Literacy of the Population of the Ural at the End of the 19th — First Quarter of the 20th Century (on the Materials of the Ekaterinburgsky Uyezd of the Perm Governorate and the Sverdlovsky Okrug of the Ural Oblast)

Abstract

In Russia in the late 19th — early 20th century, there was an acute issue of increasing the literacy rate of the population, leading to the development of state measures to improve it. In various regions, the situation with increasing the literacy rate developed in different ways, including in the Ural region. When comparing literacy rates over time, it is necessary to take into account changes in administrative boundaries. The Sverdlovsky okrug as a part of the Ural oblast in 1926 was territorially larger than the Ekaterinburgsky uyezd of the Perm governorate in 1897; it included parts of the Krasnoufimsky and Irbitsky uyezds. Therefore, in this study, the literacy rate of the population was calculated for the three indicated uyezds simultaneously, and the results were compared with the indicators of the Sverdlovsky okrug. Research findings revealed a substantial growth in the literacy of the population. The literacy rate has increased more significantly among the rural population than among the urban population, and among women than among men. However, the literacy gap between them still persisted.