Map Comparing the Jewish Population in New York City

Samuel Margoshes, 1887–1968

Map Showing Comparison Between the Jewish Population of New York City and That of the Countries of Western Europe, South America, Canada and Palestine

New York: Jewish Community of New York City, ca. 1918

This map may not look very glamorous, but it is full of curious details that attest to the size of the Jewish community in New York at the beginning of the 20th century.

New York City is now the epicenter of the largest and most diverse Jewish community outside of Israel—and it has been for decades. The Jewish population of New York City grew from 80,000 in 1880 to 1.5 million in 1918. It was due to a huge wave of emigration from Eastern Europe that brought more than 2.5 million Jews to the U.S. Most of them settled in New York City.

This map from the Jewish Communal Register includes a graphic demonstrating that New York’s Jewish population in 1918 was larger than that of many Western European and South American countries, Canada, and Palestine combined. For example, by looking at the map, you can see that the entire Jewish population of Germany in 1918 could comfortably fit into the borders of the borough of Brooklyn, and that the number is comparable to the local Jewish population of Brooklyn. Similarly, the Jewish communities of Great Britain and Palestine together could fit into the Lower East Side, and the Bronx would accommodate all the Jews in South America and Canada at that time.