Racial diversity in Skyrim

[imaginepageant]

To satisfy my own curiosity, I just counted up the number of people of each race that lived in each major city in Skyrim. The results were pretty unexpected, so I thought I'd share them.

First, let's look at the population of each major city. (The population includes only named citizens living in the cities at the beginning of the game.)


WHITERUN: 74
(65% Nord, 35% non-Nord)

Nord: 48 (65%)
Imperial: 9 (12%)
Redguard: 7 (9%)
Breton: 3 (4%)
Altmer: 0 (0%)
Dunmer: 4 (5%)
Bosmer: 3 (4%)
Orc: 0 (0%)
Argonian: 0
Khajiit: 0 (0%)


WINDHELM: 58
(55% Nord, 45% non-Nord)

Nord: 32 (55%)
Imperial: 7 (12%)
Redguard: 0 (0%)
Breton: 1 (1%)
Altmer: 4 (7%)
Dunmer: 10 (17%)
Bosmer: 0 (0%)
Orc: 0 (0%)
Argonian: 4 (7%)
Khajiit: 0 (0%)


SOLITUDE: 82
(50% Nord, 50% non-Nord)

Nord: 41 (50%)
Imperial: 16 (20%)
Redguard: 6 (7%)
Breton: 10 (12%)
Altmer: 4 (5%)
Dunmer: 0 (0%)
Bosmer: 1 (1%)
Orc: 1 (1%)
Argonian: 3 (4%)
Khajiit: 0 (0%)


MARKARTH: 80
(27% Nord, 73% non-Nord)

Nord: 22 (27%)
Imperial: 7 (9%)
Redguard: 5 (6%)
Breton: 37 (46%)
Altmer: 3 (4%)
Dunmer: 0 (0%)
Bosmer: 0 (0%)
Orc: 6 (7%)
Argonian: 0 (0%)
Khajiit: 0 (0%)


RIFTEN: 87
(52% Nord, 48% non-Nord)

Nord: 45 (52%)
Imperial: 12 (14%)
Redguard: 3 (3%)
Breton: 6 (7%)
Altmer: 0 (0%)
Dunmer: 9 (10%)
Bosmer: 7 (8%)
Orc: 0 (0%)
Argonian: 5 (6%)
Khajiit: 0 (0%)


Now let's look at some interesting statistics:

Highest % Nord: Whiterun
Highest % Non-Nord: Markarth

I had always thought of Whiterun as a racially diverse city, since it's in the center of Skyrim and is more or less the trading hub of the province; I was surprised to see that it actually has the highest percentage of Nords of all the cities.

Markarth has the lowest percentage of Nords, but this is mainly owed to the high percentage of Bretons in the city. The most racially diverse city is actually Riften, with the most even distribution of citizens per race.

Windhelm, Solitude, and Riften are all fairly close in terms of ratio of Nords to non-Nords, and all are split fairly evenly down the middle, ranging from 50% to 55% Nord.

Now, what about the other races?

Highest % Imperial: Solitude
Highest % Redguard: Whiterun
Highest % Breton: Markarth
Highest % Altmer: Windhelm
Highest % Dunmer: Windhelm
Highest % Bosmer: Riften
Highest % Orc: Markarth
Highest % Argonian: Windhelm
Highest % Khajiit: N/A

Oddly enough, Windhelm, run by the supposedly racist Ulfric Stormcloak, has the highest percentage of Altmer, Dunmer, and Argonian (though the Argonians actually live outside the city walls, they are still considered residents by UESP). Furthermore, no other city can boast the highest percentages of three different races. Just how intolerant can Ulfric Stormcloak truly be, considering these statistics?

Any other thoughts?

 

[perkecet]

this is all very interesting. surprising as well. ever notice in windhelm the owner of the white phial says "may the EIGHT guide you". eight? what about talos? better not let your jarl hear you say that.

 

[imaginepageant]

this is all very interesting. surprising as well. ever notice in windhelm the owner of the white phial says "may the EIGHT guide you". eight? what about talos? better not let your jarl hear you say that.

That makes sense, since Nurelion is an Altmer, and Altmer belief holds that Talos is not a god.

Actually, this makes an interesting point of defense for Ulfric. All interaction I've had with Nurelion gives me the impression that he's a gruff and outspoken old man, and the reference to the Eight he makes to the Dragonborn implies that he's open about his belief in the Eight versus the Nine. Yet he has still been allowed to live in Windhelm for many years. You'd think he would've been thrown out long ago, if Ulfric was really as intolerant as everyone makes him out to be.

 

[Morgan]

Interesting, especially the revelation that Windhelm has so many high elves.

