At the beginning of the 20th century it had an area of 32,308 square miles (83,680 km2), while the preliminary results of the first Ottoman census of 1885 (published in 1908) gave the population as 996,126.[5] The accuracy of the population figures ranges from "approximate" to "merely conjectural" depending on the region from which they were gathered.[5]
History
For the early history of the area, see Rûm Eyalet.
The Vilayet of Sivas was created in 1867[6] when eyalets were replaced with vilayets under the "Vilayet Law" (Turkish: Teşkil-i Vilayet Nizamnamesi)[7] and was dissolved in 1922 by Atatürk's reorganization.[citation needed]
From 1913 to 1916, Ahmed Muammer was the Vali (governor) of the vilayet, and he has been accused of being complicit in actions against the Armenian population.[8]
^http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003514334Salname-yi Vilâyet-i Sivas ("Yearbook of the Vilayet of Sivas"), Sivas vilâyet matbaası, Sivas, 1293 [1876]. in the website of Hathi Trust Digital Library.
^Kaligian, Dikran Mesrob (2011) Armenian Organization and Ideology Under Ottoman Rule, 1908–1914 (revised edition) Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey, page 152, ISBN978-1-4128-4245-7
^ abKeane, A.H. (1909) Asia (2nd edition) E. Stanford, London, volume 1, page 459, OCLC22417637
^(1897) Devlet-i Aliyye-i Osmaniyye’nin Bin Üçyüz Onüç Senesine Mahsus İstatistik-i Umumîsi, Istanbul(First statistical yearbook for the Ottoman Empire, republished in 1997 as Osmanlı Devleti'nin ilk istatistik yıllığı, 1897 T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet İstatistik Enstitüsü, Ankara, ISBN978-975-19-1793-5
^Kapucu, Naim and Palabiyik, Hamit (2008) Turkish Public Administration: From Tradition to the Modern Age International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), Ankara, page 164, ISBN978-605-4030-01-9