ABSTRACT
The primary source of information about the population of a country is the population census which is taken in Britain and in most other developed countries of the world at regular intervals, usually of ten years, sometimes less. The words used internationally to describe a population census are as follows: ‘A census of population may be defined as the total process of collecting, compiling, and publishing demographic, economic, and social data pertaining, at a specified time or times, to all persons in a country or delimited territory.’ An official census is sponsored by the government of the area or of some larger region within which the area falls. The enumeration should either include every member of the community to which the census relates without omission or duplication or, if sampling is used, must give every member of a stratum equal likelihood of inclusion.
