In the 1930s in Angola the Portuguese colonial government of António de Oliveira Salazar cut spending on colonization, leading to less emigration to Angola and a decline in the population of Portuguese Angolans. The Portuguese government passed the Colonial Act in May 1930, centralizing the empire's administration and limiting the power of governor-generals. The settler population in Angola grew from 30,000 in May 1930 to 59,000 in 1931, but declined to 44,000 by 1940. By 1961 however, when the war for independence began, the population had risen to 170,000.