World Jewish Population

Transcription

1 <>$><i><i><><ix><i><rt><i><*s-<t^^ World Population r~pihe figures presented below are intended to serve as a useful guide to the JL world-wide picture of population. They are based on data obtained by censuses, local registration, estimates of official communal bodies, and local observers. It must be pointed out, however, that under present conditions some of the estimates could not always be compared with and checked against more reliable data for accuracy. This is true particularly with respect to the estimated more than 2,400,000 Jews living behind the Iron Curtain, about whom population data are nowhere available. In compiling the data the natural increase in the population could not be taken into account, except in those cases where it was indicated in the source material. Changes resulting from migration movements were carefully checked and are reflected in the data on population in the countries affected. In this connection it is important to note that the mass movements of Jews seem, at least for the time being, to have subsided; according to official reports from Israel, emigration to that country fell off substantially in the last months of 1951 and continued to drop in the first quarter of It has been estimated that the world population in 1952 was more than 11,558,000; of this total approximately 5,833,000, or about 50 per cent, resided in North and South America. As a result of mass migration the population of Israel in 1952 amounted to 1,425,000, or over 12 per cent of the total population of the world. TABLE 1 DISTRIBUTION OF JEWISH POPULATION BY CONTINENTS Continent Number Per Cent Europe (including Asiatic USSR and Turkey) 3,420, America (North and South) 5,833, Asia 1,567, Africa 680, Australia and New Zealand 58, TOTAL 11,558, Europe There were about 3,420,000 Jews in Europe a slight decline from the more than 3,460,000 in Of the total population in Europe, over 194

2 WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 195 2,470,000, or about 66 per cent, resided in Eastern Europe, with an estimated 2,000,000 in the Soviet Union. Although no data were available on the size or demographic structure of Russian Jewry, reliable observers have reported an important shift in the geographic distribution of the community. Thus, it was reported that substantial settlements were established in Asiatic Russia, and some students place the community there as high as several hundred thousand. There were no changes in the population of Western Europe and Scandinavia, where the total was over 830,000, or about 24 per cent of the entire population of Europe. The largest settlement in Western Europe, numbering 450,000, was in England (Table 2). North and South America Out of a total of over 5,833,000 Jews in North and South America, an estimated 5,000,000 were in the United States, 205,000 were in Canada, and over 628,000 in Latin America. It is important to note that not all students of population in the United States agree on the estimate of 5,000,000. Some consider this figure exaggerated. Be that as it may, the 5,000,000 figure is accepted here as the closest possible approximation until such time as careful study has definitely established the size of the community of the United States (Table 3). Asia and Australia There were over 1,567,000 Jews in Asia, 1,425,000 of them, or about 91 per cent, residing in Israel. In the course of 1951 an additional 89,088 Jews* left Iraq for Israel, leaving in Iraq at the time of writing some 12,000 Jews. Thus, one of the oldest settlements in the world was practically liquidated. It was also reported that only 4,000 Jews remained in Libya, and the majority of them expected to emigrate to Israel as soon as possible. A slight increase was reported in the population of Australia, where the community now stands at 53,500 (Tables 4 and 5). Israel In the course of 1951, 174,000 emigrants 2 entered Israel, and in the first half of 1952 only 13,849 came to the country.3 According to the latest available figures, the total population of the State of Israel at the end of June 1952 stood at 1,601,000. This figure included 1,425,000 Jews and 176,000 others. 4 ^Statistical Bulletin of Israel, No.1-2, Vol. Ill, January-May 1952, Jerusalem, Israel. *Idem.» Facts and Figures on Israel Population and Economy, August 1952, No. 41; March 1952, No. 38, Jerusalem, Israel. Statistical Bulletin of Israel, idem. For a fuller account of the population of Israel, see p. 422 and f.

