The study and reconstruction of the Brazilian population during the colonial era, not only its size over three centuries but also its regional components and its rhythm and patterns of growth, is a task which is only now beginning to interest Brazilian scholars. Historical demography has begun to be accepted as a new research discipline with a rigorous, scientific methodology. Without data, however, there is no demography, and in the case of Brazil there is practically no statistical information for the first 250 years of its existence. What useful information there is for the study of population is incomplete, indirect, and only in exceptional cases serialized. Therefore, no really elaborate demographic analysis can be carried out on the basis of this type of information. This is what is called the pre-statistical phase in Brazilian population studies. During this period, no direct head-count was carried out, either on a general or regional, or even a sectoral basis. Moreover, church records (baptismal, marriage, and death registers), even when kept regularly, can hardly be said to have accounted for the whole population. What is worse, however, is that even these have rarely survived intact for posterity.

For the second half of the eighteenth century, the situation with regard to sources of information on the population of Brazil begins to improve. As a result of the mercantilist policies of the marquis of Pombal, the first direct censuses began to be carried out of the inhabitants of the colonial towns and cities, together with their surrounding area, the municipalities.