The population of the region of Palestine, which approximately corresponds to modern Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, has varied in both size and ethnic composition throughout its history.
The following table shows the total population and that of the main ethno-religious groups living in the area from the First Century CE up until the last full calendar year of the British Mandate, 1947.
Note: Figures prior to the 1500s are all only estimates by researchers. For some periods, there are multiple researchers who have made differing estimates. None should be taken as exact numbers, and further context and detail is available by following links to the full description on Wikipedia as well as links to the original information sources. conflicting: some estimates conflict among different researchers
+ Overview of the demographics of the region of Palestine from the 1st century CE through 1947 (in thousands) Year Source Jewish Pagan SamaritanAll Samaritan population figures after 1500: Christian Muslim Total Driving events 0–100(1st c.) CE BachiFigures are from Roberto Bachi's work: as cited by Sergio DellaPergola in: Majority ... 1,000–2,50066–74 CE: First Jewish–Roman War, Roman Empire defeats Jews in 70 CE. Estimates of Jews killed or who died from famine and disease ranged from less than 300,000(Schwartz), to 600,000 (Tacitus)Tacitus, Histories, Book V, Chapter XIII , to 1.1 million plus 97,000 captured and driven out.(Josephus) 132–135 CE: Bar Kokhba revolt by Jews against Romans
580,000 Judean men killed in battles/raids. Others die from famine, disease and fire (Cassius Dio, Cotton, Raviv, Ben David)Mohr Siebek et al. Edited by Peter Schäfer. The Bar Kokhba War reconsidered. 2003. P142-3. Raviv: Archeological evidence shows Jewish settlements in Judea almost completely eradicated by 135 CE. However, Jews lived on in Galilee. Klein:קליין, א' (2011). היבטים בתרבות החומרית של יהודה הכפרית בתקופה הרומית המאוחרת (135–324 לסה"נ).(עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ (Doctoral thesis, Bar-Ilan University) עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ' 314–315. (Hebrew, Aspects in the Material Culture of Rural Judea in the Late Roman Period (135-324 AD))שדמן, ע' (Between Nahal Raba and Nahal Shilo: the layout of the rural settlement in periods 275-271, 2016). בין נחל רבה לנחל שילה: תפרוסת היישוב הכפרי בתקופות ההלניסטית, הרומית והביזנטית לאור חפירות וסקרים. עבודת דוקטור, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן. עמ' 271–275. (Doctoral thesis, Bar-Ilan University, Hebrew) In Galilee, Roman authorities replaced many Jews with Syrians, Phoenicians, and Arabians. 140 CE† Avi-Yohan ;700-800 ... ; "far fewer than 300,000" ... ; 2,500 Broshi ;<1,000("never more than 1 million") Early 300s Stem-berger Largestgroup 2nd-largest 3rd-largest Smallestgroup ...400, cities were majority non-Jewish, most land likely owned by non-Jews. 400s: Western Roman Empire collapses, driving Christian immigration. Christianization. Christian majority by 500 CE. (Avi-Yonah)M. Avi-Yonah, The Jews under Roman and Byzantine Rule, Jerusalem 1984 chapters XI–XII 300s Bachi Majority ... ... Minority "Morethan in1st c."An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations by Edward Kessler P72The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 4, The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period By William David Davies, Louis Finkelstein, P:409 400s Bachi Minority ... Majority 500s ... 628 Butler, Gil >250150,000 expelled in 629 plus 100,000 that remained after 629. Unknown number massacred. 30-80 520-570 >950629: Heraclius ordered massacre of Jews; ca. 150,000 left, many to Egypt. (Butler, Gil, Schäfer)Gil, Moshe: A History of Palestine, 634–1099, p. 9 (1997). Cambridge University Press: He had promised the Jews ... amnesty ..., but was unable to hold to this. At the insistence of the leaders of the Christians, who had not forgotten the period of Jewish rule from 614 to 617, he once more expelled the Jews from Jerusalem and had to allow large numbers of them to be executed. : The patriarch of Jerusalem executed those who were known to have taken part in the killings. 630s Parkes 150–400 ... ... ... 635: As Byzantine rule ended and Muslim rule began: Parkes:James Parkes (1949). A History of Palestine from 135 A.D. to Modern Times. Victor Gollancz. Est. 150,000–400,000 Jews in all Palestine
Crown et al.: Palaestina Prima only, which did not include Galilee, had a population of 700,000, incl. 100,000 Jews and 30–80,000 Samaritans, with the remaining 520-570,000 Chalcedonian and Miaphysite Christians.
