Regent checks on progress of national census

AMMAN — Census takers started making field visits to households around the Kingdom on Monday as the 2015 national population census got under way.

HRH Prince Feisal, the Regent, visited the Department of Statistics (DoS) and checked on the procedures followed in implementing the population tally.

Prince Feisal was briefed on the technical procedures followed in carrying out the census through using modern international methods, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

DoS Director Qasem Zu’bi presented a briefing to the prince on the department's communications centre, which handles the census' organisation and administration, in addition to following up on work progress, replying to citizens' queries and presenting technical support for the tablet devices used by census takers.

Prince Feisal also checked on the data centre, which is equipped with modern devices to receive incoming data from the field, storing and processing it prior to extracting the census' final results, Petra added.

The Regent, who was accompanied by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and several senior officials, visited the department's geographical systems section, which relies on electronic maps in carrying out the census.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat on Monday said there are 43 operation rooms in the field and at the ministry, in addition to 300 centres, all working on implementing the census, supervising census takers and receiving notes from the field, Petra reported.

The census is a legal requirement conducted every 10 years, Ensour said in previous remarks.

The last census was carried out in 2004, putting the total number of the Kingdom’s population at 5.1 million.

According to the Interior Ministry, Jordan’s population is estimated to have reached around 8 million by 2015, but other unofficial figures indicate that the population of Jordan stands at nearly 9 million, including 2.5 million foreigners.

DoS said around 22,000 field researchers are conducting the national census, preparations for which have taken six months.