The objective of this article is two-fold. First, to reconstruct the demographic history of Luanda from 1781 to 1844 by drawing upon a relatively large number of censuses, thereby showing that it is indeed possible to reconstruct the pre-1900 population history of certain areas of the African continent. Second, in the case of this urban centre, the premier port along the whole western coast of Africa for the export of slaves to the Americas, its population history can not be explained solely by factors such as high levels of mortality resulting from drought, famine, and disease, or slave flight. Rather, the demographic dynamics of this slaving port need to be understood within the broader context of the South Atlantic complex, particularly the political economy of its major market, Rio de Janeiro, on the opposite side of the ocean.