Gil: Jews and Samaritans together likely still formed a majority in 638 In the period after 638: Immigration of Arabs (i.e. from the Arabian Peninsula), how many is unclear MFA Israel: Jews flourished at first; Umar encouraged Jews to settle in Jerusalem after 500-year ban. 688–744 (–1033): Frequent plague recurrences and devastating earthquakes in 749, 881 and 1033) caused a steady decline of the population, falling from around 1 million in the 5th c. to a lowest estimate of 400–560,000 by 1096 (start of First Crusade).Broshi, M., & Finkelstein, I. (1992). "The Population of Palestine in Iron Age II". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 287(1), 47-60. 700s ... 700s-800s: Civil wars drove Jewish emigration 717: New taxes on and discrimination against Jews drove Jewish emigration ~750-900: Mass Islamization with Muslim majority "visible" by ~966-985 (al-Maqdisi) 800s ... 868–905: Mass Islamization of Samaritans 881: Acre earthquake 900s ... 1095 Ellen-blum, Della-PergolaBroshi ... 400–560 1033: Jordan Rift Valley earthquake 1096–1099 1st Crusade, Crusaders massacre and enslave Jews and Muslims. Most Jerusalem Jews killed in Siege of JerusalemGoitein, S.D. "Contemporary Letters on the Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders." Journal of Jewish Studies 3 (1952), pp. 162–177, pg 163Kedar, Benjamin Z., Phillips, Jonathan, Riley-Smith, Jonathan: Crusades: Volume 3, p. 82 (2016), Routledge 1099: Goitein: Jewish mass conversions to Islam were not widespread from 901–1265 except the persecution of Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah in 1099. 1100: "By 1100 Jews had declined substantially",Gil, M. A History of Palestine, 634–1099. p. 294 1100s: Jews only about "1000 poor families". (Heynick)Frank Heynick, commenting on Maimonides's decision not to settle there a century later in 1187: Saladin defeats Crusaders; his Ayyubid dynasty in power; some immigration of diaspora Jews 1260: Mamluks take power, oppress Jews, grossly mismanage economy. Great social and economic decline. Large-scale Christian and Jewish emigration, but, trickle of Jewish immigration. Jews become an even smaller minority. 1347: Black Death reaches Palestine.Kelly, J. (2005). The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-000692-1. 1517: Ottomans take power. About 5,000 Jews live in Palestine. End1100s Bachi Minority ... Minority Majority >225 1300s Bachi Minority ... Minority Majority 150 1533-9 Bachi 5 ... 6 145 156 1553-4 Bachi 7 ... 9 188 205 1690-1 Bachi 2 <0.2 11 219 232 1800 Bachi 7 <0.2 22 246 2751882-1903: First Aliyah about 35,000 Jews immigrate mostly from the Russian Empire and Romania. They join about 20-25,000 Jews in Palestine as of 1880. 1890 Bachi ;43 <0.2 ;57 ;432 ;532 1890-1 Ottoman census ;18 <0.2;52 ;446 ;516 1914 Bachi 94 <0.2 70 525 6891904-1914: Second Aliyah, 35–40,000 Jews immigrate, most from the Russian Empire 1914-5 Ottoman census 39 <0.2 81 602 7221919-1923: Third Aliyah about 40,000 Jews immigrate, mostly from Eastern Europe 1922 British census 84 <0.2 71 589 7521924-8: Fourth Aliyah, about 80,000 Jews immigrate, about half from Poland, but also USSR, e Romania, Lithuania. 12% were from Yemen, Iraq, or elsewhere in West Asia. 1931 Bachi 175 <0.2 89 760 1,0331929-1939: Fifth Aliyah, 250,000 Jews immigrate (of which 174,000 between 1933 and 1936). In 1936 British start to prohibit Jewish immigration. 1933-1948: Aliyah Bet, about 110,000 Jews immigrate from Europe without British permission 1947 Bachi 630 <0.2 143 1,181 1,970 †including what is today the Kingdom of Jordan
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