Demographic structure in Yozgat from Ottoman to Republic (1878-1950)

In this study, population and demography of Yozgat covering a period of 72 years between 1878-1950 is attempted to be revealed quantitatively and qualitatively. During this period, two general censuses were taken in Ottoman Period and five general censuses were taken in the Republic Period. Geographically, Yozgat was a transit point or a center of population of many civilizations. Yozgat reached its present position after its boundaries had been changed over and over again due to administrative partition. During that period, 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, 1897 Ottoman-Greek War, 1876 the First Constitutional Era, 1908 The Second Constitutional Era, 1911 Turco-Italian War, 1912-1913 The First and Second Balkan Wars, 1914-1918 The First World War, and Deportation of Armenians in this period and 1918-1923 War of Independence were the important factors that affected population mobility in Yozgat. Nationalism Movement arising out of French Revolution accelerated minority rebellions. Within this political framework, both Ottoman central government and minorities gave much more importance to censuses. Demographically, births, deaths, internal and external migrations, drought, floods, earthquakes, epidemics, social events, wars, peace, taxes and military obligations affected population data significantly. In the Republic Period, political applications promoting increase in population were initiated during the period of change that contained every area of a new state. In the period following Lausanne Peace Treaty, population exchange did also affect Yozgat. Deportation of Greek population and new immigrants altered ethnic and religious features of Yozgat substantially. The population was generally stationary in spite of a progress with ups and downs from time to time. It is seen that the population was mostly living in rural areas and dealing with agriculture and husbandry. In the city centers, there were those working generally for a profession. In this study, inductive method was used following the chronology. Keywords: Ottoman, Republic, Population, Demography, Bozok, Yozgat, 1878-1950