Places & records
Population, households, churches, schools and economic indicators with source-level context.
A WORLD OF LIVES, BEFORE A WORLD OF LOSS
Armenian life.
Before 1915.
Not just places on a map. Homes. Classrooms.
Workshops. Communities with a future.
2.5million
Estimated Armenians living across the Ottoman Empire before the Armenian Genocide.
Estimate: USC Shoah Foundation · IWalk ↗Local census records below retain their own dates and scope.44 sourced place records • Cities, villages & regions • An expanding collectionENTER THE ATLAS ↓
OTTOMAN ARMENIAN COMMUNITIESGeographic overview
Height: population · compressed scaleUnverified values are never shown as zero.
Drag to pan · +/− to zoom · Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom
Geographic reference basemap; modern country outlines, not Ottoman administrative boundaries.
BLACK SEAGeographic reference basemap; modern country outlines, not Ottoman administrative boundaries.
Basemap: Natural Earth · Public domain
AGMC ATLAS / 0.1SELECTED SOURCES · NO OVERLAPPING TOTALS · A LIVING RESEARCH COLLECTION
THE WORLD THIS MAP REMEMBERS
A village is more
than a population.
Behind every count were people: children walking to school, families gathering for worship, craftspeople at work and neighbours building a shared life. This atlas brings documented traces of Armenian communities into one navigable space.
The Armenian Genocide left 1.5 million Armenians murdered. Preserving the record of life before 1915 is part of remembering those who were murdered, honouring survivors and protecting the history their descendants carry.
Continue through the museum ↗BUILT TO KEEP GROWING
From a place.
To a deeper history.
Journeys & loss
Deportation routes and massacre locations can be added as independently sourced, dated layers. These layers are not yet populated.
Voices & objects
The data structure supports licensed photographs, survivor testimony and video, with provenance and permissions attached to each item.
Browse the text edition: all 44 place records →
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ATLAS
Where did Armenians live before the Armenian Genocide?
Armenian communities lived in cities and villages throughout the Ottoman Empire, including the Armenian Highlands, Cilicia and Constantinople. This first research edition maps selected documented localities and the six eastern provinces; it is not a complete inventory of all Armenian settlements.
How many Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire before 1915?
USC Shoah Foundation’s IWalk educational material gives an estimate of 2.5 million. This atlas attributes that estimate and preserves local survey figures separately. Different historical surveys have different coverage and methods; their counts are not interchangeable.
Can I compare Armenian populations, schools and churches?
Yes. Select places and add up to three to the comparison tray. Each record retains its geographic scope and year. A city and its surrounding province overlap and must not be added together. Population shares appear only when a compatible total population is available.
Does a missing number mean there was no school or church?
No. “Not yet documented” means a verified figure has not been added to this edition. A recorded zero is displayed only where the cited source explicitly supports it.