Armenian Demographics of Sassoun in the Late Ottoman Period

Despite the extensive research undertaken by scholars on Western Armenian population dynamics, little is known about Armenian demographics of Sassoun, one of the most heavily Armenian-populated regions during the Ottoman era. The overall picture that emerges from the literature is disappointing: most sources disagree on the number of inhabitants, the average household size, the number of localities, and the number of territorial units that comprised the region. One reason is that from1878 onwards the Ottoman state resorted to undercounting Armenian populations to downplay their presence in the eastern provinces. Another reason is that population data collection by Armenian statisticians was sporadic and largely ineffective and could also be perilous given the inhospitable environment of fear of government agents. Because sources supplied discordant demographic data, no attempt was made to compare and contrast the data in order to produce an estimate of the population size. Based on a limited comparative analysis of data, this study argues that the figure produced by the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople for the pregenocide Armenian population of Sassoun seems credible