ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq is set to complete its long-awaited general population census in November, an official told Rudaw, adding that the census will be carried out in a “record” period with the usage of electronic methods.
“This is a great opportunity, especially since there is a major shift in the work methodology, moving from paper and traditional methods of work to the electronic method using tablets and data centers for the first time … and the census results will be available within a record short period [of time],” Mahdi al-Alaq, president of the Iraqi Society for Statistical Sciences, told Rudaw.
It will be the first general population census conducted in Iraq since 1997, and the first census including the Kurdistan Region’s provinces since 1987. Alaq described the census as “important” given the large difference in Iraq’s population since then.
The latest census in 1997 counted 19 million Iraqis. A separate count for the Kurdistan Region put the population of the three Kurdish provinces at 2.8 million. The country’s population now is at an estimated 43 million.
Alaq lauded the role of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in assisting Baghdad to carry out the elections through “international methodologies in order to gain international acceptance and national respect.”
“The UNFPA continues its support for the general population census, and there is a memorandum of understanding about to be signed that will enhance its role and provide reassurance to all stages of the census,” he said.
Iraq has been discussing carrying out a new census for years, a move that should contribute to the resolution of historic problems like Baathist-era Arabization, the status of disputed Kirkuk, which is claimed by both the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and the size of the KRG’s share of federal funds.
A census planned for 2020 was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a great opportunity, especially since there is a major shift in the work methodology, moving from paper and traditional methods of work to the electronic method using tablets and data centers for the first time … and the census results will be available within a record short period [of time],” Mahdi al-Alaq, president of the Iraqi Society for Statistical Sciences, told Rudaw.
It will be the first general population census conducted in Iraq since 1997, and the first census including the Kurdistan Region’s provinces since 1987. Alaq described the census as “important” given the large difference in Iraq’s population since then.
The latest census in 1997 counted 19 million Iraqis. A separate count for the Kurdistan Region put the population of the three Kurdish provinces at 2.8 million. The country’s population now is at an estimated 43 million.
Alaq lauded the role of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in assisting Baghdad to carry out the elections through “international methodologies in order to gain international acceptance and national respect.”
“The UNFPA continues its support for the general population census, and there is a memorandum of understanding about to be signed that will enhance its role and provide reassurance to all stages of the census,” he said.
Iraq has been discussing carrying out a new census for years, a move that should contribute to the resolution of historic problems like Baathist-era Arabization, the status of disputed Kirkuk, which is claimed by both the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and the size of the KRG’s share of federal funds.
A census planned for 2020 was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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