DOI: 10.3886/icpsr32404
title: Historical Demographic Data of Southeastern Europe: Orasac, 1824-1975
title: Archival Version

description: The data in the Historical Demographic Data of Southeastern Europe series derive primarily from the ethnographic and archival research of Joel M. Halpern, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in southeastern Europe from 1953 to 2006. The series is comprised of historical demographic data from several towns and villages in the countries of Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, all of which are former constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The data provide insight into the shift from agricultural to industrial production, as well as the more general processes of urbanization occurring in the last days of the Yugoslav state. With an expansive timeframe ranging from 1818 to 2006, the series also contains a wide cross-section of demographic data types. These include, but are not limited to, population censuses, tax records, agricultural and landholding data, birth records, death records, marriage and engagement records, and migration information. This component of the series focuses exclusively on the Serbian village of Orasac and is composed of 64 datasets. These data record a variety of demographic and economic information between the years of 1824 and 1975. General population information at the individual level is available in official census records from 1863, 1884, 1948, 1953, and 1961, and from population register records for the years of 1928, 1966, and 1975. Census data at the household level is also available for the years of 1863, 1928, 1948, 1953, and 1961. These data are followed by detailed records of engagement and marriage. Many of these data were obtained through the courtesy of village and county officials. Priest book records from 1851 through 1966, as well as death records from 1863 to 1976 and tombstone records from 1975, are also available. Information regarding migrants and emigrants was obtained from the village council for the years of 1946 through 1975. Lastly, the data provide economic and financial information, including records of individual landholdings (for the years of 1863, 1952, 1966, and 1975), records of government taxation at the individual or household level (for 1813 through 1840, as well as for 1952), and livestock censuses (at both the individual and household level for the years of 1824 and 1825, and only at the individual level for the years of 1833 and 1834).
description: The demographic data collected from the Serbian village of Orasac serve as a micro-study to explore how changes in this village relate to the larger processes of social change occurring in southeast Europe from the early 19th century through the mid 20th century.
description: The data in this study were collected between 1953 and 1990 through extensive ethnographic and archival fieldwork conducted by Joel M. Halpern.
description: Population census data contain variables that record basic demographic information. These include the respondent's relationship to the head of his or her household, sex, date of birth, marital status, occupation, levels of education and literacy, and original place of birth. Birth, death, marriage, and migration data contain variables that record the date of the corresponding event, as well as relevant demographic information similar in scope to the census data. Migration data include place of origin and year of arrival to Orasac. Some landholdings data from the nineteenth century include variables that record ownership in hectares and acres of different types of land, such as fields, meadows, and vineyards. Other data do not disaggregate the type of landholdings and instead record longitudinal changes in individual land ownership over time. All landholdings data include basic demographic information (such as relationship to household head), as well as government tax assessments of total individual landholdings. Tax data measure the level at which an individual is liable for taxation, in other words, whether an individual is taxable, not taxable, or half taxable. The 1952 tax census offers more detailed information about specific monetary amounts owed as tax, as well as demographic information about the number of dependents in a household and the number of people fit to work. Livestock census data from the nineteenth century record the number of specific types of livestock per household as well as the amount of tax levied on these livestock. Finally, the crop tax census and wine tax record provide information on the degree of taxation levied on these agricultural commodities.
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Created variable labels and/or value labels.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes..
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS0: Study-Level Files 
 DS1: Census, 1863 
 DS2: Census, 1884 
 DS3: Census, 1948 
 DS4: Census, 1953 
 DS5: Census, 1961 (Version A) 
 DS6: Census, 1961 (Version B) 
 DS7: Citizenship Book, Card 1, 1966 
 DS8: Citizenship Book, Card 2, 1966 
 DS9: Registrar Records, 1953-1954 
 DS10: Census Data by Household, 1863 
 DS11: Census Data by Household, 1928 
 DS12: Census Data by Household, 1948 
 DS13: Census Data by Household, 1953 
 DS14: Census Data by Household, 1961 
 DS15: Birth Records, 1863-1900 
 DS16: Birth Records with Kum, 1863-1975 
 DS17: Child and Parent Names, 1874-1975 
 DS18: Death Records, 1863-1900 
 DS19: Death Records, 1863-1976 
 DS20: Death Records, 1966 
 DS21: Cemetery/Tombstone Records, 1975 
 DS22: Childhood Deaths, 1863-1975 
 DS23: Marriage Records, 1870-1900 
 DS24: Marriage Records, 1870-1975 (Version A) 
 DS25: Marriage Records, 1870-1975 (Version B) 
 DS26: Age at Marriage, 1878-1978 
 DS27: Engagements, 1907-1975 
 DS28: Priest Book's Records, 1851-1966 
 DS29: Demographic Abstract from 1863 Census 
 DS30: Pensioners, 1952 
 DS31: Migrants, 1946-1975 
 DS32: Emigrants, 1946-1975 
 DS33: Household Heads, 1946 
 DS34: Household Listing, 1952 
 DS35: Landholdings, 1863 
 DS36: Landholdings, 1952 
 DS37: Landholdings, 1966 
 DS38: Landholdings, 1975 
 DS39: Tax Data, 1830 
 DS40: Tax Data, 1830-1831 
 DS41: Tax Data, 1831 (Version B) 
 DS42: Head Tax, 1831, Extended 
 DS43: Tax Data, 1832-1833 
 DS44: Head Tax, 1833, Extended 
 DS45: Tax Data, 1836 
 DS46: Tax Data, 1837 
 DS47: Tax Data, 1839 
 DS48: Head Tax, 1830-1840 Household Data 
 DS49: Head Tax, 1830-1840 Individual Data 
 DS50: Tax Census, 1952 
 DS51: Income List, 1966 
 DS52: Livestock Census, 1824, Extended 
 DS53: Livestock Census, 1825, Extended 
 DS54: Livestock Census, 1833, Extended 
 DS55: Livestock Census, 1834, Extended 
 DS56: Livestock Census Data by Household, 1824 
 DS57: Livestock Census Data by Household, 1825 
 DS58: Crop Tax, circa 1948-1953 
 DS59: Wine Tax, 1952 
 DS60: Agricultural Census, 1960 
 DS61: Population Register, 1928 
 DS62: Population Register, 1966, Card 1 
 DS63: Population Register, 1966, Card 2 
 DS64: Population Register, 1975
description: record abstracts, coded on-site observation 
These data were collected over a period of about forty years through the ethnographic and archival field work of Joel M. Halpern in Southeastern Europe. Many datasets were compiled from Serbian state archives or through the courtesy of local officials in Orasac. Some of these data were collected and recorded by hand. These data have since been digitized and processed; nevertheless, some variables in some datasets contain miscodes, out of range values, missing value labels, and various other artifacts of the digitization process. ICPSR has worked to address these issues and record them in processing notes included in the ICPSR codebooks for each part.
Users should be aware that these data are but a component of the Historical Demographic Data of Southeastern Europe series. The other parts of the collection will be processed and released in the future.
Users should be aware that, in addition to the funding agencies included in the "Grants" section of this study description, Dr. Halpern's research in Southeastern Europe has also been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (1968-1970), the American Council of Learned Societies (1972; 1984), the Center for a Voluntary Society (1974), and the American Philosophical Society (1978).
Users should note that some parts of this data collection are restricted from general dissemination; for more information, please consult the Restrictions Note.
description: All residents in the Serbian village of Orasac between the years of 1824 and 1975. Smallest Geographic Unit: village