Please read the following table in HTML format from a webpage and then answer the question in detail according to the table. Each table cell is defined by a <td> and a </td> tag. Each table row starts with a <tr> and ends with a </tr> tag. 'rowspan=m' and 'colspan=n' represents a cell spaning over 'm' rows and 'n' columns.

Webpage title:
Semirechye Oblast
Table title:
Ethnic groups in 1897
Table:
<table id='hittask' contenteditable='False'>
<tr> <th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > TOTAL </th><th class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 987,863 </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 100% </th></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Kazakhs </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 794,815 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 80,5% </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Russians </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 76,839 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 7,8% </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Taranchi </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 55,999 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 6,2% </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Sart </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 14,895 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1,5% </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Chinese </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 14.130 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1,4% </td></tr>
</table>
Question:
How many people populated the oblast as of 1897?
Answer:
As of 1897, 987,863 people populated the oblast.