3 ig6 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK Africa About 680,000 Jews resided in Africa, with some 510,000 or 75 per cent, in French North Africa. The largest settlement, numbering over 260,000, was in Morocco (Table 6). Countries with Largest Population The largest settlements are found in the United States, the Soviet Union, and Israel. Together these three countries account for about 73 per cent of the total world population. Aside from these countries, only six others have a population in excess of 200,000 (see Table 7). TABLE 2 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION OF EUROPE, BY COUNTRIES' 1 Albania 1,175, Austria 6,916,000 13,000 Belgium 8,678,000 42,000 Bulgaria 7,160,000 6,500 Czechoslovakia 12,340,000 17,000 Denmark 4,303,000 6,500 England 50,558, ,000 Finland 4,051,000 1,800 France 42,239, ,000 Germany 67,032,000 23,000 Greece 7,600,000 7,000 Hungary 9,205, ,000 Irish Free State 2,959,000 5,400 Italy 46,280,000 35,000 Luxembourg 300, Netherlands 10,264,000 27,000 Norway 3,294,000 1,200 Poland 24,977,000 45,000 Portugal 8,606,000 4,000 Rumania 15,873, ,000 Soviet Union 193,000,000 2,000,000" Spain 28,086,000 3,000 Sweden 7,073,000 15,000 Switzerland 4,749,000 21,000 Turkey 20,935,000 50,000 b Yugoslavia 16,340,000 6,000 TOTAL 603,993,000 3,420,500 * Data on general population were taken from the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, published by the Statistical Office of the United Nations, August 1952, Vol. VI, No. 8, United Nations, New York. They represent available census figures or estimates, mostly for 1950 or When necessary, use was made also of other sources, including local publications. * Including Asiatic regions of'the USSR and Turkey.

4 WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 197 TABLE 3 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, BY COUNTRIES* Canada 14,009, ,000 United States 154,353,000 5,000,000 TOTAL North America 168,362,000 5,205,000 Argentina 17,641, ,000 Bolivia 3,054,000 4,000 Brazil 53,377, ,000 Chile 5,911,000 40,000 Colombia 11,266,000 7,500 Costa Rica 825,000 1,500 Cuba 5,469,000 11,000 Curacao 148,000 1,000 Dominican Republic 2,167, Dutch Guiana 223,000 1,000 British Guiana 431, Ecuador 3,077,000 2,000 El Salvador 1,920, Guatemala 2,887,000 1,000 Haiti 3,112, Honduras 1,505, Jamaica 1,430,000 2,200 Mexico 26,332,000 25,000 Nicaragua 1,088, Panama 817,000 1,000 Paraguay 1,425,000 3,000 Peru 8,558,000 3,000 Trinidad 649, Uruguay 2, ,000 Venezuela 5,071,000 3,000 TOTAL South America 160,736, ,030 GRAND TOTAL 329,098,000 5,833,030 Sit footnote», Table 2.

5 ig8 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK TABLE 4 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION OP ASIA, BY COUNTRIES 1 Aden Afghanistan 730,000 12,000,000 1,500 3,500 Cyprus 491, China 463,493,000 4,000 Indonesia 76,500,000 1,200 French Indo China 27,030,000 1,500 India 356,892,000 25,000 Iran 19,140,000 75,000 Iraq 5,100,000 12,000 Israel 1,601,000 1,425,000 Japan 84,600,000 2,200 Pakistan 75,687,000 1,500 Philippines 20,246, Singapore 961,000 1,000 Syria 3,291,000 2,500 Lebanon 1,285,000 7,500 Yemen 3,500,000 3,000 TOTAL 1,152,547,000 1,567,300 See footnote, Table 2. TABLE 5 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 8 Australia 8,431,000 53,500 New Zealand 1,947,000 4,500 TOTAL 10,378,000 58,000 See footnote «, Table 2.

6 WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 199 TABLE 6 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION OF AFRICA, BY COUNTRIES* Abyssinia 15,000,000 12,000 Algeria 8,930, ,000 Egypt 20,729,000 40,000 Kenya 5,680,000 1,000 Libya 1,072,000 4,000 Morocco (including Tangier) 9,591, ,000 Southern Rhodesia 2,158,000 4,000 Tunisia 3,231, ,000 Union of South Africa 12,683, ,000 TOTAL 79,074, ,000 See footnote», Table 2. TABLE 7 COUNTRIES WITH LARGEST JEWISH POPULATION Country population United States 5,000,000 Soviet Union 2,000,000 Israel 1,425,000 England 450,000 Argentina 360,000 Morocco 264,000 Rumania 250,000 France 235,000 Canada 205,000

7 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK TABLE 8 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN SELECTED CITIES 8 City population Amsterdam 14,000 Athens 4,000 Belgrade 2,000 Berlin 6,000 Bordeaux 5,000 Bombay 15,000 Casablanca 90,000 Florence 1,500 Haifa 154,000 Helsinki 1,350 Istanbul 38,000 Jerusalem 117,000 Johannesburg 50,000 La Paz 3,500 London (greater) 280,000 Melbourne 16,000 Milan 6,000 Montreal 80,000 Paris 125,000 Rio de Janeiro 45,000 Rome 12,000 Sao Paulo 30,000 Sydney 18,500 Teheran 30,000 Tel Aviv 310,000 Toronto 65,000 Trieste 1,500 Turin 2,700 Vienna 11,500 'Mostly for LEON SHAPIRO