I 1785 bestod befolkningen på Krim-halvøen af ca. 85% etniske krimtatarer og knap 5% russere.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=O'Neill|first=Kelly Ann|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1007823334|title=Claiming Crimea : a history of Catherine the Great's southern empire|date=2017|isbn=978-0-300-23150-2|location=New Haven|pages=30|oclc=1007823334}}</ref> Særligt begyndende fra midten af 1800-tallet startede denne befolkningssammensætning for alvor at ændre sig. I 1897 boede der således blot ca. 35% krimtatarer, 33% etniske russere og knap 12% etniske ukrainere.<ref>These numbers exclude the population numbers for Berdyansky, Dneprovsky and Melitopolsky Uyezds, which were on mainland. See the [[Taurida Governorate#Administrative divisions|administrative divisions of the Taurida Governorate]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The First General Census of the Russian Empire of 1897 - Taurida Governorate|url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97_uezd_eng.php?reg=1420|website=demoscope.ru|publisher=Демоскоп|access-date=18. juni 2014}}</ref>
Historie