I still think of Whiterun as the most diverse though. It has a fairly mixed population, especially of the human races, WITHOUT an external factor. Amren and his family live in the same district as all the other townfolk, and we see him striding confidently through every part of the city, even advising the Jarl on tactics (he can sometimes be found leaning over that map behind the throne). Belethor's "a sleazy little man," but that's a personal indictment, not a racial one. Whiterun may not have the highest percentages of non-nords, but the ones it has are the most thoroughly integrated into the city life. The other cities have circumstances that boost the numbers of certain races but not necessarily integrating them into the city life.

Solitude and Riften both have industries revolving around water, so Argonians are drawn there. In Solitude they live apart in their own area by the docks. Windhelm is near the border of a destroyed land, and although it gets lots of refugees, it doesn't mean they are welcome or integrated. They live apart in the Grey Quarter and the dunmer who live there are treated very harshly (as developed in your introduction to the city). Markarth is smack in the middle of orc territory, so finding more orcs there is unsurprising, although they do seem to have high status and not be segregated in neighborhood (although they are in industry...)

Another notable example of diversity is the smith family in Morthal. Rustleif and Seren have a half-nord half-redguard child on the way (although she never gets bigger and the child's never born, even if you come back by after many months! See Imponderables Other than these two, and the Imperial/Nord/Bosmer triangle you resolve in Riverwood, are there any other mix-race pairings in the game?

 

[MushroomGenius]

This is all pretty interesting, thanks for doing the work to gather all the info from the wiki!

I was curious how Winterhold rated, so I went ahead and pulled that up:

Winterhold: 31
(42% Nord, 58% non-Nord)

Nord: 13 (42%) - Counted "Elder" Tolfdir as a Nord.
Imperial: 1 (3%)
Redguard: 0 (0%)
Breton: 5 (16%)
Altmer: 4 (13%)
Dunmer: 5 (16%)
Bosmer: 1 (3%)
Orc: 1 (3%)
Argonian: 0 (0%)
Khajiit: 1 (3%)

Obviously, if you took out the town portion of Winterhold, the Nords would be almost non-existent which isn't surprising considering their opinions on the use of Magick, the College is actually population: 18 (11% Nord, 89% non-Nord).

I was curious, are all Guards in every Hold, Nords? What about Stormcloak/Imperial soldiers, all Nords? Oculatus members all seem to be Imperials (save the boat captain who is a Redguard).

If you considered the Nord population boosted by the Guard/Soldier population, I think it would make a little more sense.

 

[imaginepageant]

Windhelm is near the border of a destroyed land, and although it gets lots of refugees, it doesn't mean they are welcome or integrated. They live apart in the Grey Quarter and the dunmer who live there are treated very harshly (as developed in your introduction to the city).

I have never understood this argument. If the Dunmer have it so terribly bad in Windhelm, why do they stay? Why not go to Riften, the next closest city to Windhelm, which also borders Morrowind, and which has a rather large population of (seemingly content) Dunmer itself? Why not go to any other town or city in Skyrim, rather than stay in a place where they are condemned to live in a ghetto and suffer harassment from Nords? I don't get it.

Other than these two, and the Imperial/Nord/Bosmer triangle you resolve in Riverwood, are there any other mix-race pairings in the game?

I spotted a few that surprised me while going through the populations of each city, but I don't recall them at the moment. Off the top of my head, though, there's Bolli (Nord) and Nivenor (Bosmer), a married couple in Riften.

 

[MushroomGenius]

Markarth is smack in the middle of orc territory, so finding more orcs there is unsurprising, although they do seem to have high status and not be segregated in neighborhood (although they are in industry...)

One Orc "resides" in Cidhna Mine though! Two are blacksmiths, no surprise there. One is a gruff supervisor of some sort at the smelter. One is a warden in Cidhna Mine. The last Orc is a Miner.

Another notable example of diversity is the smith family in Morthal. Rustleif and Seren have a half-nord half-redguard child on the way (although she never gets bigger and the child's never born, even if you come back by after many months! See Imponderables Other than these two, and the Imperial/Nord/Bosmer triangle you resolve in Riverwood, are there any other mix-race pairings in the game?

Aerin and Mjoll are another mixed race "couple". Even though you can marry Mjoll for some reason. Nordic Capt. Bolli and his Bosmer wife Nivenor also qualify. There's more than you think, I guess.

 

[imaginepageant]

I was curious, are all Guards in every Hold, Nords? What about Stormcloak/Imperial soldiers, all Nords? Oculatus members all seem to be Imperials (save the boat captain who is a Redguard).

