Abstract: The authors assess how 1897 Census papers stored in Russian and foreign archives are represented and preserved. The study of primary data document collections leads to a conclusion that the term “census papers” is heterogeneous and includes several different forms used depending on a type of household and region as well as first, second and third copies of census forms. A peculiar feature of the article is the presentation of conclusions in the form of cartograms based on modern and historical maps. The study has used source studies analysis and spatial analysis as well as a complex approach treating census papers as a unified historical source irrespective of their storage place. The research novelty is identification and introduction of a complex of nominative 1897 Census data. In addition, the authors propose an original approach that takes into account both the number of areas populated and the number of census papers preserved in them which allowed them to assess the degree of preservation of census materials in Russian Empire uezds. The article concludes that census papers with different preservation state have been identified for 47 % of guberniyas and 25.5% of uezds. Census paper collections cover regions of European Russia and Siberia, partly those of the Caucasus and Central Asia. The volume of census paper data preserved and their "territorial spread" allows one to consider them a complex source on the history of the Russian Empire population at the turn of the 19th century. .