Population / População
In the article Settlement and Colonization, we will give a brief account of how the population developed when the arduous work of the early Madeiran colonization began.
There are very few elements left to us by the ancient chronicles regarding this settlement, particularly concerning the number, social position, personal qualities, and lands of origin of the first colonizers.
It is vaguely known that among them were individuals of noble descent, others from the lower classes, craftsmen, and land cultivators, as well as some criminals serving their sentences in prisons. Gaspar Frutuoso informs us that João Gonçalves Zargo "refused to bring the guilty due to faith, or treason, or theft".
The approximate number of these individuals is unknown, as well as the proportion in which the various social classes would have contributed to the formation of these first waves of settlers. It is conjectured with some foundation that they were not few, and this number quickly and rapidly increased with the frequent arrival of other settlers, especially with the large legion of Moorish and African slaves, soon becoming a large crowd. The strenuous work of clearing the virgin lands demanded this, and the active cultivators were stimulated by the exuberant fertility of the soil and the excellent mildness of the climate.
It was in the second half of the 15th century that the population experienced a significant increase, both from settlers coming from the Portuguese mainland and numerous African slaves, as well as many foreigners from various European countries, some of whom came from old families, seeking in this new promised land what their homeland could not provide them.
It would be of great interest to organize a population statistics of this archipelago from the primitive times of its colonization to the present day, but we have few elements for a complete work of this nature, especially regarding the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century. From the mid-16th century, it would not be impossible to organize such statistics, with results very close to the truth, taking advantage of the archives of the parish churches, as in all or almost all of them there is a regular record of baptism, marriage, and death records occurring since the third quarter of that century. It is not very difficult to study each parish and then it would be easy to do it with respect to the entire archipelago. Apart from epidemics or other public calamities, there was generally a uniform proportion between the number of inhabitants of a certain locality and the number of births and deaths occurring there, thus making it possible to organize a regular population statistics.
Azurara states that "at the time of its making" there were in Madeira "C L residents", "besides other people who were there, such as merchants, and single men and women, and young men".
Regarding Porto Santo, the annotator of the Saudades says that in 1529 that island had more than 800 inhabitants, and Frutuoso affirms that in 1590 there were about 400 households, in which approximately 1600 inhabitants lived. Regarding this affirmation by Frutuoso, Dr. Álvaro de Azevedo says: "although it seems to be an exaggeration, as it is known from the Annals of the Island of Porto Santo that in 1850 the population was 1799 people, that is about 450 households, and from the census taken in 1864 that there were 363 households with 1425 inhabitants, we believe that Frutuoso's statement is accurate; the island of Porto Santo only progressed in the first hundred and fifty years since its discovery; afterwards, the scarcity of its natural means of production, the frequent invasions of corsairs, and the abandonment in which it was left by the lords, its wealthiest inhabitants, and even the governments, except for the Marquis of Pombal, condemned it to the declining state in which it has lain until now.".
The population attributed to Madeira and Porto Santo at different times is shown in the following table, using the elements provided by the study Madeira from the "Illustrated Portuguese Dictionary", by articles scattered in various newspapers, and by the latest population censuses.
| Year | Inhabitants |
|---|---|
| 1500 | 16,000 |
| 1572 | 19,172 |
| 1580 | 21,800 |
| 1590 | 29,548 |
| 1614 | 28,345 |
| 1679 | 40,000 |
| 1750 | 59,143 |
| 1754 | 51,143 |
| 1767 | 64,624 |
| 1779 | 70,000 |
| 1781 | 70,443 |
| 1794 | 83,115 |
| 1797 | 97,390 |
| 1805 | 84,364 |
| 1813 | 92,382 |
| 1818 | 96,297 |
