Female labor in the Kazan Governorate in the late 19th century (based on the 1897 First General Census of the Population)

The research aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the employment of the female population in the Kazan Governorate at the end of the 19th century. The scientific novelty of the study lies in being the first to utilize the 1897 General Census to demonstrate the distribution of women with independent occupations across professional categories within the Kazan Governorate and to identify their primary spheres of employment. The article presents statistical data based on several criteria that influenced women’s employment, including literacy, rural or urban residency, and age. In addition, the occupational groups in which women were involved in 1897 are examined. The study identifies the socio-economic sectors of the governorate where female labor was actively utilized, highlighting both traditional industries and new sectors that emerged as a result of modernization during the second half of the 19th century. The findings reveal that by the late 1890s, only a small fraction of women were engaged in professional careers, while the majority of the female population was involved in unskilled labor. Since the Kazan Governorate was primarily agrarian, agriculture served as the main source of income for half of all self-employed women.