Organization and history of church registration of the population of Russia in the XVIII - first half of the XIX centuries

The article deals with the main stages of development and formation of the Church accounting of the population of the Russian Empire in the XVIII - first half of the XIX centuries. The order of organization and methods of registration of Church records in the form of clerical statements, metrical books: clerical and Consistorial, annual statements about the population of parishes (“extracts”), Church books of the Holy Synod are considered. The article considers the role of Church accounting in the organization of accounting for the entire population of the Russian Empire.