ივანე ჯავახიშვილი საქართველოს მოსახლეობის აღწერების შესახებ/ Ivane Javakhishvili about Georgia’s population censuses

Abstract

Ivane Javakhishvili's contribution to the search for written monuments on demography, their description, analysis and scientific evaluation is immeasurable. Based on historical sources, Ivane Javakhishvili substantiated the traditional character of the periodical (once every 7 years) population census in Georgia, studied the specific goals of the population census, the sources of financial support for the census, substantiated the existence of the census programme and found the norms of legal punishment for criminals in case of incorrect population census applicable then; assessed the impact of wars on the territorial movement of the population of the region and, accordingly, on the demographic decline; He negatively evaluated the methodology of 1926 population census based on ethnicity of that time and showed us its negative results. In particular, the categorization of Muslims into a separate ethnic group, which included Georgian Muslims, distorted the ethnic structure of the population, and gave ethnically diverse regions a reason to implement an improper educational policy on the one hand, and to violate the territorial integrity of the country, on the other hand.