Prior to the American Civil War, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio were the most populous states in the Union, each with between two and four million inhabitants. Industrialization in the north was one of the key drivers of population growth during this period, through both internal and external migration, and Illinois saw the largest population growth during the 1860s largely due to the expansion of industry around Chicago. The gradual industrialization of the north in the early 1800s also contributed to the decline of slavery in the Union states, and the economic differences between the Union and Confederacy was a key factor in both the build-up to the Civil War, as well as the Union's eventual victory in 1865.

This data collection was designed to compare the heights of southern whites with those of slaves and northern white males between 1863 and 1866. Information provided includes month, day, and year of amnesty, county and state, age, color of skin, eyes, and hair, occupation, last name, first name, oath administrators, feet component in height, inch component in height, and height in inches.

This statistic shows the number of black men and women in the US from 1820 until 1880. Slavery was legal in the Southern States of the US until 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was added to the US Constitution after the American Civil War. Until that time all of the slaves included in this statistic were registered as living in the South, whereas the majority of the free, black men and women lived in the Northern States. From the data we can see that, while the slave experience was very different for men and women, there was relatively little difference between their numbers in each respective category. While female slaves were more likely to serve in domestic roles, they were also more likely to be working in the lowest and unskilled jobs on plantations, whereas men were given more skilled and physically demanding roles. As slavery was abolished in 1870, all black people from this point were considered free in the census data. It is also worth noticing that in these years the difference in the number of men and women increased, most likely as a result of all the black male soldiers who fell fighting in the American Civil War.

Civil War map - Confederacy green, North red, border states yellow. A pasted down sheet in the bottom margin explains the color coding and gives population statistics for the three regions. There is an ad for "Colton's...Complete Series of War Maps" on the verso of the cover and a pasted down list of Union and Confederate Political and Military leaders on the verso of the map.More information on this map...

A dataset to advance the study of life-cycle interactions of biomedical and socioeconomic factors in the aging process. The EI project has assembled a variety of large datasets covering the life histories of approximately 39,616 white male volunteers (drawn from a random sample of 331 companies) who served in the Union Army (UA), and of about 6,000 African-American veterans from 51 randomly selected United States Colored Troops companies (USCT). Their military records were linked to pension and medical records that detailed the soldiers������?? health status and socioeconomic and family characteristics. Each soldier was searched for in the US decennial census for the years in which they were most likely to be found alive (1850, 1860, 1880, 1900, 1910). In addition, a sample consisting of 70,000 men examined for service in the Union Army between September 1864 and April 1865 has been assembled and linked only to census records. These records will be useful for life-cycle comparisons of those accepted and rejected for service. Military Data: The military service and wartime medical histories of the UA and USCT men were collected from the Union Army and United States Colored Troops military service records, carded medical records, and other wartime documents. Pension Data: Wherever possible, the UA and USCT samples have been linked to pension records, including surgeon''''s certificates. About 70% of men in the Union Army sample have a pension. These records provide the bulk of the socioeconomic and demographic information on these men from the late 1800s through the early 1900s, including family structure and employment information. In addition, the surgeon''''s certificates provide rich medical histories, with an average of 5 examinations per linked recruit for the UA, and about 2.5 exams per USCT recruit. Census Data: Both early and late-age familial and socioeconomic information is collected from the manuscript schedules of the federal censuses of 1850, 1860, 1870 (incomplete), 1880, 1900, and 1910. Data Availability: All of the datasets (Military Union Army; linked Census; Surgeon''''s Certificates; Examination Records, and supporting ecological and environmental variables) are publicly available from ICPSR. In addition, copies on CD-ROM may be obtained from the CPE, which also maintains an interactive Internet Data Archive and Documentation Library, which can be accessed on the Project Website. * Dates of Study: 1850-1910 * Study Features: Longitudinal, Minority Oversamples * Sample Size: ** Union Army: 35,747 ** Colored Troops: 6,187 ** Examination Sample: 70,800 ICPSR Link: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/06836

