Have You Been Counted Yet?

Yesterday we logged in via internet banking to provide information about the persons in our household. As a reminder, the 2011 census in Latvia is taking place from 1 March to 31 May 2011. During the first 10 days it is possible to complete the census forms online. In other words, just over 4 days remain to familiarise yourself with the electronic form and fill it in.

Census posters: Latvia 2011, USSR 1959

It is pleasing that the people of Latvia have moved decisively away from the Stone Age and that there is great activity in completing the electronic forms. Less pleasing - or, to be quite frank, not pleasing at all - is that state systems funded to the tune of several million are once again raising concerns about personal data leakage.

Data entry machine from the 1890 census (USA)

One question on the form is so convoluted that you cannot help but read it a second time to understand what is actually being asked of you. "What is/was the type of economic activity (sector) of the local operational unit of your main place of work?" - when in fact all you have to do is select a code from the occupational classifier for the profession in which you work.

It is pleasing that the concept of the "Latgalian language" appears in the census - not for nothing was an online petition organised for changes to the wording of the question about the language used in the family. The electronic form first asks about the main language with the primary option "Latvian." This is then followed by a clarifying question: "Do you use in your daily life a variety of the Latvian language - the Latgalian language?".

   

Census posters: Russia 1937, USA 1940, Japan 1920

From the history of the census (from CSB materials):

The first census was conducted in Courland in 1863 and in the towns of Vidzeme in 1867. The most comprehensive census of the 19th century was conducted in 1881. It covered Courland and Vidzeme. The first census to cover the entire territory of our country within its current borders was conducted in 1897.

Since the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, four censuses were conducted in the country during the period between the First and Second World Wars: in 1920, 1925, 1930 and 1935.

After the Second World War, as in other Baltic states that had been incorporated into the USSR, four censuses were conducted - in 1959, 1970, 1979 and 1989. The data from these censuses were used mainly for planning purposes. They were not available to the public or in general-use publications, and this applies especially to the 1979 census data.

The 2000 census was the first census since the restoration of Latvia's state independence. Thus this year's census is only the second since independence was restored.