In the 13th century there were about 50,000 Maronites in Cyprus, living in 60 villages, a number that dropped down to 33 before the Ottoman conquest in 1571. The number of Maronites kept declining through the Ottoman rule; 19 Maronite villages were recorded in the 15th century and the number had fallen to 9 by 1661. The 1841 Ottoman census gave a figure of 1,200–1,300 for the Maronite population.