The American Civil War is the conflict with the largest number of American military fatalities in history. In fact, the Civil War's death toll is comparable to all other major wars combined, the deadliest of which were the World Wars, which have a combined death toll of more than 520,000 American fatalities. The ongoing series of conflicts and interventions in the Middle East and North Africa, collectively referred to as the War on Terror in the west, has a combined death toll of more than 7,000 for the U.S. military since 2001. Other records In terms of the number of deaths per day, the American Civil War is still at the top, with an average of 425 deaths per day, while the First and Second World Wars have averages of roughly 100 and 200 fatalities per day respectively. Technically, the costliest battle in U.S. military history was the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, which was a part of the Battle of the Bulge in the Second World War, and saw upwards of 5,000 deaths over 10 days. However, the Battle of Gettysburg had more military fatalities of American soldiers, with almost 3,200 Union deaths and over 3,900 Confederate deaths, giving a combined total of more than 7,000. The Battle of Antietam is viewed as the bloodiest day in American military history, with over 3,600 combined fatalities and almost 23,000 total casualties on September 17, 1862. Revised Civil War figures For more than a century, the total death toll of the American Civil War was generally accepted to be around 620,000, a number which was first proposed by Union historians William F. Fox and Thomas L. Livermore in 1888. This number was calculated by using enlistment figures, battle reports, and census data, however many prominent historians since then have thought the number should be higher. In 2011, historian J. David Hacker conducted further investigations and claimed that the number was closer to 750,000 (and possibly as high as 850,000). While many Civil War historians agree that this is possible, and even likely, obtaining consistently accurate figures has proven to be impossible until now; both sides were poor at keeping detailed records throughout the war, and much of the Confederacy's records were lost by the war's end. Many Confederate widows also did not register their husbands death with the authorities, as they would have then been ineligible for benefits.

This data collection was designed to compare the differences between adult white males rejected by the Union Army and those accepted into the Union Army. Information includes each person's first and last name, date, place, and term of enlistment, place of birth, military identification number, occupation before enlistment, age at enlistment, and height. Summary of physical conditions, international classification of diseases code, and reason for rejection also are presented.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. To collect socio-economic data in order to investigate theories concerning the causes of coups. Main Topics: Variables Country, % population living in rural areas/working in agriculture 1970, % growth rate of GNP per capita (U.S. dollars) 1970, number of people for each physician 1970, % population illiterate 1970, number of radio sets/newspaper circulation per 1000 inhabitants 1970, density of population 1970, GNP per capita (U.S. dollars), % military personnel per 1000 population 1970, whether has own army, annual defence budget as % of GNP per capita 1970, extent of bilateral aid per capita (U.S. dollars), whether had coup d'etat 1950-1970, whether has been a colony for any period 1950-1970, whether has had coup previously, largest % population having same religion, whether had coup between 1960-1970, % population living in urban areas 1965, newspaper circulation per 1000 population 1965, number of people per physician 1965, % population having received education 1965, number of radio sets per 1000 population 1965, SNP per capita 1965 (U.S. dollars), whether had coup 1950-Jan 1971/1950-1966/1961-1966, number of riots since 1948-1967, number of major 'irregular power transfers' 1950-1968 (Taylor and Hudson), whether has military agreements with France 1950-1970, whether has had internal physical conflict on grounds of ethnic or language differences, whether receives aid, whether defends itself, whether became independent since 1 Jan 1966, number of major 'irregular power transfers' where a coup has taken place, major commodity exported as % of value of all exports 1968, whether product has one year gestation period, amount of external trade in relation to rest of world 1968 (U.S. dollars), major % exports to one country 1968, whether has trade with communist countries, whether ex-British/ex-French colony, whether has had monarch/emperor/sultan (not constitutional), whether has fought external war/civil war 1950-1970, whether has military agreements with U.S./U.K./U.S.S.R./ France, four major commodities exported as % of all exports, whether imports and exports major % of commodities from U.S.S.R./France/U.K./U.S.A. 1968.

