As time passed, it was the year 1900 in the blink of an eye. By convention, the East African government's census work was also nearing its end.
The turn of the century also meant that East Africa's development had entered a new historical stage. Thus, the 1899 census was more detailed and cumbersome. With the widespread development of railways, telegraphs, and postal services, population data had also become easier to compile.
Ernst listened to a report on East Africa's population development in the new century at the Central Government Building.
"The results of this census show that our total population has reached 83.13 million. The urbanization rate has risen to 28 percent, or roughly 19 million people. Cities and towns of significant size have an average population of around twenty to thirty thousand. Dar es Salaam city has the largest population, with as many as 710,000 people in its urban area."
By 1900, East Africa's total population had surpassed eighty million. Globally, it ranked fourth, behind only the Far East Empire, Britain including India, and the Russian Empire.
All three countries ahead of East Africa had populations exceeding one hundred million. The United States, ranked fifth behind East Africa, had a total population of more than seventy million. This also meant that East Africa would most likely be the next country to surpass one hundred million people.
"Besides our citizens, there are also 12.08 million illegal residents in our country, mainly distributed across regions such as Angola and Mozambique, where they engage in infrastructure construction and agricultural production."
The illegal residents in the East African government's terminology were Blacks. In less than ten short years, the East African Black population had fallen from over twenty million after the South African War to around twelve million. Counting these Blacks, East Africa's