The census plays a significant role in delineating the nation in statistical terms. The decisions as to whom to enumerate, what questions are to be asked and how the results are presented all modify the view of the population offered to contemporary observers and to posterity. Although census officials tend to be conservative in retaining a large body of questions in similar form from one enumeration to the next in order to promote inter-census comparisons, those concerned with identity have tended to shift with the political evolution of the state and nation. Nowhere has this been more in evidence than in South Africa where the state and nation have been redefined several times since the commencement of modern scientific censuses in 1865. Administrations run by the British Empire, Boer republics, Union of South Africa, apartheid republic, African ‘bantustans’ and now democratic republic have each brought their own concepts to national identification and the framing of the questions of national identity in the census. As a result the set of nearly forty censuses present an often contradictory and complex image of the South African population, ranging from comprehensive inclusive censuses to narrowly restrictive enumerations of a single ethnic group. There was thus little of the continuity in census taking between the colonial and post-colonial states noted elsewhere. South African censuses therefore offer an insight into how the nation was viewed at the time the census was undertaken.

Regular population censuses are an integral part of the oversight functions of the modern state. Whereas the United Kingdom instituted a decennial enumeration in 1801, it was not extended to the overseas Empire. The administration of the British Empire was decentralised and early nineteenth-century census taking was subject to local initiatives. However, from the 1840s successive Colonial Secretaries considered a unified imperial census necessary to fulfil their oversight functions and demanded the taking of censuses by colonial governments to coincide with that in the United Kingdom. Initial responses were mixed, but with each decade the coverage improved, although no agreement was reached on the questions posed and the classification systems employed. These remained severe drawbacks to the creation of a comprehensive imperial view. Only in 1906 was an official volume entitled Report on the Census of the British Empire published. The experience gained in its preparation, collating the diverse colonial reports prompted the undertaking of a fully coordinated enumeration in 1911. The First World War intervened and prevented publication. Although subsequent attempts were made to revive the concept, little was achieved. The combination of the pursuit of local interests, accentuated by greater political independence, and the lack of adequate resources at the General Register Office in London to coordinate and analyse the results ensured that the quest for a unified census was finally abandoned with the onset of the Second World War.

The massive decolonisation of the post World War II ear resulted in a new political map of the world. The great majority of the new independent states were essentially coincident with the former administrative colonies. However, in a quarter of cases%the ending of colonial status did not result in the emergence of a sovereign state. The colonial powers sought to reduce the number of small and potentially weak states by various mechanisms. Thus colonial mergers took place between administrative units within the same empire, and only occasionally between units in different empires. Some dependencies were absorbed by more powerful neighbours and others incorporated into the political structure of the metropolitan power. Prior to 1960, in terms of population and size, the colonies which failed to achieve statehood at independence were substantially smaller than those which did. Thereafter there was little to distinguish them. The legacy of the merged colonies had ranged from successful secessionist movements to integrated states.

The massive decolonisation of the post World War II era resulted in a new political map of the world. The great majority of the new independent states were essentially coincident with the former administrative colonies. However, in a quarter of cases the ending of colonial status did not result in the emergence of a sovereign state. The colonial powers sought to reduce the number of small and potentially weak states by various mechanisms. Thus colonial mergers took place between administrative units within the same empire, and only occasionally between units in different empires. Some dependencies were absorbed by more powerful neighbours and others incorporated into the political structure of the metropolitan power. Prior to 1960, in terms of population and size, the colonies which failed to achieve statehood at independence were substantially smaller than those which did. Thereafter there was little to distinguish them. The legacy of the merged colonies has ranged from successful secessionist movements to integrated states.