# The number of victims of the Stalinist Gulag and purges

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-number-of-victims-of-the-stalinist-gulag-and-purges/674660>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 24, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-number-of-victims-of-the-stalinist-gulag-and-purges/674660 "2013-11-24T03:49:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-number-of-victims-of-the-stalinist-gulag-and-purges/674660/1 "2013-11-24T03:49:00Z")

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From the 1930s to 1953 (Stalin’s death), what number and percentage of USSR residents were imprisoned in the Gulag or forced labor colonies?

What number and percentage of USSR residents were arrested or killed by the NKVD or similar agencies?

I am here excluding non-USSR POWs.

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**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-number-of-victims-of-the-stalinist-gulag-and-purges/674660/2 "2013-11-25T15:21:30Z")

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Here is a [chart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gulag_Prisoner_Stats_1934-1953.PNG)detailing the number of people in the gulags from 1934 to 1953. In 1953, which was the year the greatest numbers were imprisoned, the total number was 1.72 million. That was .95% of the total population of the USSR.