Prior to Czar Alexander II of Russia granting them their freedom, how
many serfs were there in Russia?  I'm looking for a population
estimate.  An estimate of the total Russian population in this time
period (1861) would also be helpful.

Dear Syrith, 

The meaning of the word "serf" is soul, since these people were
"souls" counted for tax and estate purposes by the Czarist regime.

There are several estimates to this number, as demography was not a
highly developed science those days and these estimations are partly
based on projections on the past from our current knowledge on
population.

As you said, one of the most significant of Alexander the Great's
reforms, was the emancipation of serfs. By the time of the
emancipation, the serfs amounted (according to this site:
http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/fn9015/1800Russ.html) 45%
of the population, and in numbers: 52 millions.


Acording to the book "An Economic History of Russia", by James Mavor
(p.418), (qouted at this site -
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/czar3.htm),
the unfree population of Russia in the mid 18th century amounted to
7/9 (78%) and the number reduced throuout the years. 40% of these
serfs were owned by the government. In 1859 it is estimated as 54% of
the population.

Other Sources: 
http://www.rispubs.com/article.cfm?Number=161 - the emancipation of
serfs.
anazon link to Mavor book: 

My search terms:
number serfs russia 

I hope that helped. Feel free to contact me with any other questions.

---

Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 16 Jun 2002 04:56 PDT

I forgot to add that according to such estimation (25 million serfs)
Russian population was about 116 million.

Hope that helps, too.

Precise, explanatory, and answered my question fully.  Even cites
different estimates, rather than using only the first one encountered!
 Thank you so much for your help.