- By the Imperial census of 1897. In bold are languages spoken by more people than the state language.
| Language | Number | percentage (%) | males | females |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainian | 2 009 411 | 80.62 | 1 004 372 | 1 005 039 |
| Russian | 440 936 | 17.69 | 225 803 | 215 133 |
| Yiddish | 12 650 | 0.5 | 7 007 | 5 643 |
| Belarusian | 10 258 | 0.41 | 4 936 | 5 322 |
| German | 9 080 | 0.36 | 4 504 | 4 576 |
| Polish | 5 910 | 0.23 | 4 056 | 1 854 |
| Tatar | 1 358 | >0.1 | 1 221 | 137 |
| Persons that didn't name their native language |
44 | >0.01 | 23 | 21 |
| Other | 2 669 | 0.1 | 1 700 | 969 |
| Total | 2 492 316 | 100 | 1 253 759 | 1 238 557 |
Read more about this topic: Kharkov Governorate
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