August 1, 2011

The Population of Mount Athos May Be Decreasing


July 28, 2011
Amen.gr

According to the last general census, it appears that the population of Mount Athos is decreasing. According to provisional results announced by the Greek Statistical Authority census of the population, conducted during the period from 10 to 24 May 2011, Mount Athos registered 1,830 inhabitants; the population density amounts to 5.45 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Based on the previous general census of 2001, all who lived on the Holy Mountain stood at 2,262 people, while in 1991 it was 1,536.

"We must await the final census data to see if the number of monks who inhabit are really reduced" said the governor of Mount Athos Aristides Kasmiroglou to Amen.gr. He further noted: "The evidence is generally not known whether the earlier censuses included only the monks, or included workers employed in previous years in restoration work."

According to the Greek Statistical Authority data for the entire population of Greece and by extension of Mount Athos, the information is provisional based on the aggregated number of registered people in 94 counties of the country, and not by supervised individual questionnaires, which will follow. For this reason, the data may differ from the final. The final census data will be disclosed in the second half of 2012.

Interesting data on the population of Mount Athos in the 19th century can be found in the blog "Athonite Memories" here.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos