"Without going into detail, and merely to give a general idea (even
if we do not feel entirely justified in rounding off figures when it is a
question of human lives), it will be recalled that in 1500 the world
population is approximately 400 million, of whom 80 million inhabit the
Americas. By the middle of the sixteenth century, out of these 80
million, there remain ten. Or limiting ourselves to Mexico: on the eve
of the conquest, its population is about 25 million; in 1600, it is one
million."
Tzvetan Todorov, The Conquest of America (trans. by Richard Howard).
