AbstractThe 1897 census: the limits of imperial control and the representation of nationalities.The study of the first and only Russian imperial census, in 1897, sheds light on twinned aspects of the national question in the late imperial period: the resistance of some non Russian people to the process of state centralization and the difficult establishment of a novel representation of the empire premised in its multinational character. The census sparked a series of revolts, especially in the Volga regions and the Western provinces. Their scale reveals the intensity of social, religious and political mobilization in non Russian communities at the end of the nineteenth century. Among the issues at stake in these troubles were: rejection of state proselytism of Orthodoxy; fear of “modernity” as embodied in Russian schools; and concerns about weakening local identities. The insurgents, whether spontaneous or under the influence of nationalist networks, hoped to open a dialogue with the state and to redefine their position within the imperial hierarchy. In the end, the successful completion of the census produced a universal and new statistical representation of the country that acknowledged its multinational character, charting an empire composed of more than 130 nationalities. Cast in doubt by the authorities, but certified by science, the list of national groups made it possible for each named group to prove that they existed and to demand some recognition of their rights.