Survivor count (TOS)

The count of survivors from the Twelve Colonies of Man attempts to give a general idea of the Fleet's population. Unlike its re-imagined counterpart, little attempt was made to codify the Fleet's population on a consistent basis, beyond the number of ships within the Fleet itself.

It is established in dialogue from the Original Series' "Greetings From Earth" that survivors number around 6,000 persons at that juncture. This is not a precise number, but is supported by numerous other incidental comments, elucidated further.

Population Overview

The epoch of this count originates from Apollo's discussion with Michael on Paradeen in Original Series' "Greetings From Earth".

It should also be noted that the Fleet's population was likely higher when it began its journey post-Battle of Cimtar (a.k.a. "The Final Annihilation"), but the events prior to the Battle of Carillon were likely a major erosion point, as Serina mentions losses of shuttle pilots and other persons ^{(TOS: "Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I")}.

What percentage of humans survived the "Final Annihilation" and are part of the Fleet?

Commander Adama notes that one million people on Caprica were killed as a result of Karibdis' sabotage of Caprica's defenses ^{(TOS: "Murder on the Rising Star")}. This is implied to be the total sum of Caprica's total population, thus making the Fleet's total survivor population from Caprica no more than 1/14th of the approximately 6,000 persons. It would not be 1/12th, as one may surmise, given the following:

1. The presence of Borellian Nomen, who are not part of the Twelve Colonies. (Nomen consider themselves the only true humans, but that is immaterial.)
2. The known acquisition of survivors from off-shoots of the Colonies, namely denizens of Proteus.

Chart of Loss/Gains

All numbers are preceded by a tilde (~) to denote that the number is not precise. The accountable variance will follow the survivor count encased in parentheses, e.g. (+3) for gains post-epoch, (-6) for losses post-epoch, and (0) when no change is recorded between episodes. Pre-epoch positive numbers are given to Accountable Variance from Epoch for any losses preceding epoch's establishment, particularly when no gains cancel recorded losses.

Episode	Loss	Gain	Accountable Variance from Epoch
Saga of a Star World	Following Battle of Cimtar and the ensuing exodus, numbering no fewer than 4: Nanswah Nanswah's friend 2 Warriors: One with Nanswah's contingent, one with Cassiopeia. Numerous shuttle pilots and other persons were lost during the Battle of Carillon per Serina (TOS: "Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I").	Unknown number of refugees from Carillon not initially rescued by the Fleet.	No greater than ~6,021 (+4)
Lost Planet of the Gods, Part I	1 person: Starbuck (MIA)	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,017 (+1)
Lost Planet of the Gods, Part II	1 person: Serina (KIA)	1 person: Starbuck (freed)	No greater than ~6,016 (0)
The Lost Warrior	None Recorded	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,016 (-3)
The Long Patrol	None Recorded	At least 3 persons from Proteus: Robber Slayer Tanya	No greater than ~6,019 (+3)
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part I	At least 3 pilots: Bow (KIA) Cree (MIA) Shields (KIA)	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,016 (+3)
The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, Part II	At least 3 persons on Arcta: Thane (KIA) Wolfe (MIA) Croft (KIA)	At least 1 person: Cree	No greater than ~6,013 (+2)
The Magnificent Warriors	Undefined number of persons on 2 destroyed agro ships. At least 1 person left behind on Sectar: Siress Belloby	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,011 (+1)
The Young Lords	None Recorded	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,010 (0)
The Living Legend, Part I	None Recorded	Crew of Battlestar Pegasus, including: Cain Bojay Sheba Tolen	No greater than ~6,010 (+2)
The Living Legend, Part II	Crew of Battlestar Pegasus, including: Cain Tolen and excluding: Silver Spar Squadron and Wounded	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,008 (+2)
Fire in Space	None Recorded	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,006 (0)
War of the Gods, Part I	At least 4 missing pilots: Bojay Brie Greenbean Jolly	At least 2: Count Baltar (captured) Count Iblis	No greater than ~6,006 (+2)
War of the Gods, Part II	At least 1 entity: Count Iblis	At least 4 pilots reappearing after their abduction by the Beings of Light: Bojay Brie Greenbean Jolly	No greater than ~6,004 (+3)
The Man with Nine Lives	None Recorded	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,001 (0)
Murder on the Rising Star	At least 1: Ortega (terminated)	None Recorded	No greater than ~6,001 (+1)
Greetings From Earth	6 persons from Lunar Seven, initially captured aboard Lunar Avion by Apollo and Starbuck: Charity Michael Melanie Sarah Fowler Todd Walker	No fewer than 7 persons from the Eastern Alliance, including: Donner Krebbs Lanceman Leiter	Epoch: ~6,000 (not including Eastern Alliance prisoners) Post-Epoch: No fewer than ~6,007 (+7)
Baltar's Escape	No fewer than 10 persons: Bora Donner Krebbs Lanceman Leiter Maga Taba 3 unnamed persons	None Recorded	No greater than ~5,997 (-10)
Experiment in Terra	None Recorded	None Recorded	No greater than ~5,997 (0)
Take the Celestra	At least 1 person killed in mutiny: Kronus	None Recorded	No greater than ~5,996 (-1)
The Hand of God	None Recorded	None Recorded	No greater than ~5,996 (0)

Analysis

The numbers above do not account for births, as none were presented. Any children seen were doubtless born before the Battle of Cimtar.

Tie-in Material Information

• According to Encyclopedia Galactica (a non-canonical piece of merchandise published in 1979):

Ninety-eight percent of the seventy billion humans inhabiting the Great Colonies were killed in a matter of months. The survival rate in the outer provinces may have been much higher, but only because the Cylons have not yet given these remote areas their direct attention.