between 1817 and 1827 it was 23 per cent, and in the fourteen years between 1827 and 1841 it was 29 per cent. Then from 1841 to 1861 the rate of increase stood at 18 per cent per decade, and between 1861 and 1887 it dropped to 5 and 8 per cent. The small rate of increase in the period last mentioned was doubtless due in great part to the ten years' war which occurred within this period.

The rate of increase between 1774 and 1841 compares quite favorably with the rates of increase in the United States, which prior to 1870 ranged from 32 to 35 per cent per decade. Such rates of increase are very large and are commonly found only in regions which are sparsely populated, where the population is under little or no pressure for obtaining means of livelihood. The rapid and great diminution in the rate of increase after 1861 is, however, by no means accounted for by the increase in density of population, and the reasons therefor must be sought for among the extraordinary causes, such as pestilence, war, etc.

The distribution of these losses in population between 1887 and 1899 is also brought out by the following statements: In the province of Habana there was a loss in 28 districts and a gain in but 8; in Matanzas a loss in 20 and a gain in 3; in Pinar del Rio 17 districts lost population and but 3 gained; in Santa Clara the numbers which lost and gained were equal, while in Puerto Principe and Santiago there was a gain in every district.

Summing up the districts of the island, 79 lost population, while only 47 gained, the remaining 6 districts being new ones, formed since 1887, and here included in those from which they were formed. These facts are set forth in detail in Table III.

The map opposite page 72 shows the increase and decrease of the population of Cuba by municipal districts, the areas colored red being those in which the population has suffered a loss since the Spanish census of 1887, and those colored blue where it has made a gain.

It is seen that the losses are confined to the four western provinces, the districts of the two eastern provinces having without exception gained in population. The districts in the four western provinces which have gained are of two classes: First, those in which the reconcentrados were collected; and, second, those remote districts from which there was little or no reconcentration, and into which presumably the people fled for refuge. This is the case with the districts in the western part of Pinar del Rio and along the south shore, including the great Zapata Swamp. The north shore of Santa Clara, too, is in the main a region in which the population has increased.

DENSITY OF POPULATION. ULATION.

The area of Cuba is and can be known only approximately because its limits have never been mapped with any approach to accuracy. Measurements based upon different maps show wide variations in the

area of the island and its provinces. To illustrate the differences in published areas of the island the following are given:

Square miles.

43, 220

43, 319

40,000

43, 319

45,883

35,000

Measurements made in this office from different maps show similar differences. Measurements made from Chart E, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, give for Cuba and the Isle of Pines 46,575 square miles; the chart published by the Hydrographic Office in 1896 gives 45,883 square miles; the map of the Information Division of the War Department, scale, 1:500,000, gives 44,000 square miles. Assuming this to be as good a map as we have, where all are poor, the areas of the provinces, of the municipal districts, and of many of the barrios or wards have been measured upon it, the lines of the districts and wards having been laid down by the supervisors of census. The areas of the provinces are as follows, with the total population and the number of inhabitants per square mile:

Habana, with the densest population, is as thickly inhabited as the State of Connecticut, and Puerto Principe, the most sparsely populated, is in this respect comparable with the State of Texas.

The great difference in density of population in the different provinces is in part due to the presence of large cities, especially in the case of Habana. Still, after excluding the cities of 8,000 inhabitants or more, notable differences are seen to exist, as shown below:

Puerto Principe, with but 6 rural inhabitants to a square mile, is a pastoral province.

م

The map on page 74 shows the density of the rural population, grouped in certain grades, which are expressed by color distinctions. The method of preparation of this map was as follows: The area of the municipal districts, and of the wards in cases where the districts are large, were measured by planimeter on the map of the War Department, as was stated above.

The population of all cities of 8,000 inhabitants and more was subtracted from that of the districts or wards, the remainder being regarded for this purpose as rural population. This rural population was then divided by the area and the results platted on the map. In sketching the lines separating bodies of population of different density regard was had to geographic considerations affecting the distribution of population within the districts, such as the existence of swamps, mountain ranges, etc. Hence the lines separating bodies of population of different degrees of density are not exactly those which would be indicated by the figures.

The salient features of the map are as follows:

The presence of several small bodies of very dense population, 90 or more to a square mile in Habana and Matanzas provinces, and one small area of similar density in the western part of Pinar del Rio; a dense population generally throughout Habana and Matanzas provinces, becoming less dense to the east in Santa Clara, and to the west in Pinar del Rio. Toward the western part of Pinar del Rio the density increases and then diminishes again near the west end of the island. The eastern part of Santa Clara is not heavily populated, while in Puerto Principe the population is sparse. The density increases again in Santiago but not uniformly. Indeed, the population in Santiago province is distributed with the greatest irregularity. The keys bordering the north coast and the marshes on the south coast, the Sierra Maestra, and most of the Isle of Pines are very sparsely populated.

The density of population of municipal districts with their areas is presented in Table V.

The following table presents (1) the distribution of the rural population, in areas of differing density, corresponding with those represented on the map; (2) the percentage of the rural population in each of these areas; (3) the number of square miles of each such area; and (4) the percentage which each area bears to the area of Cuba:

2.....
2-6.

6-18.

18-45

45-90.

90+....