Historic empire maps

Turkish, Arab and Kurdish majorities alongside Greek, Armenian and Assyrian belts — with a separate Sunni / Shia / Alevi religion layer — on modern provinces inside the 1914 Ottoman outline.

Being rebuilt. The earlier version painted today's provinces with illustrative shares. Vilayet boundaries for 1914 are not openly available as GIS yet, so there is no honest district map to show.

• Turkish
• Arab
• Kurdish
• Greek
• Armenian
• Assyrian / Syriac
• Jewish
• Other Christian
• Other / mixed

Source: Ottoman official statistics and demographic compilations, c. 1881–1914. Unit borders: Natural Earth admin-1 clipped to historical-basemaps Ottoman Empire 1914.

Persian, Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Lur, Baloch, Arab and Turkmen majorities across late Qajar provinces — before the Pahlavi state and modern provincial borders.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Persian
• Azerbaijani
• Kurdish
• Lur / Bakhtiari
• Baloch
• Arab
• Turkmen
• Other

Source: Late Qajar gazetteers and early 20th-century ethnographic surveys (approximate).

Twelfth-Imam Shiʿa core with Sunni, Christian (Armenian, Assyrian), Jewish and Zoroastrian pockets — a schematic reconstruction from travel accounts and provincial notes, not a modern census.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Shiʿa Muslim
• Sunni Muslim
• Armenian Christian
• Assyrian
• Jewish
• Zoroastrian
• Other

Source: Safavid-era travelogues, Armenian diocesan notes and later reconstructions (schematic).

Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Jewish (Yiddish), German and Lithuanian majorities by powiat — interwar Poland between the partitions and 1939.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Polish
• Ukrainian
• Belarusian
• Yiddish / Jewish
• German
• Lithuanian
• Other

Source: Polish census 1931 (mother tongue).

Interactive Dual Monarchy map: toggle Empire / Austria / Hungary, switch ethnicity · population · density layers, and dig into district group mixes (e.g. Bratislavský). Minority enclaves included — Sudeten, Szekler, Saxon, southern Slovak Hungarian belt.

Being rebuilt. The earlier version painted today's regions with illustrative shares; it returns on the 1910 crown lands and Hungarian counties once the official 1910 language and religion tables are matched to them.

• German
• Hungarian
• Czech
• Polish
• Ukrainian / Ruthenian
• Romanian
• South Slavic
• Italian
• Other

Source: Austria-Hungary censuses (language / nationality), c. 1910.

Protestant north and east, Catholic south and west Rhineland / Bavaria / Alsace — kreis-level faith majorities inside the Kaiserreich.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Protestant
• Catholic
• Jewish
• Other

Source: German Empire census religion tables, c. 1910.

Transleithania before Trianon: Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, German, Serbian, Ruthenian and Croatian majorities by megye — the map that framed the 1920 border settlement.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Hungarian
• Romanian
• Slovak
• German
• Serbian
• Ruthenian
• Croatian
• Other

Source: Kingdom of Hungary census 1910 (mother tongue / nationality).

Before the Dual Monarchy: German, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, South Slavic and Italian lands under Vienna — early statistical surveys of the Josephinian reforms.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• German
• Czech
• Hungarian
• Polish
• Romanian
• South Slavic
• Italian
• Other

Source: Josephinian cadastral / early Habsburg statistical surveys (late 18th century).

Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnian Muslims, Macedonians, Albanians, Hungarians and Germans across banovinas — the interwar kingdom before World War II and the later SFRY.

Being rebuilt. The earlier version painted today's districts with illustrative shares. Banovina boundaries are not openly available as GIS yet; the 1931 census tables will be matched to them when they are.

• Serb
• Croat
• Slovene
• Muslim (Bosniak)
• Macedonian
• Albanian
• Hungarian
• German
• Other

Source: Kingdom of Yugoslavia census 1931 (nationality / mother tongue / religion). Unit borders: Natural Earth admin-1 clipped to historical-basemaps Yugoslavia 1930.

Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Jews, Ukrainians and Bulgarians across Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina — the enlarged kingdom after 1918.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Romanian
• Hungarian
• German
• Jewish
• Ukrainian
• Bulgarian
• Other

Source: Romanian census 1930 (ethnicity / mother tongue).

Muslim Algerian, European settler (pied-noir) and Jewish majorities by commune — colonial Algeria between the conquest and independence.

Being rebuilt. The earlier version painted today's wilayas with illustrative shares. It returns on the three 1936 départements and the Southern Territories with the official 1936 census counts.

• Muslim Algerian
• European
• Jewish
• Other

Source: French Algeria censuses / colonial statistics, mid-1930s. Unit borders: Natural Earth admin-1 clipped to historical-basemaps Algeria 1930.

Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist and tribal majorities across provinces and princely states — the last empire-wide census before Partition redrew the map.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Hindu
• Muslim
• Sikh
• Christian
• Buddhist
• Tribal / Animist
• Other

Source: Census of India 1911 (religion by district).

Han core provinces, Manchu Northeast, Mongol banners, Tibetan plateau and Turkic Xinjiang — approximate majority peoples on the eve of the 1911 Revolution.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Han
• Manchu
• Mongol
• Tibetan
• Uyghur / Turkic
• Hui
• Other

Source: Late Qing gazetteers and early Republican ethnic compilations (illustrative provincial majorities).

Javanese, Sundanese, Malay, Madurese, Minangkabau, Balinese, Chinese and many others across residencies — the last colonial census before Indonesian independence.

Needs historic administrative GIS (uyezd / vilayet / kreis / district polygons) matched to period census tables. Borders from today’s maps would be misleading — we are waiting on open historic boundary files (e.g. Heidelberg 1897 / Ristat), which are behind archive download walls from this build environment.

• Javanese
• Sundanese
• Malay
• Madurese
• Minangkabau
• Balinese
• Chinese
• Other

Source: Volkstelling 1930 (Dutch East Indies census).