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 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 Byzantines, 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 1282 with the arrival of the Turks.[2]
Year
Population
Notes
Area
300
17,000,000[3]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,900,000 km. sq.
311
17,000,000[3]
Eastern Roman Empire
2,100,000 km. sq.
457
16,000,000[3]
Eastern Roman Empire
2,350,000 km. sq.
518
19,000,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
2,300,000 km. sq.
540
26,000,000[5]
Eastern Roman Empire
3,200,000 km. sq.
565
19,000,000[5]
Eastern Roman Empire
3,400,000 km. sq.
600
17,000,000[5]
Eastern Roman Empire
2,900,000 km sq.
641
10,500,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,500,000 km. sq.
668
10,000,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,300,000 km. sq.
717
9,500,000[citation needed ]
Eastern Roman Empire
780,000 km. sq.
775
7,000,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
880,000 km. sq.
780
7,000,000[6]
Eastern Roman Empire
880,000 km. sq.
842
8,000,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,000,000 km. sq.
959
9,000,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,100,000 km. sq.
1025
12,000,000[1]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,675,000 km. sq.
1097
5,000,000[2]
Eastern Roman Empire
555,000 km. sq.
1143
10,000,000[2]
Eastern Roman Empire
950,000 km. sq.
1180
11,500,000[citation needed ]
Eastern Roman Empire
1,118,000 km.sq
1204
9,000,000[2]
Eastern Roman Empire
210,000 km. sq.
1282
5,000,000[7]
Eastern Roman Empire
550,000 km. sq.
1312
2,000,000[7]
Eastern Roman Empire
460,000 km. sq.
1320
2,000,000[4]
Eastern Roman Empire
420,000 km. sq.
1453
4,500,000[citation needed ]
Greece proper + Asia Minor
20,000 km. sq.
References [ edit ]
^ 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
Bibliography [ edit ]
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