Paper short abstract:

Our propose for this communication is to discuss a methodology to transform the different age groups in each colony in the equal age groups. This process will thus allow a coherent comparative demographic treatment, as well as a better understanding of the population of the colonies at this period.

Paper long abstract:

The fact that the statistical charts gathering people from different colonies of the Portuguese empire are organized using aggregations of different ages raises problems of analysis and comparison. We rehearsed a methodology that aims to transform this heterogeneous organization of ages in aggregating it by the same age groups and more in line with the possibility of a stronger demographic treatment. This methodology consists in reorganizing the age brackets of the population histogram. The population density, which is calculated for each age group, are derived and then used to estimate the effective population of each desired class. This methodology will also allow a comparative approach to different colonial realities, including the various categories / types of people that arose in different colonies. For this first essay we will use data from the Azores, Angola and India. This communication is part of the project 'Counting Colonial Populations: Demography and the use of statistics in the Portuguese Empire, 1776-1875' (financed by Foundation for Science and Technology: PTDC / EPH-HIS / 3697/2012).