Demographic Reconstruction of the Camp de Tarragona Area in Spain, 1547-1877

In this article, we reconstruct the demography of an area on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia (Spain) over a period of 350 years, an area that saw considerable change as a result of the commercial revolution of the Modern Age. To do so, we apply the technique of backward population projection using parish registers. Our data suggest that nuptiality played an important role in the control of demographic growth in the medium and long term. We find that variations in the intensity of nuptiality move in the same direction as trends in real wages. Finally, we consider that these developments in nuptiality were associated with the introduction of more flexible formulas in land use that allowed relatively stable access to arable land on a massive scale. This led to a rise in real wages, which encouraged marriage and fostered the economic transformations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Demographic Reconstruction of the Camp de Tarragona Area in Spain, 1547-1877 Articles