Abstract
<jats:p>According to the 1897 census, 7,746,718 people of both sexes lived in Central Asia, of which 6,812,348 (or 88%) lived in rural areas and 934,370 (or 12%) lived in cities. The Kazakh population was 3,988,460. The largest number of Kazakhs lived in the Akmola, Syr Darya, Semirechye, Semipalatinsk, Turgay, and Uralsk provinces. Kazakhs and Kyrgyz made up 80.46% of the population of the Semirechye province. In rural areas of these regions, the majority of the population spoke Kazakh. However, in the cities, Russian and Tatar were the most common languages. The 1897 census also reflects the class composition of the population: according to it, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz were classified as "foreigners." The largest class group was made up of villagers, while the townspeople and nobility constituted a minority. By religion, the majority of the population of the Central Asian provinces were Muslim. According to the 1897 census, the majority of the population of Central Asia was engaged in agriculture: farming and livestock breeding. Only 0.11% were employed in mining, 5.65% in manufacturing, and 3.63% in trade.</jats:p>