At the beginning of the 20th century, Konya Vilayet reportedly had an area of 91,620 km2, while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 1,088,100.[3] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.[3] As of 1920, less than 10% of the population was described as being Christian, with the majority of Christian populations by the sea.[4]
The population was for the most part agricultural and pastoral. The only industries were carpetweaving and the manufacture of cotton and silk stuffs. There were mines of chrome, mercury, sulphur, cinnabar, argentiferous lead and rock salt.[5][6] The principal exports were salt, minerals, opium, cotton, cereals, wool and livestock; and the imports cloth-goods, coffee, rice and petroleum.[7] The vilayet was traversed by the Anatolian railway, and contained the railhead of the Ottoman line from Smyrna.[2]