census

census, an enumeration of people, houses, firms, or other important items in a country or region at a particular time. Used alone, the term usually refers to a population census—the type to be described in this article. However, many countries take censuses of housing, manufacturing, and agriculture. Censuses, being expensive, are taken only at infrequent intervals: every 10 years in many countries, every 5 years or at irregular intervals in other countries. In noncensus years...