# First British Census (1881)

URL: https://allhistories.com/cyprus/timeline/1881-first-british-census
Location: Cyprus
Themes: Key Events

Ottoman authorities had kept tax registers, but no modern count of the whole population of Cyprus had been made. The British administration organised a census in 1881, the first of a series held every ten years until 1931, followed by a census in 1946. The 1881 census recorded a total population of 186,173. Of these, 137,631 (about 73.9 per cent) were Greek Orthodox and 45,458 (about 24.4 per cent) were Muslims, with small Maronite, Armenian, Latin and other communities. According to the census, about 95 per cent of the island's Muslims spoke Turkish as their mother tongue, while a minority spoke Greek. The census classified people chiefly by religion, a practice that reinforced the division of Cypriots into two main communities. Later censuses recorded steady growth: 274,108 in 1911, 347,959 in 1931 and 450,114 in 1946. The Greek Orthodox share rose to about 80 per cent and the Muslim share fell to about 18 per cent, partly because of Turkish Cypriot emigration to Anatolia. These figures became the basis for the representation of the two communities in the Legislative Council and later in the 1960 constitution.

## Why it matters
The census provided the first reliable picture of the island's population and its communal balance.

Ruler at the Time: [Victoria](https://allhistories.com/cyprus/rulers/victoria)

Sultan of the Ottoman Empire: Abdul Hamid II
High Commissioner of Cyprus: Robert Biddulph
Archbishop of Cyprus and Ethnarch of the Greek Cypriots: Sophronios III (Church of Cyprus)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Demographics of Cyprus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Cyprus)
- [Wikipedia — British Cyprus (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Cyprus)