million in the Russian Empire, 1 million in the Ottoman Empire and 0.5 million in Persia and "other distant lands." He quoted the figures provided by Lucas Balthazar, the "intelligent editor" of the Smyrna-based Armenian newspaper The Dawn of Ararat,[a] who estimated 5 million Armenians overall, with 2 million in Russia, 2 million in Turkey and 1 million in Persia, India and elsewhere.[28]
Armenian population worldwide, estimated by Édouard Dulaurier (c. 1850). Total: 4,000,000[29]
Ottoman Empire (62.5%)
Russian Empire (30%)
Persia (3.75%)
Austrian Empire (0.625%)
South and Southeast Asia (0.625%)
Elsewhere (2.5%)
The 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1875) cited Édouard Dulaurier's estimates c. 1850: approximately four millions Armenians in the world, including 2,500,000 in the Ottoman Empire, 1,200,000 in the Russian Empire, 25,000 in the Austrian Empire, 150,000 in Persia and Azerbaijan, 25,000 in continental India and the Archipelago of Asia, and the remainder of 100,000 scattered in various countries.[29]
Richard Robert Madden wrote in 1862 that the Armenian population worldwide is estimated at 4 million, of whom an estimated 2,400,000 in the Ottoman Empire ("an approximate computation, and probably below the truth"), 900,000 in the Russian Empire, 600,000 in Persia, 40,000 in India and "other realms of Asia", and 60,000 in "various European countries."[30]
In 1876 John Buchan Telfer, quoted the figures provided by Garabed Ghazarosian in his 1873 The Universal Year Book, which estimated a total of 4.2 million Armenians worldwide, including 2.5 million in Turkish dominions, 1.5 million in Russia, 34,000 in Persia, 14,600 in Austria, 15,000 in England, India and other British possessions, 8,400 in Romania, 8,000 in Egypt, and 120,000 in other countries.[31][32] In 1891, Telfer reported to the Royal Society of Arts that "most authorities" appear to agree that the total Armenian population worldwide amounts to around 5 million, with most "scattered in their own land and in adjoining territories" and nearly half a million "settled in distant parts."[33]
In 1891 Élisée Reclus wrote that while "usually estimated at three and even four millions," the total number of Armenians "would seem scarcely to exceed two millions." He estimated the "probable" number of Armenians as follows: 840,000 in Caucasia and European Russia, 760,000 in Asiatic Turkey, and 250,000 in European Turkey, 150,000 in Persia, and 60,000 elsewhere, with the total at 2,060,000. He estimated no less than 200,000 Armenians in Constantinople and noted that Tiflis held the second largest Armenian population of any city.[34]
In his 1896 book Story of Turkey and Armenia Reverend James Wilson Pierce estimated 2.4 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1.25 million in the Russian Empire, 150,000 in Persia, 100,000 in Europe and 5,000 in the United States.[36]
Adrian Fortescue wrote in 1916: "There are said to be about three and a half or four million Armenians in the world—1,300,000 in Turkey, 1,200,000 in Russia, 50,000 in Persia, and the rest dispersed throughout the world. Of these about three quarters belong to the Monophysite ("Gregorian") Church."[37]
According to the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, what is now Armenia (historically known as Eastern Armenia) that came under Russian rule in 1828, had a population of 161,700 in 1831, which rose to reach 1.01 million by 1913.[38]
Armenian population worldwide, estimated by Malachia Ormanian (1911). Total: 3,508,950
Ottoman Empire (48.7%)
Russian Empire (45%)
Elsewhere (6.3%)
Malachia Ormanian, a scholar and former Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, estimated the population of Christian Armenians by the dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church in his 1911 book The Church of Armenia.[44] It is the most detailed population distribution estimates available prior to the Armenian genocide. Robert Hewsen wrote that "Ormanian's figures appear moderate and reasonable, although this does not necessarily make them precise."[45]Levon Marashlian notes that "the purpose of Ormanian's book was not to provide comprehensive population statistics" and that "his numbers for [Armenian] Protestants and Catholics may be even more incomplete" than for Armenian Apostolics.[46]
The United States Department of State summarized the populations of Armenians in a November 1922 document entitled "Approximate number of Armenians in the world" (NARA 867.4016/816). Of the total 3,004,000 Armenians, 817,873 were refugees from Turkey "based upon information furnished by the British Embassy, Constantinople, and by the agents of the Near East Relief Society, in 1921. The total given does not include the able-bodied Armenians, who are retained by the Kemalists, nor the women and children,—approximately 95,000,—according to the League of Nations-who have been forced to embrace Islam."
The distribution of Armenians in the Soviet Union according to the 1979 census
Armenian SSR (65.6%)
Azerbaijan SSR (11.5%)
Georgian SSR (10.8%)
Russian SFSR (8.8%)
Rest (3.3%)
Precise figures are available for the number of Armenians in the Soviet Union and its constituent republics because all censuses in the USSR enumerated people by ethnicity.
^Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a disputed area. It is de facto independent, but is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
^ The political status of Abkhazia is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Georgia in 1992, Abkhazia is formally recognised as an independent state by 5 UN member states (two other states previously recognised it but then withdrew their recognition), while the remainder of the international community recognizes it as de jure Georgian territory. Georgia continues to claim the area as its own territory, designating it as Russian-occupied territory.
^Lang, David Marshall (1970). Armenia: Cradle of Civilization. London: Allen & Unwin. p. 30. With its mighty mountains topped by eternal snow, two great lakes, and countless ravines and canyons, almost two thirds of the territory of historical Armenia must be classified as unfit for settled habitation. Large tracts of the Armenian plateau can yield only a scanty living to nomads and their herds. Although its territory once equalled that of England and Wales together, Armenia has never supported a population of more than five or six millions.
^Diakonoff, I. M. (1984) [1968]. The Pre-History of the Armenian People [Предыстория армянского народа]. Translated by Lori Jennings. Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan Books. p. 124. According to the data of Sarduri II's annals, within the Urartian Empire he abolished the duty of military service for 350,000 men.105 This means that the population of Urartu certainly exceeded one million and may have reached two or three million.
^Diakonoff, Igor M. (2000). "Lights on the Social History of Urartu". In Arbeitman, Yoël L. (ed.). The Asia Minor Connexion: Studies on the Pre-Greek Languages in Memory of Charles Carter. Peeters Publishers. p. 57. ISBN9789042907980. The total population of Urartu would be ca. six-seven million, which is a plausible figure. Cf. also the computations in I. M. Diakonoff, The Pre-history of the Armenian People, 1984, Delmar, N.Y., pp. 123ss.
^Douglas, John M. (1992). The Armenians. J.J. Winthrop Corporation. p. 30. ISBN9780963138101. The population of Urartu around 585 B.C. was approximately three million and that of Arme was two million.
^"Демография государства Великая Армения во времена Тиграна II Великого [Demographics of the state of Greater Armenia during the time of Tigran II the Great]", published in Russian on March 25, 2020 by times.am (archived) and voskanapat.info (archived). "численность армянского населения в I в. до н. э. составляла около 4 млн. человек. [...] Таким же образом можно вычислить численность населения державы Тиграна Великого. Оно составляло более 10,5 млн. человек."
^de Morgan, Jacques (1917). Essai sur les nationalités (in French). Paris: Berger-Levrault. p. 115. Or, leurs ambitions ne vont nulle- ment jusqu'à désirer comme frontières les limites du royaume de Tigrane le Grand. L'Arménie comptait alors 25 millions d'habitants, tandis qu'aujourd'hui cette nation, éprouvée par tant de massacres, d'émigrations et de conversions forcées, ne comprend plus que tout au plus 4 millions d'âmes, dont environ la moitié habite des territoires qui, politiquement, font partie de l'Empire du Tsar.
^Bodil Katharine Biørn (1944). Armenia og armenierne (in Norwegian). "Armenia var tidligere et kongerike som var størst under Digranes den store. Han grunnla Digranagerd (Diabekir) og regjerte over 30 mill. mennesker."; published in Kvinnelige misjonsarbeidere, Se til hvorledes i bygger videre, K.M.A. gjennom 50 år (Oslo, 1952); translated into Armenian «Հայաստանը նախկինում թագավորություն է եղել, որն ամենամեծն է եղել Տիգրան Մեծի օրոք։ Նա հիմնել է Տիգրանակերտը (Դիարբեքիր) և կառավարել ավելի քան 30 մլն բնակչության։»
^Agathangelos (1976). History of the Armenians. Translation, introduction and commentary by Robert W. Thomson (First ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. lxvii–lxviii, 369371. ISBN0-87395-323-1. Gregory now prepared to baptise the people of Armenia. [...] That day over 150,000 soldiers were baptised, and during the following week over 4,000,000 people.
^Yeremian, S. (1987). "Հայեր [Armenians]". Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 13: Soviet Armenia. p. 28. Yeremian: 301-ին հայերը քրիստոնեությունն ընդունեցին որպես պետ․ կրոն։ Այդ ժամանակաշրջանում հայերի թիվը հասնում էր շուրջ 4 մլն մարդու, իսկ Մեծ Հայքի պետության տարածքը՝ 312 հզ․ կմ2։
^Bedrosian, Robert Gregory (1979). The Turco-Mongol Invasions and the Lords of Armenia in the 13th–14th centuries. New York: Columbia University. p. 123. modern scholars estimate the Armenian population of Greater Armenia (excluding Cilicia) to have been about 4 million in the mid-13th century.
^Pubblici, Lorenzo (2022). Mongol Caucasia: Invasions, Conquest, and Government of a Frontier Region in Thirteenth-Century Eurasia (1204-1295). Brill. p. 218. ISBN978-90-04-50355-7. Some estimates indicate the Armenian population of Caucasia (excluding Cilicia) of around 4 million in those years.12 = 12 Bedrosian, The Turco-mongol, 120–21; Dedeyan, Storia degli Ameni, [Dédéyan, Gerard, Boghos Levon Zekiyan, and Antonia Arslan, eds. Storia degli armeni. Guerini e Associati, 2002.] 242, whose calculations coincide with those provided by Bedrosian.