Beliefs concerning democracy in the US, by study group.

Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of study groups.

Since 1824, when the popular vote was first used to determine the overall winner in U.S. presidential elections, the share of the population who participate in these elections has gradually increased. Despite this increase, participation has never reached half of the total population; partly due to the share of the population below the voting age of eighteen, but also as many potential voters above the age of eighteen do not take part, or are ineligible to vote. For example, in the 2016 election, approximately twenty million U.S. adults were ineligible to vote, while over 94 million simply did not participate; in this election, Donald Trump won the electoral college with 63 million votes, which means that 19.4 percent of the total U.S. population (or 27.3 percent of eligible voters) voted for the winning candidate. Development throughout history While the figures for the 2016 election may appear low, over 42 percent of the total population participated in this election, which was the third highest participation rate ever recorded (after the 2008 and 2020 elections). In the first election decided by a popular vote in 1824, only 350 thousand votes were cast from a total population of 10.6 million, although this increased to over four million votes by the 1856 election, as restrictions that applied to non-property holding white males were gradually lifted. Participation levels then dropped during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, as those who lived in Confederate states could not vote in 1864, and many white southerners were restricted or discouraged in the following election. Although universal suffrage was granted to black males in the wake of the Civil War, the majority of black Americans lived in the southern states, where lawmakers introduced Jim Crow laws in the late 1800s to suppress and disenfranchise the black vote, as well as poor white voters. The next major milestone was the introduction of women's suffrage in 1920, which saw voter participation increase by seven million votes (or seven percent) between the 1916 and 1920 elections. Between the 1910s and 1970s, the Great Migration saw many black Americans move away from the south to northern and western states, where they faced fewer obstacles when voting and greater economic mobility. This period of black migration began to decline in the 1960s and 1970s, during which time many Jim Crow laws were repealed in the south, through legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Female participation also grew gradually, and has exceeded male voting participation in all elections since the 1980s. The minimum voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in all states in 1971, although this seemingly had a minimal impact on the short-term trajectory of voter participation. Recent elections The 1992 election was the first in which more than one hundred million votes were cast, which was almost 41 percent of the total population. All elections since 2004 have also had more than one hundred million votes cast, which has again been more than forty percent of the total population. Another key factor in the increase in voter participation is the fact that people are living longer than ever before, and that those aged 65 and over have had the highest turnout levels since 1992. While some figures may be subject to change, the 2020 election set new records for voter turnout. Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, which many thought could cause the lowest turnout in decades, a record number of voters cast their ballots early or by mail, setting a new record of votes just shy of 160 million. In the 2020 election, Joe Biden and Donald Trump received 81.3 million and 74.2 million votes respectively, both beating Barack Obama's previous record of 69.3 million ballots in 2008. 2024 then saw a decline in the number of votes cast, with over three million fewer votes than in 2020.