I would assume all of the guards are Nords. Since their number is unlimited in-game, it's impossible to gauge how much the Nord population of each city would increase with the guards added in, but since each city seems to have an equal number of them, the Nord population would go up equally all across the board and the balance wouldn't be disrupted.

Stormcloaks also seem to be mainly Nords, and since their home base is in Windhelm, that would push Windhelm higher on the scale of Nords to non-Nords. However, since not all Stormcloaks are originally from Windhelm (e.g. Ralof is from Riverwood), I wouldn't count them in Windhelm's population, anyway.

As for legionnaires, I was actually surprised to see that three of the named legionnaires in residing Solitude are Nords, while the other two—including General Tullius—are Imperials. I wouldn't count the unnamed legionnaires in Solitude's population for the same reason as above: few of them hail from Solitude, or even Skyrim.

 

[imaginepageant]

Okay, now I'm curious about mixed-race couples! Just the major cities for now; I'll probably have a look at the smaller towns and villages later.

- Adrianne Avenicci (Imperial) and Ulfberth War-Bear (Nord) are a married couple in Whiterun.

- Bolli (Nord) and Nivenor (Bosmer) are a married couple in Riften.

- Haelga (Nord) has had... ahem... relations with Indaryn (Dunmer) in Riften.

- Vex (Imperial) and Garthar (Nord) seem to have something going on once he joins the Thieves Guild.

- Before his death, Gallus Desedenius (Imperial) and Karliah (Dunmer) were lovers.

- Jala (Nord) and Ahtar (Redguard) may or may not be a couple in Solitude. Nothing I can find confirms that they are, but Ahtar carries a key to and seems to live in Jala's house.

- Though not a couple, Sorex Vinius (Imperial) was once in love with Vivienne Onis (Breton) in Solitude.

- Evette San is a Nord, but her father, Octieve San, is a Breton. I'm assuming his wife is dead, so this isn't a current mixed-race couple, but I'd still count them.

- Rogatus Salvius (Imperial) and Vigdis Salvius (Nord) are a married couple in Markarth. They have a son, Leontius Salvius, who's listed as an Imperial.

 

[Jersey Dagmar]

There's also that Blacksmith couple in Dawnstar. Husband is a Nord and wife is a Redguard. Their names escape me, but he even states that his wife is pregnant and asks you to retrieve a Redguard book.

 

[Neriad13]

I have never understood this argument. If the Dunmer have it so terribly bad in Windhelm, why do they stay? Why not go to Riften, the next closest city to Windhelm, which also borders Morrowind, and which has a rather large population of (seemingly content) Dunmer itself? Why not go to any other town or city in Skyrim, rather than stay in a place where they are condemned to live in a ghetto and suffer harassment from Nords? I don't get it.

Because it's their home. It's the place that took them in after the disaster in their own homeland and the location where they decided to begin their lives anew. They've grown up and raised families there and have a strong connection to Windhelm, no matter how badly the city treats them. You've seen how Arcadia, the Imperial alchemist in Whiterun thinks of her home in Skyrim - she's lived there 20 years and she's not leaving any time soon just because of Ulfric's racial purity policy. Why wouldn't the Dunmer of Windhelm feel the same way? Running away from a problem does nothing to solve it. And that, I believe, is their ultimate aim.

There's also the fact that travel in Skyrim is extremely risky, what with trolls, wolves, cats, bandits and dragons about. If people who aren't conditioned to fighting run into trouble, who's going to help them out in the wilderness? People who are poor must have an even worse time traveling. They're unable to hire mercenaries to protect them on their dangerous journey to a new home. It's a lot harder than you'd think for a common laborer to pack up and just move to a new hold.

 

[MushroomGenius]

There's also the fact that travel in Skyrim is extremely risky, what with trolls, wolves, cats, bandits and dragons about. If people who aren't conditioned to fighting run into trouble, who's going to help them out in the wilderness? People who are poor must have an even worse time traveling. They're unable to hire mercenaries to protect them on their dangerous journey to a new home. It's a lot harder than you'd think for a common laborer to pack up and just move to a new hold.

Carriage drivers seem to do their job just fine!

 

[Neriad13]

Carriage drivers seem to do their job just fine!

Ah, but carriages themselves are cheats. Or at least, I think they should be a lot more expensive than they are. Travel from one end of the province to the other, with ultimate protection from monsters and marauders = 50 septims? These brave guys are sadly underpaid.

 

[perkecet]

50? not even, the farthest trip is markarth to riften, 20 measly gold. 50 for the smaller capitals. but i agree, they should cost ten times as much. this is something ive considered to implement upon myself in a roleplay-through.

 

[imaginepageant]

Running away from a problem does nothing to solve it. And that, I believe, is their ultimate aim.

