Table 2. Demographic Disaster in Mexico
1519-1595
Authoritative estimates of Total Population
and Implied Rates of Decrease
| | population
(millions) | population
(millions) | percent decrease |
|---|
| Author | place | 1519 | 1595 | 1519-1595 |
|---|
| Rosenblat | "Mexico" | 4.5 | 3.5 | 22 |
| Aguirre-Beltrán | | 4.5 | 2.0 | 56 |
| Zambardino | | 5-10 | 1.1-1.7 | 64-89 |
| Mendizabal | | 8.2 | 2.4 | 71 |
| Cook and Simpson | | 10.5 | 2.1-3.0 | 71-80 |
| Cook and Borah | | 18-30 | 1.4 | 78-95 |
| Sanders | Central Mexican
Symbiotic Region | 2.6-3.1 | 0.4 | 85-87 |
| Whitmore | Valley of Mexico | 1.3-2.7 | 0.1-0.4 | 69-96 |
| Gibson | | 1.5 | 0.2 | 87 |
| Sanders | | 1.0-1.2 | 0.1 | 90 |
| Kubler | 128 towns | 0.2 | 0.1 | 50 |
Sources: Rosenblat, Población indígena, vol. 1, pp. 57-122.
Aguirre-Beltrán, Población negra, pp. 200-1, 212.
Zambardino, "Mexico’s Population," pp. 21-2.
Mendizábal, "Demografía," vol. 3, p. 320.
Cook and Simpson, Population, pp. 38, 43, 45.
Cook and Borah, Aboriginal Population, p. 88.
Cook and Borah, Indian Population, pp. 46-7 (as corrected).
Sanders, "Central Mexican Symbiotic Region," p. 120; "Ecological Adaptation," p. 194.
Whitmore, Disease, p. 154.
Gibson, Aztecs, pp. 137-138.
Kubler, "Population Movements," p. 621.
Note: The nadir of the demographic disaster is usually placed in the seventeenth-century. I chose 1595 for an end-point, not because I think this to be the nadir of the native population, but to be able to interpolate, rather than extrapolate, comparable figures for the largest number of authors. Nevertheless, Sanders’ figure for the Valley of Mexico is extrapolated from 1568.