ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Ministry of Planning put the number of Iraqis at over 46 million, according to an average of 90 percent of the preliminary results of the population count, as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani decided to extend the census in provinces where the enumerators did not manage to count all residents due to technical issues, and inter-province curfew by 24 hours.
The Higher Authority for the General Population Census put the lowest count in Baghdad at 80.48 percent and the highest in Wasit province at 98.68 percent.
The data shows that the count did not reach 100 percent in any province.
The body attributed the failure to include the entire population in the past 48 hours to technical shortcomings, adding that all the issues have been resolved and that the process will come to an end on Friday.
According to the Kurdistan Region’s planning ministry, the census extension period will include the Region, too.
A much-delayed nationwide population census began across Iraq on Wednesday, days after the initial stages started.
It is the first census to have covered all 18 provinces since 1987 when former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was in power, following repeated delays caused by years of war. A count in 1997 excluded the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaimani provinces.
The population census has run through two phases. The first phase of the process started on Saturday and ended on Tuesday, during which enumerators digitally recorded names of family members, dates of birth, relationships, and their genders. The second, and the major phase began on Wednesday. Enumerators since Wednesday morning have begun visiting households to verify the accuracy of the data collection and ask additional questions such as recent births or deaths. The entire census data are recorded based on the national identity card.
Iraq had initially planned to conduct a population census in 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus.
The ethnicity question was a key problem between Erbil and Baghdad before conducting the population census. Following several protests, the Iraqi government in April decided to hold the census without surveying people on their ethnicities.
Yet, some Kurdish officials and Yazidi lawmakers repeatedly voiced concerns over the census, citing alleged attempts at demographic change in disputed areas such as Kirkuk and Sinjar.
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