Population of the Byzantine Empire
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The Byzantine Empire may have had a population of over 26 million at its height.
After the reign of Emperor Heraclius and the loss of all of its overseas borders, Byzantine territories were pretty much limited to the Balkans and Anatolia. When Byzantium began to recover after a series of conflicts in the 8th century and its territories stabilized, its population began to recover. By the end of the 8th century there were 7,000,000 Romans, a figure that climbed to over 12,000,000 people by 1025.[1] The numbers began falling steadily to 9,000,000 people at 1204 and even lower to 5,000,000 people at 1281 with the arrival of the Turks.[2]
| Year |
Population |
Notes |
Area |
| 300 |
17,000,000[3] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,680,000 km. sq. |
| 311 |
18,000,000[3] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
|
| 457 |
16,000,000[3] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,270,000 km. sq. |
| 518 |
19,500,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,300,000 km. sq. |
| 540 |
19,000,000[5] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,860,000 km. sq. |
| 565 |
26,000,000[5] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
2,070,000 km. sq. |
| 600 |
17,000,000[5] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
|
| 641 |
10,500,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,140,000 km. sq. |
| 668 |
10,000,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,070,000 km. sq. |
| 775 |
7,000,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
690,000 km. sq. |
| 780 |
7,000,000[6] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
690,000 km. sq. |
| 842 |
8,000,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
790,000 km. sq. |
| 959 |
9,000,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
850,000 km. sq. |
| 1025 |
12,000,000[1] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
1,200,000 km. sq. |
| 1097 |
5,000,000[2] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
|
| 1143 |
10,000,000[2] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
650,000 km. sq. |
| 1204 |
9,000,000[2] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
|
| 1282 |
5,000,000[7] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
|
| 1312 |
2,000,000[7] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
120,000 km. sq. |
| 1320 |
2,000,000[4] |
Eastern Roman Empire |
120,000 km. sq. |
| 1453 |
4,500,000 |
Greece proper + Asia Minor |
|
[edit] References
- ^ a b W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 570
- ^ a b c d W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 700
- ^ a b c W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 137
- ^ a b c d e f g W. Treadgold, A Concise History of Byzantium, 236
- ^ a b c W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 278
- ^ H. Wiseman, Roman maps
- ^ a b W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 841
[edit] Bibliography
- Angeliki E. Laiou, "The Economic History of Byzantium", 2002.
- Warren Treadgold, "History of the Byzantine State and Society", 1997
- Warren Treadgold, "A Concise History of Byzantium", 2002
- Mcevedy and Jones, "Atlas of world population history", 1978
