구한말 호적에 나타난 성별․연령별 인구 구조의 특징

Abstract

This thesis compares and examines the gender ratio and age composition of residents in 50 areas nationwide during the late Chosun period based on family register arranged from 1896 to 1908. The subjects analysed in this study were 35,166 households including 133,741 residents. Examining the gender ratio of residents registered in the family registers, the overall average ratio was 119 males to 100 females. Among the 50 surveyed areas, 35 exceeded the ratio of 120 males to 100 females. The area with the highest gender ratio was Janggi-gun in Gyeongsangbukdo region showing a gender ratio of 179 males to 100 females, and the area with the lowest gender ratio was Sangju-gun in Gyeongsangbukdo region showing a gender ratio of 91 males to 100 females. The areas showing high gender ratio were the coastal and insular areas such as Geoje, Yeongil and Gando, and areas outside the border line. The areas showing low gender ratio included those nearby Seoul such as Hanseongbu, Incheon, Gimpo, and Gaeseong, and areas where provincial offices or army barracks were located such as Gwangju, Bukcheong, etc. In general, the areas close to the central powers near Seoul showed gender ratios close to the natural gender ratio, whereas areas located further away from Seoul tend to show unnatural gender ratio. Next, examining the age structure of residents registered in the family registers, age omission accounted for 14.3% of all registered residents. The rate of age omission cases among registered males was 7.3%, while the rate of age omission among registered females was 22.4%. In other words, the population of registered males was higher than the population of registered females by 19%, but the rate of registered females without age indication was three times higher than that of registered males. In terms of the age structure, a natural population distribution was found for the age group in their late 40s. However, age groups from the early 40s and below were under-registered. Age group under 15-years-old especially showed severe omission. Age groups showing normal population structure were those between 15 and 19, 20 and 24, and 65 and 69. In addition to under-registration of female population and youth and children population, the family registers from 1896 to 1908 showed considerable omission in household members. The average number of members per household was found to be 3.89, which is 1.35 fewer than the average number of members per household of 5.24 presented by a reliable survey conducted in 1925. The representative areas showing high omission rate were Jeollado province and Gando region. Gando was one of the areas where the administrative power of the government was not fully enforced, and Jeollado province was still under the aftermath of the peasant uprising in 1894. Thus, areas that are more distant from the influence of the central government showed poorer census registration.