The Foreign Policy Leadership Project (FPLP) has conducted extensive quadrennial mail surveys of elite civilian and military opinion since 1976. The cohort varies from year to year, and is drawn from organizations such as Who's Who, labor leadership, the Department of Defense, foreign service officers, the National War College, the press corps, politicians, and clergy leaders. Survey topics focus on United States foreign policy and foreign affairs. Specific issues vary from year to year, although a series of topics are repeated throughout the years. These topics include the importance of foreign policy goals such as containing communism, improving the global standard of living, defending United States allies, protecting United States interests abroad, strengthening the United Nations, combating world hunger, protecting the environment, controlling world population, and ending the illegal drug trade. Respondents are also asked to rate United States effectiveness in those areas. Additional recurring topics include the causes of war, approaches to world peace, threats to national security, and contemporary domestic issues. The theme of Part 1, 1976 Data, was the effect that the Vietnam War has had on United States foreign policy. Those queried were asked to assess America's role in world policy, such as providing economic aid to poorer nations and preventing the destruction of Israel. Given a list of foreign policy questions, respondents were asked to indicate their position and how it was shaped by the Vietnam experience. Questions covered the "domino theory", the Angolan civil war, and the use of United States military power. Those queried were asked to assess possible consequences of the Vietnam War, including policies toward the Third World, and damage to the United States economy. Respondents were also asked to rate the significance of factors that may have prevented the United States from achieving its goal in Vietnam, such as Watergate, the media, and the role of the Soviets and the Chinese. Those queried were asked to assess the role political events and policies such as the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, and the 1962 blockade of Cuba played as steps leading to United States involvement in Vietnam. Part 2, 1980 Data, introduced the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and the situation in Afghanistan. Respondents' views were sought on implications of the Afghanistan situation for United States farmers, the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, foreign military bases, and Soviet foreign policy. Respondents' opinions were sought on current issues in United States foreign relations, such as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), human rights, the United States defense budget, the policy of detente, and policy in the Middle East. Those queried were asked to examine the lessons learned from the Iran hostage crisis, including the role of patience in foreign policy, the overthrow of the shah's regime, and dependence on oil from the Middle East. Part 3, 1984 Data, addressed political undertakings in Lebanon, El Salvador, Grenada, and Nicaragua. Respondents were asked about the implications of events related to the Middle East, including the 1983 truck bombing of United States Marines in Beruit, oil embargoes, and Soviet intentions in the region. Those queried were also asked for their opinions on current issues in American foreign relations, including Soviet-United States arms control negotiations and the defense of Western Europe, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Treaty. Views were also sought on recent United States foreign policies, such as opposition to a "nuclear freeze", failure to impose economic sanctions on South Africa for its policy of apartheid, and support of Great Britain after the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands. Part 4, 1988 Data, covered the topics of escorting Kuwait's oil tankers into the Persian Gulf, United States support of the Aquino government in the Philippines, aiding "contra" rebels in Nicaragua, and supporting rebels fighting the government in Afghanistan. Respondents were also asked about the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Their views were sought on cooperative efforts among nations to end terrorism, famine, the drug trade, and Third World debts. Those queried were asked what in

BackgroundIdentifying groups at increased risk for political violence can support prevention efforts. We determine whether “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republicans, as defined, are potentially such a group.MethodsNationwide survey conducted May 13-June 2, 2022 of adult members of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. MAGA Republicans are defined as Republicans who voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election and deny the results of that election. Principal outcomes are weighted proportions of respondents who endorse political violence, are willing to engage in it, and consider it likely to occur.FindingsThe analytic sample (n = 7,255) included 1,128 (15.0%) MAGA Republicans, 640 (8.3%) strong Republicans, 1,571 (21.3%) other Republicans, and 3,916 (55.3%) non-Republicans. MAGA Republicans were substantially more likely than others to agree strongly/very strongly that “in the next few years, there will be civil war in the United States” (MAGA Republicans, 30.3%, 95% CI 27.2%, 33.4%; strong Republicans, 7.5%, 95% CI 5.1%, 9.9%; other Republicans, 10.8%, 95% CI 9.0%, 12.6%; non-Republicans, 11.2%, 95% CI 10.0%, 12.3%; p < 0.001) and to consider violence usually/always justified to advance at least 1 of 17 specific political objectives (MAGA Republicans, 58.2%, 95% CI 55.0%, 61.4%; strong Republicans, 38.3%, 95% CI 34.2%, 42.4%; other Republicans, 31.5%, 95% CI 28.9%, 34.0%; non-Republicans, 25.1%, 95% CI 23.6%, 26.7%; p < 0.001). They were not more willing to engage personally in political violence.InterpretationMAGA Republicans, as defined, are more likely than others to endorse political violence. They are not more willing to engage in such violence themselves; their endorsement may increase the risk that it will occur.

