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In the present paper I discuss the assumptions and significance of some of the theses and techniques behind Portuguese colonial land policies in Africa between the mid-1920s and the 1940s, and discuss their role in the Portuguese colonial project. I particularly address the extent to which, both in national and international discussion fora on colonial topics, as well as in official discourse, through the voice of politicians in the metropole as well as colonial administrators and experts, arguments in favour of African access to individual property, for different purposes, gained ground. These arguments went against the dominant perspective in Portuguese colonial thought between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which dictated the limited access of Africans to the land for instance in the name of economic development of colonial territories, the fight against land speculation and the safeguarding of Portuguese sovereignty in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current paper analyzes labor relationships in Angola around 1800, foregrounded on a set of statistical population maps produced in the first decades of the 19th century. In spite of the limitations in demographic statistics worked out within the context of 19th century colonial regime, data give a first glimpse on economical activities and labor relationships in Angola. Current article provides statistics for the demographic area and labor relationships from information given by local authorities and not merely on retrospective projections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]