EMIGRATION FROM THE ZAGREB COUNTY FROM 1880 TILL 1918 IN THE CONTEXT OF SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC SOURCES

Prekomorsko iseljavanje stanovništva iz Zagrebačke županije započelo je 1880-ih ponajprije kao posljedica teških gospodarskih prilika. Nemogućnost točnog statističkog praćenja iseljavanja odrazila se na korištenje često (međusobno) različitih statističkih izvora, a jedna od posljedica toga je prisutnost znatnih razlika u literaturi vezanih uz procjene broja iseljenika. Kako bi se razumio proces i opseg iseljavanja stanovništva Zagrebačke županije u radu su analizom obuhvaćeni objavljeni statistički izvori u Statističkim godišnjacima, Izvješćima i popisima stanovništva od 1880. do 1910., te neobjavljeni statistički izvori iz Hrvatskog državnog arhiva.Emigration from the Zagreb County began in the 1880s, primarily as a result of serious economic conditions. Croatian authorities slowly reacted in respect to this phenomenon, and one of the reactions was establishing the Statistical Office in Zagreb at the end of the 19th century with the task to statistically analyze and monitor the extent of that emigration. The impossibility to carry out accurate statistical analyses and monitoring of the impact of emigration from the Zagreb County in the said period resulted in significant differences as to estimated numbers of emigrants given in the related literature. In order to understand the process and the extent of emigration from the Zagreb County, this paper gives an analysis based on published statistical sources, Statistical Yearbooks, Reports of the Zagreb County published censuses dating from 1880 till 1910, and unpublished statistical sources from the Croatian State Archives. The analysis indicated that most of the population emigrated from the southern and south-eastern parts of the Zagreb County, such as the districts of Karlovac, Jastrebarsko, and Glina. At the same time, the lowest number of emigrants came from the northern districts, such as Sv. Ivan Zelina, Zagreb, Stubica, and Dugo Selo. Those were mostly younger men, mainly engaged in primary production, i.e. agriculture. Almost all overseas emigrants from the Zagreb County emigrated to the United States and Canada, and only a small number of them emigrated to the South American and overseas countries