During the mid-1800s the American population followed the country’s Manifest Destiny; as land was acquired, westward migration towards the Pacific occurred for various reasons.THE U.S. HISTORY GEOINQUIRY COLLECTIONhttp://www.esri.com/geoinquiriesTo support Esri’s involvement in the White House ConnectED Initiative, GeoInquiry instructional materials using ArcGIS Online for Earth Science education are now freely available. The U.S. History GeoInquiry collection contains 15 free, web-mapping activities that correspond and extend map-based concepts in leading high school U.S. History textbooks. The activities use a standard inquiry-based instructional model, require only 15 minutes for a teacher to deliver, and are device agnostic. The activities harmonize with the C3 curriculum standards for social studies education. Activity topics include:· The Great Exchange· The 13 Colonies - 1700s· The War Before Independence (The American Revolution)· The War of 1812· Westward, ho! (Trails west)· The Underground Railroad· From Compromise to Conflict· A nation divided: The Civil War· Native American Lands· Steel and the birth of a city (natural resources)· World War I· Dust Bowl· A day that lived in infamy (Pearl Harbor)· Operation Overlord - D-Day· Hot spots in the Cold WarTeachers, GeoMentors, and administrators can learn more at http://www.esri.com/geoinquiries.

In 2020, about 82.66 percent of the total population in the United States lived in cities and urban areas. As the United States was one of the earliest nations to industrialize, it has had a comparatively high rate of urbanization over the past two centuries. The urban population became larger than the rural population during the 1910s, and by the middle of the century it is expected that almost 90 percent of the population will live in an urban setting. Regional development of urbanization in the U.S. The United States began to urbanize on a larger scale in the 1830s, as technological advancements reduced the labor demand in agriculture, and as European migration began to rise. One major difference between early urbanization in the U.S. and other industrializing economies, such as the UK or Germany, was population distribution. Throughout the 1800s, the Northeastern U.S. became the most industrious and urban region of the country, as this was the main point of arrival for migrants. Disparities in industrialization and urbanization was a key contributor to the Union's victory in the Civil War, not only due to population sizes, but also through production capabilities and transport infrastructure. The Northeast's population reached an urban majority in the 1870s, whereas this did not occur in the South until the 1950s. As more people moved westward in the late 1800s, not only did their population growth increase, but the share of the urban population also rose, with an urban majority established in both the West and Midwest regions in the 1910s. The West would eventually become the most urbanized region in the 1960s, and over 90 percent of the West's population is urbanized today. Urbanization today New York City is the most populous city in the United States, with a population of 8.3 million, while California has the largest urban population of any state. California also has the highest urbanization rate, although the District of Columbia is considered 100 percent urban. Only four U.S. states still have a rural majority, these are Maine, Mississippi, Montana, and West Virginia.

Personal willingness to engage in political violence, by type of violence and study group.

Abstract

The authors combine data from 84 Demographic and Health Surveys from 46 countries to analyze trends and socioeconomic differences in adult mortality, calculating mortality based on the sibling mortality reports collected from female respondents aged 15-49.

The analysis yields four main findings. First, adult mortality is different from child mortality: while under-5 mortality shows a definite improving trend over time, adult mortality does not, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The second main finding is the increase in adult mortality in Sub-Saharan African countries. The increase is dramatic among those most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Mortality rates in the highest HIV-prevalence countries of southern Africa exceed those in countries that experienced episodes of civil war. Third, even in Sub-Saharan countries where HIV-prevalence is not as high, mortality rates appear to be at best stagnating, and even increasing in several cases. Finally, the main socioeconomic dimension along which mortality appears to differ in the aggregate is gender. Adult mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa have risen substantially higher for men than for women?especially so in the high HIV-prevalence countries. On the whole, the data do not show large gaps by urban/rural residence or by school attainment.

This paper is a product of the Human Development and Public Services Team, Development Research Group. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://econ.worldbank.org.

