Macao to Conduct Population CensusChina's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will take the 14th census as of Thursday.Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao SAR, attended an inauguration ceremony for the event, which will last for ten days. The 2001 census will target all the residents including locals and non-locals in Macao. Slogans are seen here and there in the streets calling on the Macao residents to support the census with a budget of 26 million patacas (3.25 million U.S. dollars). Nearly 2,800 census takers will visit more than 210,000 buildings to collect the information of the residents including sex, age, education background and occupation, according to authorities from the Statistics and Census Services. The large-scale census is taken once a decade. The first one was conducted as early as 1867, when Macao's population stood at 81,500; the figure soared to 355,700 in the latest census in 1991. At present, Macao's population is estimated at roughly 440,000. The authorities said that the 2001 census will help the SAR government map out more efficient development plans. Census takers made a pledge to be honest to duty and do a good job. The Postal Office announced at the ceremony that Macao will issue a set of special stamps that mark the event. |
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