Original scientific paper
The Population of the City of Rab According to the Census of 1810
Josip Celić
; Institute of Historical Research of Croatian Academy of Science & Arts in Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
Abstract
The census of the city of Rab from 1810 was composed during the French administration in Dalmatia, and thus it belongs to the pre-statistical period of demographic sources. On the basis of obtained vital and statistical indicators, it depicted a historical and demographic image of the city population of Rab, which was still organised in estates (nobles, bourgeois, commoners and members of the clergy). The census determined the number of the denizens of the city of Rab, together with their family and household structure.
In the census, the importance of the family within all the aforementioned social groups is noticeable. In the total number of the denizens of the city of Rab, a large proportion of noble family units is visible, including associate members of households in their service, which confirms the political power and economic strength of the city nobility. On the basis of processed information on the number of children, it may be concluded that the younger population prevailed in every class, and this was certainly the fertile flywheel for the natural increase of the city’s population.
Also, based on the analysis of the economic structure, it may be concluded that the strategic and economic significance of the island and city of Rab was great for centuries, but during the French administration new circumstances transferred the entire course of political events to the mainland, which continued also after the new centre of power, Vienna, established its grip over Dalmatia, marking the beginning of an unfavourable period in the history of Rab.
This historical and demographical analysis covers also indicators of some types of diseases and even more types of disability of the population of Rab, which can be perceived as endemic.
Keywords
the city of Rab; census; the year 1810; family structure; socio-economic structure; historical demography
Hrčak ID:
95093
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2012.
Visits: 2.737 *