2. PAKISTAN’S EXPERIENCE IN CENSUS GEOGRAPHY AND THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
PRESENTATION FOR U.N. WORKSHOP ON CENSUS CARTOGRAPHY AND MANAGEMENT, BANGKOK, THAILAND OCTOBER, 2007

3. CENSUS HISTORY
1. FIRST REGULAR CENSUS IN THE AREAS NOW COMPRISING PAKISTAN WAS HELD IN 1881.
2. SINCE THEN REGULAR CENSUSES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED AFTER EVERY TEN YEARS IN THE YEAR ENDING AT ONE.
AFTER INDEPENDENCE FIVE CENSUSES HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN IN 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981 AND 1998.
4. FIFTH CENSUS DUE IN 1991 COULD NOT BE CONDUCTED AS SCHEDULED DUE TO SOME ADMINISTRATIVE/POLITICAL REASONS BUT WAS UNDERTAKEN IN MARCH, 1998.

4. INTRODUCTION TO POPULATION CENSUS ORGANIZATION
ESTABLISHED IN 1950 UNDER THE CENSUS ACT,1949 AS PART OF MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS ( INTERIOR)
AFTER 1972 CENSUS, CENSUS ORGANIZATION WAS ESTABLISHED ON PERMANENT FOOTING AND MADE AN ATTACHED DEPARTMENT OF MINISTRY OF INTERIOR
WITH THE CREATION OF REGISTRATION ORGANIZATION IN 1973, BOTH THE DEPARTMENTS WERE MERGED IN 1976 TO BE CALLED “CENSUS & REGISTRATION ORGANIZATION”
IN MARCH 1978, THE CENSUS ORGANIZATION WAS DETACHED FROM “CENSUS & REGISTRATION ORGANIZATION” AND MADE AN ATTACHED DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS DIVISION
CURRENT ORGANIZATIONAL SETUP OF POPULATION CENSUS ORGANIZATION.

6. ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS IN PAKISTAN

7. NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS
PROVINCE/
ADMN. UNIT
DISTRICT
 CITY DISTRICT
TEHSIL/
TALUKA
 QH/
STC
PC/
TC/ UC
MAUZA/
DEH/
VILLAGE
UNION
COUNCIL
TOWNS OF
CITY
DISTRICTS
TOTAL
URBAN
AREAS
N.W.F.P. 23 1 51
122
1212
7326
957 4 54
PUNJAB 30 5
109
751
7390
25930
3466 38
213
SINDH 22
103
250
1437
5872
1080 18
157
BALOCHISTAN 29
128
134
367
6584
506 2 46
TOTAL:-
104 8
391
1257
10406
45712
6009 62
470
ISLAMABAD - 26
132
F.A.T.A. 7 42 76
403
2603
AZAD KASHMIR 20
351
1653
NORTHERN AREAS 6 21
100
566
GRAND TOTAL:-
126
475
1417
11286
50666
6055
499

8. GEOGRAPHIC ACTIVITIES OF PCO
THE GEOGRAPHIC ACTIVITIES WHICH CONSTITUTE A MAJOR PART OF CENSUS PREPARATORY WORK ARE AS UNDER:
UPDATING OF MAUZA/DEH/VILLAGE MAPS
UPDATING OF URBAN AREA MAPS
FINALIZATION OF AREA LISTS
DELIMITATION OF CENSUS AREAS
GEO-CODING OF CENSUS AREAS

9. UPDATING OF MAUZA/DEH/VILLAGE MAPS
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MAUZAS/DEHS/VILLAGES IN PAKISTAN ARE OVER 50,000
SEPARATE MAPS FOR EACH OF THESE UNITS WERE INITIALLY PREPARED IN 1990 FOR THE CONDUCT OF LAST CENSUS
THE SAME MAPS HAVE BEEN UPDATED PARTLY BY PCO STAFF AND PARTLY BY STAFF OF REVENUE DEPARTMENT OF EACH PROVINCE, ETC. FOR FIELD USE IN THE CENSUS 2008

