Some communities in Lungi in the Kafffu Bullom Chiefdom, north of Sierra Leone, reportedly decided not to stand up and be counted in this year’s census; an exercise that occurs every decade.
They claimed they were registered for food but that they did not received any food, so they will not be part the census.
Census involves a process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding population and housing and their geographical locations. Population characteristics include demographic, social and economic data. As a way to inform the community people about the importance of the census, a committee was set up to help disseminate vital information on the 2015 Census.
Speaking at the meeting, Paramount Chief Bai Shebora Sheba Gbereh III of Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, called on community people to be part of the 2015 census as it will help develop their community and also their country.
Stakeholders within the Lungi community explained how they would use the information they get to educate people in their communities.
In Sierra Leone censuses were conducted in 1963 and in 1974 but only the 1963 data are available to the general public. This volume attempts to meet the need for more recent data on all aspects of the population.
The primary data sources are the unpublished results of the 1974 census. Another important source of population data are the published results of the 1963 census. Available data from past censuses, from 1901 to 1974, provide some information for analyzing historical changes in the total population of the country.
The volume’s 13 chapters present information on the following: historical growth of the population; population distribution; population density; urbanization; sex ratios; age composition; national and ethnic composition; educational characteristics; economic characteristics (types of economic activity, economic activity rates, occupation, industry, employment status, and changes in economic characteristics); and components of population growth (fertility levels, mortality levels, and migration levels).
According to the 1974 census, the population of Sierra Leone was 2,735,159 distributed over the Western area and the 12 districts which make up the provinces. The population is fairly evenly spread over the country. The distribution of the population by districts is closely associated with the distribution of economic activities.
Kono District, the most populous district, is the centre of the diamond mining industry and produces cash crops, while the Western Area contains the country’s capital city of Freetown, which is the most important focus of industrialization and modernization in Sierra Leone.
The crude birth rates, general fertility rates, age specific fertility rate, and total fertility rate all show that the level of fertility in Sierra Leone is quite high. The crude birth rate for Sierra Leone has been estimated at 48.7/1000. The general fertility rate has been estimated at 206 live births/1000 women of child bearing ages.
In all districts, ages 20-24 years and 25-29 years were the most productive ages, together contributing over 42.0% of all births in each of the districts. For Sierra Leone, the total fertility rate has been estimated at 6.501/1000. The crude death rate has been estimated at 28.04/1000 and the infant mortality rate at 227/1000. Lifetime net migration rates show that only 4 out of 13 districts gained population as a result of migration.
All other districts experienced a net loss in population varying from 2.1% in Moyamba District to 24.2% in Bombali District.