I don't see leaving Windhelm as "running away" from the problem; I see it as a solution to the problem. Why? Because you can only control your own actions, not the actions of others.

Yes, the first logical solution would be to improve the attitude of the Nords towards the Dunmer. But I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the discrimination towards Dunmer has been going on for several years, if not decades, so clearly, that solution has failed. What next? Should the Dunmer sit around and hope that the Nords will start treating them better someday? No. They can't control what the Nords think or do. But they can control what they themselves do, and the obvious action would be to leave the city and the poor conditions they've had to live in there. (Either that, or stage an uprising and try to take over Windhelm, but with all the Stormcloak soldiers in the city that would probably be a bad idea.)

As for the sentimentality that Windhelm is their home, what value does a home have if you're confined to slums and treated like second-class citizens? I find it foolish to remain living in a place in which you're made to suffer just because of some sentimental idea that it's home. Home is what you make it.

 

[Dagmar]

As for the sentimentality that Windhelm is their home, what value does a home have if you're confined to slums and treated like second-class citizens? I find it foolish to remain living in a place in which you're made to suffer just because of some sentimental idea that it's home. Home is what you make it.

It's not sentimentality. When you settle down in an area you make roots, and you invest time, effort and resources making your home, establishing your business, and forming personal and professional relationships. You can infer this from some of the Dunmer dialogue in Windhelm. Many if not most of the Dunmer in Windhelm have been living there for well over a century as they note the Red Mountain eruption and destruction of Vvardenfell as their reason for coming to Skyrim. (Those events occurred in the 6th year of the Fourth Era and Skyrim takes place in the very early 3rd century of the Fourth Era). While the Dunmer are relegated to the Gray Quarter ghetto and bullied by some of the Nord residents, their lives are not unbearable because, notwithstanding the broad generalization implied by your post and others, the attitude towards the Dunmer is not shared by all Nords in Windhelm (let alone in Skyrim). It's particular to Ulfric, the Stormcloaks, and some of their supporters, who are considered racist by many Nords (e.g. Brunwulf Free-Winter). It's quite understandable why they would be reluctant to make a life changing move twice in one lifetime.

 

[Dylansauce02]

Thanks for posting this! I learned a lot of new things today. :3 For instance, I thought that Solitude or Markarth would have the most citizens, not Riften.

 

[Neriad13]

I don't see leaving Windhelm as "running away" from the problem; I see it as a solution to the problem. Why? Because you can only control your own actions, not the actions of others.

Yes, the first logical solution would be to improve the attitude of the Nords towards the Dunmer. But I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) that the discrimination towards Dunmer has been going on for several years, if not decades, so clearly, that solution has failed. What next? Should the Dunmer sit around and hope that the Nords will start treating them better someday? No. They can't control what the Nords think or do. But they can control what they themselves do, and the obvious action would be to leave the city and the poor conditions they've had to live in there. (Either that, or stage an uprising and try to take over Windhelm, but with all the Stormcloak soldiers in the city that would probably be a bad idea.)

As for the sentimentality that Windhelm is their home, what value does a home have if you're confined to slums and treated like second-class citizens? I find it foolish to remain living in a place in which you're made to suffer just because of some sentimental idea that it's home. Home is what you make it.

The enmity between Dunmer and Nord actually began centuries if not thousands of years ago, beginning in the time from when Dunmer were still Chimer. Their economy relied heavily on slave labor and there just so happened to be a good source of human slaves right next door in Skyrim...

The Nords weren't entirely blameless either. Tribal Nords regularly attacked Chimer settlements (though perhaps not without purpose themselves) on the border and the danger was so great that Dwemer and Chimer, enemies themselves, made a temporary alliance to drive the Nord threat from Morrowind. And so things went on. One side wronged the other only to be wronged itself in an unceasing cycle. The thing about Nords and Dunmer (and humans and elves in general) is that they are both an extremely proud people, but with completely different, completely rigid ideals. It's a difficult matter to find middle ground between them.

And so, I imagine that the disaster at Red Mountain and ensuing Red Year led to a confrontation between Morrowind and Skyrim, if the provinces were to be personified, that went something like this:

Skyrim: "Wait...wait...waaaaait. Let me hear that again."

Morrowind: "My people are being destroyed by a natural disaster and driven out of their homes. They have nowhere else to go."

Skyrim: "PFFFFFFFT. BAHAHAHAHA! Oh gods, you're making me cry! I-I can't even...oh, wow."

Morrowind: "I'm dying and you're laughing at me?!"

