Surface / Superfície

The calculations made about the surface area of the entire archipelago and especially of each of its islands are quite divergent. Dr. Alvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo, who discussed this subject at some length in the remarkable article of the Illustrated Portuguese Universal Dictionary, says that some authors estimate the total area of the archipelago at over a thousand square kilometers, and it was later admitted that this surface area was around 800 square kilometers, and he concludes by affirming that the most recent calculations, which he considers to be closer to the truth, give the entire archipelago a surface area of 560 square kilometers, with 500 kilometers for the island of Madeira, 50 for Porto Santo, and 10 for the small group of the Desertas.

In various official documents and even recently in the 'Population Census', published in the current year of 1934, it is stated that the surface area of the island of Madeira is 740.62 square kilometers and that of Porto Santo is 42.17.

The population, according to the 'Census' mentioned, gives the number of 270 inhabitants per square kilometer for the current period.

Year	Inhabitants per square kilometer
1864	135.9
1878	160.2
1890	164.5
1900	184.8
1911	208.8
1920	219.6
1930	270.3