May 11 2021, China’s 7th National Census results were officially released on the 11th, according to the census, the country’s population of 141.178 million people, compared with the 2010 sixth national census data increased by 72.06 million people. Data show that China’s population has continued to maintain a low growth trend for 10 years.
Censuses are a necessary means for a country to master its own population growth, composition, mobility, etc. Frequency, some once every 5 years, some span 10 years. The methods of census vary from country to country, but the aim is to find out the situation as accurately as possible and to formulate development strategies according to the population situation, which is an important means of “touching the bottom of the family”.
In addition to China, which has a population of more than 1.3 billion and the world’s second-largest population, India also values censuses, even deploying drones and satellite positioning systems to assist with censuses;
India: Launching Drones and Satellite Positioning Systems
In 2021, it will coincide with India’s 10-yearly national census, the 16th in the history of the populous nation. A total of 29 categories of content are required in India’s general census form. Since the languages and scripts of Indian states are mostly different, up to 16 languages are required for the printing of relevant paper information, such as census forms and presentation notes.
In addition, since many of India’s largest cities have slums, some are large, some small and have a strong overall population. For such migrants, it is difficult to define them by a family in a courtyard.
To avoid misreporting, India’s census takers have taken on the “hard work” of not only confronting the discrimination brought about by the caste system, but also overcoming barriers to faith, even in conflict-prone areas, risking their lives to survey the demographic situation. Census takers also use satellite maps to map the extent of the survey, sometimes using drones and real-time satellite positioning systems to assist.
U.S.: Census Affects House Seat Changes
In a country like the United States, how can you count every resident living in its territory? Every decade, the Census Bureau, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, tries to accomplish this “impossible task.”
Since 1790, the United States has collected census information every ten years. Each census is conducted in a year with a tail of 0. This stems from the mandatory provisions of the U.S. Constitution, and the census is required to determine each district’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1890, the U.S. Census began to use a variety of science and technology. At that time, the U.S. Census Bureau developed a new electrical equipment. After census workers punch each answer in the right place, the device can accumulate answers to the question. The answer card is then fed into the device used to count the results. The device was large, but at the time it was considered very advanced. Any tool that can speed up the pace of the census is considered significant because some of the census results must be ready within nine months of the census date.
Computer technology has since begun to play an important role in processing census data. In 2000, the main automation technologies used in the United States Census included data collection systems. The system is designed to control the use of “easy participant answers” census forms. The Census Bureau uses the capabilities of the National Processing Center and works with contractors operating three processing centers that provide data collection capabilities.
On April 26, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau released the results of the country’s 2020 census. The results show that the U.S. population has grown 7.4 percent to 331 million people over the past decade. The growth rate is the lowest since the 1930s. In the face of slow population growth in the United States, experts believe that this will exacerbate the aging of the population and other problems, but also show the decline in immigration to the United States, such as the number of people. The Associated Press quoted William Frey, an expert at the Brookings Institution, a US think-tank, as saying that even if the economy recovers, the slow pace of population growth in the US will not change.
Russia: Will be digitized for the first time and translated into Chinese
Russia’s census, originally scheduled for October 2020, has been temporarily postponed until September 2021, with the exact timing to be determined by government decree and preliminary results to be published in 2022. The last national census was conducted from 14 to 25 October 2010. According to the census results at that time, the population of Russia was 142905200.
Russia will conduct its first digital census, with all statisticians equipped with tablets equipped with electronic questionnaires, mapping and other applications, and most of the data collected digitally, according to previously announced news.
In addition, census documents will be translated into six Russian national languages, as well as four foreign languages, including Chinese.
Japan: Investigation to avoid contact during the Coronavirus
In September 2020, Japan’s five-yearly census was launched, with preliminary findings or published in June 2021. The survey, which targeted all Japanese people, including foreigners in Japan, asked a total of 16 questions on family composition, residence, residence five years ago and employment as at 1 October 2020.
Japan is trying to avoid contact as much as possible in this investigation because of Coronavirus pandemic. When some 610,000 investigators distribute questionnaires to households, they will be posted in the mailbox and introduced to the purpose and content through the walkie-talkie. After that, the public answered online and by mail.
If people don’t answer online or by mail, investigators will come back to collect the questionnaire.
Pakistan: Interrupted for 19 years
Pakistan’s constitution stipulates that the country conducts a census every 10 years. The country has conducted five censuses in its history, in 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981 and 1998. However, Pakistan’s sixth census was prolonged after the completion of the 1998 census due to lack of funds, political disputes and insufficient military capacity to ensure the safety of census takers.
On March 15, 2017, Pakistan launched another large-scale census 19 years later. The Pakistani government has invested nearly 300,000 people in this effort, and the census has been conducted in 63 districts throughout the country. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics divides the country into about 168,000 census blocks, each consisting of 250 to 300 houses, conducted by a census taker and accompanied by a Pakistani soldier.
In December 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government was considering comprehensive measures to control the country’s “excessive population growth”. According to official figures from Pakistan, the country had a population of about 207 million at the time.
United Nations: Global population to reach 9.7 billion by 2050
On June 17, 2019, a United Nations report said the world’s population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050. But population growth is expected to slow over the next few decades.
About half of the world’s new population over the next 30 years will be concentrated in nine countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States, according to the report, World Population Outlook 2019.
It is worth mentioning that India is forecast to overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2027.
