Surface area
Original title: Superfície
Discusses the divergent estimates of the surface area of the Madeira archipelago and its islands, from Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo's figures to the official 1934 census, and gives population density figures from 1864 to 1930.
Area of the archipelago and population density
Estimates of the surface area of the whole archipelago, and especially of each of the islands that make it up, vary considerably. Dr Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo, who dealt with this subject at some length in his notable article in the Dicionario Universal Portuguez Ilustrado, says that some authors put the total area of the archipelago at more than a thousand square kilometres, and that it was later accepted that the area was around 800 kilometres. He ends by stating that the most recent calculations, which he considers closest to the truth, give the whole archipelago an area of 560 square kilometres: 500 kilometres for the island of Madeira, 50 for Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) and 10 for the small group of the Desertas (‘deserted islands’).
Various official documents, and most recently the Censo da População published in the present year of 1934, state that the area of the island of Madeira is 740.62 square kilometres and that of Porto Santo 42,217. Apart from the cities of Lisbon and Porto, the Madeira archipelago is the region of our country with the highest population density, the Censo already cited giving a figure of 270 inhabitants per square kilometre for the present time.
Year Inhabitants per square kilometre
| Year | Inhabitants per km² |
|---|---|
| 1864 | 135.9 |
| 1878 | 160.2 |
| 1890 | 164.5 |
| 1900 | 184.8 |
| 1911 | 208.8 |
| 1920 | 219.6 |
| 1930 | 270.3 |
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04-
The population density of the archipelago stood at 135.9 inhabitants per km².
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The 1930 census gave the Madeira archipelago about 211,000 inhabitants in fifty parishes, an 18% rise in ten years, with a density of 270.3 inhabitants per km².
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The population census was published, giving Madeira an area of 740.62 km² and a density of 270 inhabitants per km².
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Pires de Matos published a geodesy article on Madeira in the Anais do Club Militar Naval.
Place
Places mentioned · 06
Abroad
- Desertas
Santa Cruz. Small island group estimated at 10 km² by Azevedo.
An island group near Madeira that was already separated from it at the last eruptions and shares endemic species with it. It was the main orchil-harvesting area, and Wollaston found 89 beetle species there. The islands were investigated by scientific expeditions, including the Endurance scientists in 1914.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Cited as one of the only areas of Portugal denser in population than Madeira.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Porto
Portugal. Cited as one of the only areas of Portugal denser in population than Madeira.
A Portuguese city, where the 1820 liberal revolution began and whose district is the only one denser than Funchal's. Several Madeirans studied at its medical school or Academia Politécnica, and some lived or died there. The editor of O Funchalense Liberal was hanged there, and Marítimo beat FC Porto there in 1922.
- Porto Santo
Island estimated at 50 km² by Azevedo and 42.217 km² officially.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
People
People mentioned · 01- Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo1825–1898
Madeiran scholar who wrote a notable article on the archipelago's area in the Dicionário Universal Português Ilustrado, estimating it at 560 km².