The early population charts of Portuguese Angola, 1776–1830: a preliminary assessment

Abstract

In 1776, the Portuguese government ordered the first systematic census of its whole empire, including Angola. Despite some difficulties, colonial officials in Angola created hundreds of tables with precious demographic information, such as the number of residents by sex, color, social condition in addition to the number of births, deaths, and marriages occurred in the colony in different years. This article provides a preliminary assessment of the early population charts of Portuguese Angola compiled by the Counting Colonial Populations project. It shows that, although from a modern perspective the charts’ numbers may not be accurate, they provide a unique perspective of the size and demographic profile of the colonial population of Angola.