Skyrim: "Ahem. You, sir, have fought me at every turn and enslaved my people for generations. And now you're asking me for help. I think not. You may live within my borders, but it will not be an easy life. Your unlucky ilk will struggle to survive. My children will hunt them down at every turn, blacken their eyes and pelt them with stones. Your nobles will live as farmers and merchants and work for their bread themselves until their hands are as tough as leather and their bodies fall into bed, exhausted. For, you see, that is the curse and blessing that I bestow upon all who enter my borders - freedom."

*smoothly turns around and gives Morrowind the finger as he confidently strides away*

While there are extraordinary individuals who don't share the opinion of the masses, that is the reason why, in general, I believe that both sides will always be at an impasse - fundamental differences in beliefs and ideals, chief among them being the belief that all Mer are descendents of gods and above their human neighbors. Take a look at the book "The Dunmer of Skyrim" and see the amount of hatred a Dunmer is capable of spewing right back at the Nords. Both sides are set stubbornly in their ways and not giving an inch to the other. If they left, if they gave up the Gray Quarter (which it seems, oddly enough, that they take a great deal of pride in) that would also mean that they'd lost ground against an ancient enemy and wounded their clinging pride as Dunmer.

Aaaaand, then Dagmar just grabbed the entire other point I was about to make. A nice one.

In all honesty, I was writing about the Gray Quarter and pondering these questions myself just this morning.

 

[imaginepageant]

While the Dunmer are relegated to the Gray Quarter ghetto and bullied by some of the Nord residents, their lives are not unbearable because, notwithstanding the broad generalization implied by your post and others, the attitude towards the Dunmer is not shared by all Nords in Windhelm (let alone in Skyrim).

I definitely agree with you on this point (and I didn't mean to make such a broad generalization, my mistake). We hear a lot about how badly the Dunmer are treated, but we don't get to witness a whole lot of it happening outside of the initial scene when you arrive at Windhelm, and Rolff Stone-Fist's hateful comments anytime you speak to him. I'm sure I've heard a couple of other remarks here and there, but it isn't as if Nords are throwing stones at every Dunmer who passes or trying to set their homes on fire or anything. Their lives certainly aren't unbearable.

My point is, though, that if someone is unhappy with their lot in life, they should try to improve it. That's a tenet I try to live my own life by, and it's one of the reasons I respect Ulfric—he was unsatisfied with the world he lived in, so he decided he would do everything in his power to change it.

It's quite understandable why they would be reluctant to make a life changing move twice in one lifetime.

Really? I've made two life-changing moves in my lifetime (including moving to a different country) and I'm only 28. It seems far from unreasonable that someone who is nearly two centuries old would do so.

I can, however, see the reluctance in Dumner like Revyn Sadri, who run businesses in the city. That is much more difficult to leave behind than just a dwelling.

The enmity between Dunmer and Nord actually began centuries if not thousands of years ago, beginning in the time from when Dunmer were still Chimer.

Thank you for the history lesson! I wasn't aware that the feud between these races went back so far. I really should read more about the Chimer and the history of Morrowind; what I've seen so far is fascinating.

Skyrim: "Ahem. You, sir, have fought me at every turn and enslaved my people for generations. And now you're asking me for help. I think not. You may live within my borders, but it will not be an easy life. Your unlucky ilk will struggle to survive. My children will hunt them down at every turn, blacken their eyes and pelt them with stones. Your nobles will live as farmers and merchants and work for their bread themselves until their hands are as tough as leather and their bodies fall into bed, exhausted. For, you see, that is the curse and blessing that I bestow upon all who enter my borders - freedom."

Hah, this is brilliant.

I feel that I should clarify here that I'm not necessarily on the side of the Dunmer in all of this. While I do think they deserve more respect than they get (and that people like Rolff Stone-Fist should get trampled by mammoths), I also believe that Windhelm should get more credit for taking the Dunmer refugees in in the first place. They didn't have to, especially considering what you pointed out above—historically, the Dunmer haven't treated the Nords very well, either.

Take a look at the book "The Dunmer of Skyrim" and see the amount of hatred a Dunmer is capable of spewing right back at the Nords.

I was horrified the first time I read that. Especially since it seems to be a response to the book Nords of Skyrim, which is simply a Nord extolling his pride in his culture, and doesn't say a single bad word about any other race. Then you have Dunmer of Skyrim, which is basically racist propaganda and a warning that the Nords will one day be slaughtered by higher beings. Terrible.

 

[Su8tle]

Ahhh Khajiit representing well *sarcasim

Racist Nord a**holes. I'm still amazed there is no Khajiit/Argonians in the TG in Riften?! Even in the cistern out of the prying eyes of the guards.


Might go kill some Nords for fun now.