The NEWS (Monrovia)
31 March 2008
Monrovia — The 2008 National Housing and Population Census ended Sunday following an extension of the enumeration period.
The Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) announced the extension of the enumeration period by three additional days - Friday to Sunday - to ensure that all Liberians and foreign nationals living in the country are counted.
Dr. Edward Liberty, Director of LISGIS said the enumeration process was expected to have officially ended Friday, but was extended to allow members of the population who are usually at work are not left out of the counting process.
"When we issued the press release, we were 85 percent to 90 percent complete. As a matter of fact, one or two counties have finished completely and are doing spot checking themselves," Liberty said.
The last census in Liberia was conducted in 1984 since than the country has not conducted such an exercise due to 14 years of civil war which also destroyed the databases and statistical information that once existed.
Liberia conducted its first census in 1962, twelve years later in 1974, and the last one a decade later in 1984, which returned a population of a little over 2 million.
Today, the exact population of the country is unknown; however, rough estimates put the country's population at over 3 million.
Demographic dynamics such as population size and growth, fertility and mortality rates, age structure, population distribution, and urbanization and migration significantly impact the socio-economic development of a country.
Such detailed information is essential to generate key indicators for the formulation of national and sectoral development plans, such as Liberia's Poverty Reduction Strategy.
The results of the census will also help in the monitoring and evaluation of progress made towards the attainment of various national and international development goals such as the Millennium Development Goals.
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