World THE FIGURES on world population presented below are based on current information available from local sources. In the course of 1955 and 1956, the AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK conducted a survey among central communal bodies in a number of countries, asking these bodies to furnish estimates of the numbers of Jews residing in their countries. These estimates, adjusted to accord with new information received in the course of 1957, are incorporated in the present summary. (For a report on the survey, see AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK, 1957 [Vol. 58], p. 220.) It should be made clear that accurate figures on population could not be arrived at; the figures presented below represent only the best approximations possible and will have to be continuously revised as new data become available. This reservation is especially pertinent in view of the events of 1956-57; when the migratory movements involving Jews in Poland, Hungary, and North Africa, though taken into consideration, could not be recorded with precision and will have to be more adequately accounted for at a later date. Distribution by Continents It is estimated that the world population in 1957 was about 12,- 035,000. Of this total, over 6,000,000 (50.4 per cent) lived in North and South America. Some 3,466,000 (28.8 per cent) were in Europe. Asia had about 1,855,000 (15.4 per cent), and some 585,000 (4.9 per cent) and 61,500 (0.5 per cent) were in Africa and Australia-New Zealand respectively. EUROPE TABLE 1 DISTRIBUTION OF JEWISH POPULATION BY CONTINENTS, 1957 Continent Number Per Cent Europe (incl. Asiatic Soviet Union and Turkey) 3,466,350 28.8 America (North and South) 6,066,730 50.4 Asia 1,855,244 15.4 Africa 585,750 4.9 Australia and New Zealand 61,500 0.5 TOTAL 12,035,574 100.0 There were over 3,466,000 Jews in Europe, including an estimated 2,000,- 000 in the Soviet Union and about 400,000 in the satellite countries. It must 222
WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 223 be mentioned that estimates on the number of Jews in the Soviet Union varied considerably. While some students in the United States and Europe estimated the number at about 2,000,000, Israel sources indicated a figure of 3,000,000 (see p. 316). The repatriation of Polish Jews from the Soviet Union to Poland, and the simultaneous migration of Polish Jews to Israel made it difficult to establish a conservative estimate of the number of Jews in Poland. Hopefully, the figure of 45,000 given in Table 2 represents fairly accurately the situation in Poland. The information will have to be revised when more complete data on the repatriation and emigration are available. The same situation prevails with respect to Hungary, where the available figures (some of which are as low as 80,000-85,000) seem not always to cover total population, but to be limited to membership of religious communities only. About 1,000,000 Jews resided in Western Europe and Scandinavia. The largest community was in England (450,000), the next largest in France (350,000). TABLE 2 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN EUROPE, BY COUNTRIES * Country Per Cent Albania 1,421,000 300 0.0 Austria 6,983.000 11,800 0.2 Belgium 8,924,000 35,000 0.4 Bulgaria 7,626,000 6,000 0.1 Czechoslovakia 13,224,000 20,000 0.2 Denmark 4,466,000 6,500 0.1 England 51,208,000 450,000 0.9 Finland 4,291,000 1,900 0.0 France 43,648,000 350,000 0.8 Germany 71,533,000 30,000 0.0 Gibraltar 22,500 650 2.9 Greece 8,031,000 6,500 0.1 Hungary 9,906,000 110,000 1.1 Irish Free State 2,898,000 5,400 0.2 Italy 48,279,000 32,000 0.1 Luxembourg 312,000 1,000 0.3 Netherlands 10,888,000 26,000 0.2 Norway 3,462,000 1,000 0.0 Poland 27,819,000 45,000 0.2 Portugal 8,837,000 750 0.0 Rumania 17,579,000 225,000 1.3 Soviet Union 200,200,000 2,000,000" 0.8 Spain 29,203,000 3,000 0.0 Sweden 7.316,000 13,000 0.2 Switzerland 5.039,000 19.050 0.4 Turkey 24,797,000 60,000 0.2 Yugoslavia 17,886,000 6,500 0.0 TOTAL 635,798,500 3,466,350 0.5 Data on general population were taken from the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics published by the Statistical Office of the United Nations, October 1957, vol. XI, No. 10, United Nations New York. They represent census figures or available estimates, mostly for 1955, 1956, and 1957 Where necessary, use was made also of other sources, including local publications. b Including Asiatic regions of the Soviet Union and Turkey.
224 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA There were over 6,000,000 Jews in North and South America. This figure includes an estimated 5,200,000 in the United States, 233,000 in Canada, and about 630,000 in Latin America. There were considerable differences of opinion with respect to the number of Jews in the United States; the figure of 5,200,000 is the current estimate accepted by students of population in the United States. Few changes were recorded in the figures for Latin America. It should be noted that estimates of the numbers of Jews in some of the countries of Latin America varied considerably. TABLE 3 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, BY COUNTRIES" Country Per Cent Canada 16,081,000 233,000 1.4 United States 168,174,000 5,200,000 3.1 TOTAL North America... 184,255,000 5,433,000 2.9 Argentina 19,486,000 360,000 1.8 Bolivia 3,235,000 4,000 0.1 Brazil 59,846,000 120,000 0.2 British Guiana 472,000 130 0.0 Chile 6,944,000 30,000 0.4 Colombia 12,439,000 9,000 0.1 Costa Rica 988,000 1,500 0.2 Cuba 5,829,000 11,000 0.2 Curacao 148,000 1,000 0.7 Dominican Republic 2,608,000 600 0.0 Dutch Guiana 223,000 1,000 0.4 Ecuador 3,796,000 2,000 0.1 El Salvador 2,268,000 200 0.0 Guatemala 3,349,000 1,000 0.0 Haiti 3,350,000 200 0.0 Honduras 2,440,000 150 0.0 Jamaica 1,564,000 2,200 0.1 Mexico 30,538,000 25,700 0.1 Nicaragua 1,282,000 150 0.0 Panama 984,000 2,500 0.3 Paraguay 1,601,000 3,000 0.2 Peru 9,651,000 3,000 0.0 Trinidad 743,000 400 0.1 Uruguay 2,615,000 50,000 2.0 Venezuela 5,953,000 5,000 0.1 TOTAL South America... 182,352,000 633,730 0.3 GRAND TOTAL 366,607,000 6,066,730 1.7 * See footnote (a) Table 2. ASIA AND AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND Of the approximately 1,855,000 Jews residing in Asia, over 1,719,00c, 1 or 92.6 per cent, were in Israel. There were 80,000 Jews in Iran. It is important 1 As of the end of May 1957. Statistical Bulletin of Israel, #7, vol. VIII, July 1957, Jerusalem, Israel.
WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 225 to note that communities in the Far East and Southeast Asia continued to decrease in size. This was particularly true with respect to China and Japan. Australia and New Zealand had 57,000 and 4,500 Jews, respectively. TABLE 4 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN ASIA, BY COUNTRIES* Country Per Cent Aden 730,000 800 0.1 Afghanistan 12,000,000 4,000 0.0 Burma 19,242,000 500 0.0 Cyprus 514,000 170 0.0 China 463,493,000 400 0.0 Hong Kong 3,000,000 200 0.0 India 387,000,000 25,400 0.0 Indonesia 81,100,000 750 0.0 Iran 22,307,000 80,000 0.4 Iraq 4,948,000 6,000 0.1 Israel 1,928,844 1,719,624 89.2 Japan 88,200,000 1,000 0.0 Lebanon 1,450,000 6,000 0.4 Pakistan 75,040,000 400 0.0 Philippines 21,440,000 500 0.0 Singapore 1,168,000 1,000 0.1 Syria 3,670,000 5,000 0.1 Yemen 3300,000 3,500 0.1 TOTAL 1,190,730,844 1,855,244 0.2 See footnote (a) Table 2. TABLE 5 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND* Country Per Cent Australia 9,428,000 57,000 0.6 New Zealand 2,178,000 4,500 0.2 TOTAL 11,606,000 61,500 0.5 See footnote (a) Table 2. AFRICA The population in Africa continued to decline, substantially as a result of continuing migration from French North African countries to Israel and France. Estimates indicated there were 200,000 Jews in Morocco, 130,000 in Algeria, and 80,000 in Tunisia. The population of the Union of South Africa stood at about 110,000.
226 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK TABLE 6 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION IN AFRICA, BY COUNTRIES Country Abyssinia 15,000,000 Algeria 9,620,000 Belgian Congo 12,317,000 Egypt 23,410,000 Kenya 6,150,000 Libya 1,072,000 Morocco (including Tangiers) 9,591,000 Northern Rhodesia 2,128,000 Southern Rhodesia 2,399,000 Tunisia 3,783,000 Union of South Africa 13,915,000 TOTAL 99,385,000 12,000 130,000 2,000 40,000 1,000 3,750 200,000 1,500 5,500 80,000 110,000 585,750 Per Cent 0.1 1.4 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.3 2.1 0.1 0.2 2.1 0.7 0.6 See footnote (a) Table 2. Countries with Largest The three countries with the largest populations the United States, the Soviet Union, and Israel, in that order accounted for some 74 per cent of the world population. There were nine countries with communities of 200,000 or more. It should be noted that France, with an estimated 350,000 Jews, occupied sixth place among these countries, and Morocco, with 200,000, last place. Selected Cities While the information given here on the population of selected cities is incomplete, it serves as an indication of the distribution of the population by cities. TABLE 7 COUNTRIES WITH LARGEST JEWISH POPULATION Country United States 5,200,000 Soviet Union 2,000,000 Israel 1,719,000 England 450,000 Argentina 360,000 France 350,000 Canada 233,000 Rumania 225,000 Morocco 200,000
WORLD JEWISH POPULATION 227 City Abo Amsterdam. Ankara Antwerp Athens Basle Belgrade... Berlin Berne Bordeaux... TABLE 8 ESTIMATED JEWISH POPULATION, SELECTED CITIES 355 14,000 1,000 12,000 3,000 2,471 1,451 6,000 792 5,000 City Manila Marrakech... Melbourne... Milan Montreal Novi-Sad Oslo Paris Rio de Janeiro Rome 300 18,500 25,000 6,000 95,000 286 620 175,000 45,000 12,000 Bombay.. Boras Brussels.. Calcutta.. Cochin... Cairo Casablanca Florence.. Geneva... Glasgow.. 18,000 300 20,000 2300 500 20,000 65,000 1,500 2,642 13,400 Salonika.. Sao Paulo Santiago.. Sarajevo.. Stockholm Subotica.. Sydney Teheran.. Tel-Aviv.. Toronto.. 1,300 40,000 25,000 1,038 6,000 404 22,000 30,000 350,000 77,000 Haifa 154,000 Helsinki 1,333 Istanbul 50,000 Ismir 5,000 Jerusalem 143,000 Johannesburg 50,000 Leeds 2300 London (Greater) 280,000 Luxembourg 800 Manchester 31,000 Mostly for 1955-56. Trieste... Tunis Valparaiso Vienna... Warsaw... Zagreb Zurich... 1,500 55,000 2,000 9,230 5,000 1,286 6,169 LEON SHAPIRO