Geographic coverage

We derive estimates of adult mortality from an analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 46 countries, 33 of which are from Sub-Saharan Africa and 13 of which are from countries in other regions (Annex Table). Several of the countries have been surveyed more than once and we base our estimates on the total of 84 surveys that have been carried out (59 in Sub-Saharan Africa, 25 elsewhere).

The countries covered by DHS in Sub-Saharan Africa represent almost 90 percent of the region's population. Outside of Sub-Saharan Africa the DHS surveys we use cover a far smaller share of the population-even if this is restricted to countries whose GDP per capita never exceeds $10,000: overall about 14 percent of the population is covered by these countries, although this increases to 29 percent if China and India are excluded (countries for which we cannot calculate adult mortality using the DHS). It is therefore important to keep in mind that the sample of non-Sub-Saharan African countries we have cannot be thought of as "representative" of the rest of the world, or even the rest of the developing world.

Analysis unit

Country

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Cleaning operations

In the course of carrying out this study, the authors created two databases of adult mortality estimates based on the original DHS datasets, both of which are publicly available for analysts who wish to carry out their own analysis of the data.

The naming conventions for the adult mortality-related are as follows. Variables are named:

GGG_MC_AAAA

GGG refers to the population subgroup. The values it can take, and the corresponding definitions are in the following table:

All - All Fem - Female Mal - Male Rur - Rural Urb - Urban Rurm - Rural/Male Urbm - Urban/Male Rurf - Rural/Female Urbf - Urban/Female Noed - No education Pri - Some or completed primary only Sec - At least some secondary education Noedm - No education/Male Prim - Some or completed primary only/Male Secm - At least some secondary education/Male Noedf - No education/Female Prif - Some or completed primary only/Female Secf - At least some secondary education/Female Rch - Rural as child Uch - Urban as child Rchm - Rural as child/Male Uchm - Urban as child/Male Rchf - Rural as child/Female Uchf - Urban as child/Female Edltp - Less than primary schooling Edpom - Primary or more schooling Edltpm - Less than primary schooling/Male Edpomm - Primary or more schooling/Male Edltpf - Less than primary schooling/Female Edpomf - Primary or more schooling/Female Edltpu - Less than primary schooling/Urban Edpomu - Primary or more schooling/Urban Edltpr - Less than primary schooling/Rural Edpomr - Primary or more schooling/Rural Edltpmu - Less than primary schooling/Male/Urban Edpommu - Primary or more schooling/Male/Urban Edltpmr - Less than primary schooling/Male/Rural Edpommr - Primary or more schooling/Male/Rural Edltpfu - Less than primary schooling/Female/Urban Edpomfu - Primary or more schooling/Female/Urban Edltpfr - Less than primary schooling/Female/Rural Edpomfr - Primary or more schooling/Female/Rural

M refers to whether the variable is the number of observations used to calculate the estimate (in which case M takes on the value "n") or whether it is a mortality estimate (in which case M takes on the value "m").

C refers to whether the variable is for the unadjusted mortality rate calculation (in which case C takes on the value "u") or whether it adjusts for the number of surviving female siblings (in which case C takes on the value "a").

AAAA refers to the age group that the mortality estimate is calculated for. It takes on the values: 1554 - Ages 15-54 1524 - Ages 15-24 2534 - Ages 25-34 3544 - Ages 35-44 4554 - Ages 45-54

Other variables that are in the databases are:

period - Period for which mortality rate is calculated (takes on the values 1975-79, 1980-84 … 2000-04) svycountry - Name of country for DHS countries ccode3 - Country code u5mr - Under-5 mortality (from World Development Indicators) cname - Country name gdppc - GDP per capita (constant 2000 US$) (from World Development Indicators) gdppcppp - GDP per capita PPP (constant 2005 intl $) (from World Development Indicators) pop - Population (from World Development Indicators) hivprev2001 - HIV prevalence in 2001 (from UNAIDS 2010) region - Region

Future likelihood of firearm possession and use in a situation where political violence is perceived as justified, by study group.

