Iraq launches its first national census in nearly four decades

Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has begun its first nationwide population census in decades in a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions. The act of counting the population is also contentious. The census is expected to have profound implications for Iraq’s resource distribution, budget allocations and development planning. Minority groups fear that a documented decline in their numbers will bring decreased political influence and fewer economic benefits in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.