| 1819 | 96,752 |
| 1825 | 102,000 |
| 1835 | 113,828 |
| 1839 | 114,147 |
| 1843 | 117,372 |
| 1849 | 108,274 |
| 1851 | 110,340 |
| 1854 | 107,088 |
| 1858 | 98,620 |
| 1864 | 110,349 |
| 1871 | 116,706 |
| 1878 | 130,473 |
| 1890 | 132,088 |
| 1900 | 148,263 |
| 1911 | 167,783 |
| 1920 | 179,002 |
| 1930 | 211,601 |
| 1940 | 249,771 |
The population of the eleven municipalities of the archipelago, according to the data provided by the last three censuses, is as follows:
| Municipality | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funchal | 51,996 | 68,630 | 87,140 |
| Camara de Lôbos | 17,535 | 21,806 | 24,500 |
| Ribeira Brava | 14,149 | 16,394 | 19,382 |
| Ponta do Sol | 11,519 | 13,290 | 14,911 |
| Calheta | 19,760 | ||
| Porto do Moniz | 4,552 | 5,062 | 8,170 |
| S. Vicente | 9,146 | ||
| Santana | 9,778 | ||
| Machico | 17,286 | ||
| Santa Cruz | 21,038 | ||
| Porto Santo | 2,243 | 2,490 | 2,701 |
The population movement of the fifty parishes into which the district is divided, for the same period of time, according to the known statistical data, is as follows:
| Parish | 1920 | 1930 | 1941 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Luzia | 5,667 | 7,484 | 9,617 |
| S. Pedro | 2,767 | 3,127 | 3,888 |
| Santa Maria Maior | 8,212 | 10,594 | 13,220 |
| S. Martinho | 6,198 | 9,439 | 11,631 |
| Santo Antonio | 9,915 | 11,688 | 13,567 |
| S. Roque | 3,241 | 4,104 | 5,576 |
| S. Gonçalo | 4,319 | 6,023 | 9,341 |
| Curral das Freiras | 1,476 | 1,919 | 2,168 |
| Estreito de Camara de Lobos | 6,248 | 7,294 | 8,575 |
| Quinta Grande | 1,062 | 1,485 | 1,615 |
| Campanario | 4,048 | 4,852 | 5,856 |
| Ribeira Brava | 5,830 | 6,959 | 8,346 |
| Serra de Agua | 1,783 | 1,867 | 2,097 |
| Tabua | 2,488 | 2,665 | 3,083 |
| Ponta do Sol | 6,190 | 7,153 | 7,789 |
| Canhas | 5,329 | 6,037 | 7,386 |
| Arco da Calheta | 4,951 | 5,765 | 5,824 |
| Calheta | 3,894 | 4,380 | 5,067 |
| Jardim do Mar | 4,343 | 4,925 | |
| Prazeres | |||
| Paul do Mar | 1,483 | 1,723 | 2,143 |
| Fajã da Ovelha | 2,562 | 2,459 | 2,581 |
| Ponta do Pargo | 2,527 | 2,708 | 3,054 |
| Achadas da Cruz | 430 | ||
| Porto do Moniz | 2,410 | ||
| Ribeira da Janela | 1,141 | 1,148 | 1,319 |
| Seixal | 500 | 528 |
| Location | Population Data |
|---|---|
| S. Vicente | 5,426 5,444 6,383 |
| Ponta Delgada | 1,521 1,792 2,033 |
| Boaventura | 2,199 2,427 3,133 |
| Arco de S. Jorge | 651 667 870 |
| S. Jorge | 2,240 2,522 3,441 |
| Santana | 3,123 3,424 4,517 3,235 3,809 |
| Faial | 2,844 |
| S. Roque do Faial | 920 1,062 1,410 |
| Porto da Cruz | 5,814 4,388 4,944 |
| Caniçal | 657 |
| Machico | 8,619 9,884 10,820 |
| Santo da Serra | 2,301 2,378 3,111 |
| Agua de Pena | 1,242 1,416 1,613 |
| Santa Cruz | 7,472 8,856 8,511 |
| Gaula | 3,335 3,629 3,753 |
| Camacha | 3,965 4,530 5,066 |
| Caniço | 4,899 6,265 7,011 |
##Years
| Year | Funchal Population |
|---|---|
| 1864 | 17,677 |
| 1878 | 19,752 |
| 1890 | 18,778 |
| 1909 | 20,844 |
| 1910 | 24,687 |
| 1920 | 24,238 |
| 1930 | 31,352 |
The current population plethora observed in Madeira is not an exclusive phenomenon of our days. At various times, this population excess has been observed, which, combined with other serious occasional circumstances, leads to the emergence of fearsome crises, prompting the forced recourse to emigration. It would be useful and interesting to develop a detailed work studying the causes of these crises, the means adopted to combat them, and the beneficial effects that resulted from them. There is no doubt that these voluntary expatriations, despite the drawbacks that accompany them, generally have beneficial consequences, especially the large-scale one that took place in British Guiana in the mid-19th century, resulting in significant elements of prosperity for this island. > See Emigration.
The news provided by the "Archivo da Marinha e Ultramar" for the year 1762 is particularly interesting, giving us information that the then governor and captain-general José Correia de Sá, in a communication to the Metropolis government on July 23 of that year, reported the "departure to Lisbon of different individuals who, due to the excess of population, were unable to find means of subsistence".
This is a simple mention of a fact that has been occurring among us throughout time, with varying intensity. The problem worsens day by day and takes on the most alarming proportions, having aroused a well-directed campaign in the local press, which should provoke the most attentive concerns of "governors and the governed".