We present a comprehensive assessment of genomic diversity in the African-American population by studying three genotyped cohorts comprising 3,726 African-Americans from across the United States that provide a representative description of the population across all US states and socioeconomic status. An estimated 82.1% of ancestors to African-Americans lived in Africa prior to the advent of transatlantic travel, 16.7% in Europe, and 1.2% in the Americas, with increased African ancestry in the southern United States compared to the North and West. Combining demographic models of ancestry and those of relatedness suggests that admixture occurred predominantly in the South prior to the Civil War and that ancestry-biased migration is responsible for regional differences in ancestry. We find that recent migrations also caused a strong increase in genetic relatedness among geographically distant African-Americans. Long-range relatedness among African-Americans and between African-Americans and European-Americans thus track north- and west-bound migration routes followed during the Great Migration of the twentieth century. By contrast, short-range relatedness patterns suggest comparable mobility of ∼15–16km per generation for African-Americans and European-Americans, as estimated using a novel analytical model of isolation-by-distance.

Estimates for the total death count of the Second World War generally range somewhere between 70 and 85 million people. The Soviet Union suffered the highest number of fatalities of any single nation, with estimates mostly falling between 22 and 27 million deaths. China then suffered the second greatest, at around 20 million, although these figures are less certain and often overlap with the Chinese Civil War. Over 80 percent of all deaths were of those from Allied countries, and the majority of these were civilians. In contrast, 15 to 20 percent were among the Axis powers, and the majority of these were military deaths, as shown in the death ratios of Germany and Japan. Civilian deaths and atrocities It is believed that 60 to 67 percent of all deaths were civilian fatalities, largely resulting from war-related famine or disease, and war crimes or atrocities. Systematic genocide, extermination campaigns, and forced labor, particularly by the Germans, Japanese, and Soviets, led to the deaths of millions. In this regard, Nazi activities alone resulted in 17 million deaths, including six million Jews in what is now known as The Holocaust. Not only was the scale of the conflict larger than any that had come before, but the nature of and reasoning behind this loss make the Second World War stand out as one of the most devastating and cruelest conflicts in history. Problems with these statistics Although the war is considered by many to be the defining event of the 20th century, exact figures for death tolls have proven impossible to determine, for a variety of reasons. Countries such as the U.S. have fairly consistent estimates due to preserved military records and comparatively few civilian casualties, although figures still vary by source. For most of Europe, records are less accurate. Border fluctuations and the upheaval of the interwar period mean that pre-war records were already poor or non-existent for many regions. The rapid and chaotic nature of the war then meant that deaths could not be accurately recorded at the time, and mass displacement or forced relocation resulted in the deaths of many civilians outside of their homeland, which makes country-specific figures more difficult to find. Early estimates of the war’s fatalities were also taken at face value and formed the basis of many historical works; these were often very inaccurate, but the validity of the source means that the figures continue to be cited today, despite contrary evidence.

In comparison to Europe, estimate ranges are often greater across Asia, where populations were larger but pre-war data was in short supply. Many of the Asian countries with high death tolls were European colonies, and the actions of authorities in the metropoles, such as the diversion of resources from Asia to Europe, led to millions of deaths through famine and disease. Additionally, over one million African soldiers were drafted into Europe’s armies during the war, yet individual statistics are unavailable for most of these colonies or successor states (notably Algeria and Libya). Thousands of Asian and African military deaths went unrecorded or are included with European or Japanese figures, and there are no reliable figures for deaths of millions from countries across North Africa or East Asia. Additionally, many concentration camp records were destroyed, and such records in Africa and Asia were even sparser than in Europe. While the Second World War is one of the most studied academic topics of the past century, it is unlikely that we will ever have a clear number for the lives lost in the conflict.