hanneke lommerse Population figures

ASIA

VOC

Table 1. Total number of European and local employees of the VOC in Asia and the Cape Colony, 1700-1789* Year european local total % Eur. 1700 13,481 723 14,204 95.0 1710 13,455 1,320 14,775 91.0 1720 16,451 1,361 17,812 92.4 1730 19,206 688 19,894 96.5 1740 19,983 2,139 22,122 90.3 1750 16,194 1,585 17,779 91.1 1760 18,811 0 18,811 1770 20,858 0 20,858 1780 17,167 0 17,167 1789 19,003 687 19,690 96.5 Source: Lequin 2005:237.

* When reading this and all subsequent tables, the reader should be aware that the colonial category of ‘Europeans’ often included ‘Europeanized’ Eurasians and at times even Asians.

Table 2. Total number of employees in major VOC settlements inside Indonesia, 1700- 1789 Year amboina Banda Batavia Java’s North- sumatra’s ternate east Coast West Coast 1700 919 784 3,853 1,017 226 564 1710 856 733 3,468 1,101 390 656 1720 1,048 825 4,478 2,340 488 905 1730 1,049 873 4,999 1,619 711 823 1740 1,125 836 5,628 1,118 623 1,029 1750 949 587 6,306 0 449 0 1760 1,002 693 4,578 1,690 268 691 1770 1,149 610 5,822 1,852 290 838 1780 1,042 497 3,283 1,849 170 859 1789 1,085 608 4,410 2,603 132 866 Source: Lequin 2005:238-40.

- totals include European and locally born Asians and Eurasians. - For the selected years the share of Europeans in the total population oscillated between 90.3 and 96.5 per cent. 316 Hanneke Lommerse

Table 3. Total number of employees in major VOC settlements outside Indonesia, 1700- 1789 Year ceylon coromandel cape of makassar malabar malacca good Hope 1700 2,966 514 544 834 690 468 1710 2,705 640 500 821 1,775 435 1720 2,804 454 800 770 1,297 582 1730 3,392 762 919 907 1,535 592 1740 3,212 701 1,141 2,261 2,342 648 1750 4,042 0 1,331 953 1,153 462 1760 3,904 1,091 1,354 818 875 526 1770 4,527 880 1,704 868 688 541 1780 3,784 775 1,687 902 949 477 1789 3,568 0 3,392 1,027 0 744 Source: Lequin 2005:240-3.

- totals include European and locally born Asians and Eurasians. - For the selected years the share of Europeans in the total population oscillated between 90.3 and 96.5 per cent.

Dejima

The total European population of Dejima never exceeded sixteen people over the entire 1700-1789 period. For annual listing see Lequin 2005.

Taiwan/Formosa

Van Veen (2003) provides some reliable population figures for the Dutch period. The European population increased from 336 in 1628 to some 707 in 1648, with an average of between 600-700 people. Van Lierop (1983) provides a total population of Castle Zeelandia in 1650 of 6,000, of whom some 1,800 were Europeans and 500 were slaves of unspecified origins. Between 1645-1650 the Chinese population experienced explosive growth, from 3,500 to 20,000 (Yao 2003 and Oosterhof 1985).

Malacca

There are few reliable population figures for the seventeenth century. For aggregate figures regarding VOC employees in the period 1700-1789, see table 3. Ketelaars (1985) provides detailed figures for 1675-1685.

Table 4. Population of Malacca, 1675 (excluding the local population) Dutch 104 Mestizo/ Free Blacks/ Portuguese 1,463 Chinese 106 Moors 356