10. UPDATING OF URBAN MAPS
THE NUMBER OF URBAN AREAS IN PAKISTAN IS 499. TWO TYPES OF MAPS OF EACH OF THESE AREAS HAVE BEEN PREPARED
MASTER MAPS SHOWING THE WHOLE URBAN AREA TO BE USED BY THE SUPERVISORS
MAP OF EACH URBAN CENSUS CIRCLE TO BE USED BY THE CIRCLE SUPERVISORS AND BLOCK ENUMERATORS
BOTH TYPE OF MAPS USED IN THE 1998 CENSUS HAVE BEEN UPDATED THROUGH FIELD VISITS BY PCO STAFF

11. FINALIZATION OF AREA LISTS
THE AREA LIST IS THE LIST OF RURAL AND URBAN ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS FOR WHICH CENSUS RESULTS ARE TABULATED AND PUBLISHED
WITH THE CREATION OF NEW UNITS AND RECONSTITUTION OF THE EXISTING UNITS DURING INTER-CENSAL PERIOD, THE LISTS PREPARED AT THE TIME OF ONE CENSUS REQUIRE UPDATING BEFORE USE IN THE NEXT CENSUS
BEFORE TAKING UP SUCH UPDATING, BOUNDARIES OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS ARE FROZEN AND FRESH LISTS ARE COLLECTED FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES
THE PROCESS OF COLLECTION AND FINALIZATION OF MAUZA/DEH LISTS IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS

12. DELIMITATION OF CENSUS AREAS
TO ENSURE COMPLETE COVERAGE OF AREA/POPULATION AND FOR EFFECTIVE FIELD SUPERVISION, THE COUNTRY IS TRADITIONALLY DELIMITED ON A FOUR-TIER SYSTEM WHICH INCLUDE:
CENSUS DISTRICT (TEHSILS/TALUKAS, BIG URBAN LOCALITIES AND CANTONMENTS)
CENSUS CHARGE (QANUNGO/STC, TOWN/PART OF TOWN)
CENSUS CIRCLE (PATWAR CIRCLE/TC, PART OF URBAN LOCALITY)
CENSUS BLOCKS (MAUZA/PART OF MAUZA/URBAN LOCALITY/AREA OF APPROXIMATELY HOUSES)
THE BOUNDARIES OF CENSUS AREAS ARE COEXTENSIVE WITH ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS

14. GEO-CODING OF CENSUS AREAS
A UNIQUE NINE DIGIT CODE WILL BE ASSIGNED TO IDENTIFY EACH CENSUS BLOCK
BREAK-UP OF THESE NINE DIGITS IS GIVEN AS UNDER:
FIRST THREE DIGITS: CENSUS DISTRICT
NEXT TWO DIGITS: CENSUS CHARGE
NEXT TWO DIGITS: CENSUS CIRCLE
LAST TWO DIGITS: CENSUS BLOCK

15. USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN
CENSUS MAPPING
THE ENTIRE MAPPING TILL THE LAST CENSUS IN 1998 WAS DONE THROUGH TRADITIONAL MANUAL TECHNIQES
SOME AUTOMATION IN CENSUS MAPPING HAS BEEN INTRODUCED RECENTLY
THE SOFTWARE BEING USED BY PCO FOR MAPPING PURPOSES IS “MAPTITUDE”
THE CENSUS DISTRICTS DELIMITED FOR 2008 CENSUS HAVE BEEN DIGITIZED AND THE PROGRESS OF FIELD ACTIVITIES WOULD BE MONITORED THROUGH GIS
IT IS PLANNED THAT CENSUS FIELD USE MAPS UP TO CHARGE LEVEL FOR CENSUS WOULD BE COMPUTER GENERATED
DEMONSTRATION OF 1998 CENSUS ATLAS OF PAKISTAN (IF TIME ALLOWS)

16. THANKS