^Manandian, Hakob. (1952) Քննական Տեսություն Հայ Ժողովրդի Պատմության (Critical View of the History of the Armenian People), vol. 3, Yerevan: Academy of Sciences Press, p. 251 «Ըստ այս վկայության գրանցված հարկատու գյուղացիների թիվը Լաշայի որդի Դավթի ժամանակ ցույց է տրված, ինչպես տեսնում ենք, մոտ մեկ միլիոն մարդ: Ավելացնելով այս թվին նաև երեխաների, ծերերի, կանանց, հոգևորականների և քաղաքացիների թիվը՝ կարելի է ենթադրել, որ վրաց թագավորության բնակչության թիվը 13-րդ դարի կեսերին եղել է 4-5 միլիոն: Այս թիվը, որ կարող էր մոտավորապես ճիշտ լինել՝ վերաբերում է, իհարկե, ոչ միայն Քարթլիի և Կախեթի բնակչությանը, ինչպես այդ հնթադրում է Բրոսսեն, այլ վրաց ամբողջ թագավորությանը, որի մասն էին կազմում այդ ժամանակ նաև Արևելլան Հայաստանը, Կարսը և այլ շրջաններ:». quoted in Dashdondog, Bayarsaikhan (2011). "Mongol Administration in Greater Armenia (1243–1275)". The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335). Brill. p. 108. ISBN978-90-04-19211-9.
^Bornozyan, S. V.; Zulalyan, Manvel[in Armenian] (1976). Հայ Ժողովրդի Պատմություն, Հ. 3. [History of the Armenian People. Vol. 3] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences. pp. 672, 724. Կիլիկյան հայկական պետության ծաղկան ժամանակաշրջանում՝ XIII դարում, նրա տարածությունը կազմում էր 40.000 քառ. կմ, իսկ բնակչության թիվը անցնում էր մեկ միլիոնից։ [...] Կիլիկիայի քաղաքներում ու նավահանգիստներում էր կենտրոնացված Կիլիկիայի մեկ միլիոն բնակչության համարյա կեսը։ (Տե՛ս "Histoire de Chypre de Mas-Latrie", t. II, p. 682-690)
^Wilson, John (1847). The Lands of the Bible: Visited and Described in an Extensive Journey Undertaken with Special Reference to the Promotion of Biblical Research and the Advancement of the Cause of Philanthropy, Vol. II. London: William Whyte & Co. pp. 479-480.
^Telfer, J. Buchan (1876). The Crimea and Transcaucasia, being the narrative of a journey in the Kouban, in Gouria, Georgia, Armenia, Ossety, Imeritia, Swannety, and Mingrelia, and in the Tauric Range. Volume I. London: Henry S. King & Co. p. 256.
^Tcheraz, Minas (1893). "The Armenian Church". In Barrows, John Henry (ed.). The World's Parliament of Religions Volume II. Chicago: The Parliament Publishing Company. p. 928. ...the Armenian Church, which numbers even now 5,000,000 faithful souls, scattered over all parts of the globe. Etchmiadzin is revered not only by the sons of this church, but also by the 80,000 Armenians who have entered within the pale of the Church of Rome, the 20,000 who have become Protestants, and a small number which has adhered to the Greek orthodox.
^Pierce, James Wilson (1896). Story of Turkey and Armenia. Baltimore: R. H. Woodward Company. p. 14.
^Fraser, John Foster (1907). Red Russia. New York: The John Lane Company. p. 212. ...the Armenians, intellectual superiors of the peoples south of the Caucasus range, number about two millions...
^Hovannisian, R. G. (2005). "Genocide and independence, 1914-21". In Herzig, Edmund; Kurkchiyan, Marina (eds.). The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity. London: Routledge. p. 90. ISBN9781135798376.
^Кавказский календарь на 1917 год [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 178–237. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
^"The world upward trend is further confirmed by the break-down given in 1966 by the Erevan periodical Hayreniki Dzayn (summarized by Dekmejian in Soviet Studies of Glasgow University, 1968). Here we find a world-wide total of five and a half million Armenians, sub-divided as follows..."; quoted in Lang, David Marshall; Walker, Christopher J. (1987) [1976]. The Armenians(PDF). Minority Rights Group. p. 12. ISBN0-946690-43-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 September 2019.
^"U.S. Census Bureau History: World War I Armistice". census.gov. United States Census Bureau. November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. The 1920 Census was the first to collect nativity and ancestry information from people tracing their roots to these new nations. For example, in 1920, the census found that ... 36,628 people were born in Armenia.
^Aswald, Barbara C. (1971). Property Control and Social Strategies in Settlers in a Middle Eastern Plain. University of Michigan. p. 11. ISBN978-0-932206-42-8.
^Zohry, Ayman (July 2005). "Armenians in Egypt"(PDF). XXV IUSSP International Population Conference. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. p. 3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2021-05-02.
