The
Union of Myanmar conducted a Population Changes and Fertility Survey (PCFS)
in January 1991 as an intercensal activity following the 1983 census.
Myanmar has a long history of census-taking and vital registration. When the
present survey was planned in the mid-1980s, however, there had never been
a large-scale, nationally representative demographic survey.
Detailed data on fertility mortality and migration at national level did not
exist. While the 1983 census has been carried out successfully and provided
invaluable information on demographic, economic and social conditions in the
country, it was felt that in Myanmar, as in other countries, the census should
be supplemented by more detailed data from a well organized and executed sample
survey.
The
Population Changes and Fertility Survey project had two long range and three
immediate objectives (Union of Burma 1987).
To develop a system for generating periodic estimates of demographic indicators
for policy formulation and development planning.
To
develop a core of staff experienced in population data collection and analysis.
L1:
L2:
To generate estimates of fertility, mortality, migration and related variables
at the national and subnational level.
To produce reports on the household and individual surveys, to include summaries
of findings; important tables; analyses of fertility, mortality and migration.
To have developed within the Immigration and Manpower Department (IMPD) of the
Ministry of Home Affairs the capability to plan, carry out
and manage population data collection, processing and analysis.
I1:
I2:
I3:
This
final survey report addresses the first and second immediate objectives.
The Union of Myanmar (formerly Burma) is the westernmost country in Southeast
Asia, bordering Bangladesh and northeastern states of India on the west, China,
Laos and Thailand to the north and east, with seacoasts on the India Ocean and
the Andaman sea in the south and the west.
Myanmar’s climate is tropical, with monsoon rains from mid-May to mid-October.
Population and economy concentrated on riverine and coastal plains, with large
areas of the country mountainous and difficult to access. The total land area
of the country is 676,578 square kilometers (261,228 square miles).
The most recent census, taken as of 31 March 1983, enumerated a population of
34.1 million persons, of which one quarter was urban. The most recently available
intercensal growth rate, for 1973-83, was 2.0 percent per annum. Percent urban
increased by about one half of one percent during the intercensal period.
Statistical
activity in Myanmar has a long history. Experience of census taking extends
back to 1872, and decennial censuses were taken from
that year through 1941. Following independence in 1948 an attempt was made to
take a new census in 1953 in three stages, but the third stage
was abandoned in 1955 due to the unsettled conditions in the country.
A census was planned for 1963, and most of the preparatory work, including block
delineation and questionnaire design, was completed, only to have the project
halted at the last moment due to a change in government.
Thus despite the long gap between the national censuses of 1941 and 1973, census
work did not cease, and knowledgeable and experienced staff were available in
the Immigration and Manpower Department.
The
main report of the 1973 census were published in the Myanmar Language, number
as well as text, with a single English Language Union volume.
The 1983 report are in English. Volumes for the Union as a whole and for each
state or division are available for both these censuses, along with various
supplementary reports. A census planned for 1993 was postponed pending the drafting
of a new constitution.
Vital
registration in Myanmar has a long history as well, but registration covers
almost all of urban population and only about half the rural population.
Vital registration does however provide a useful lower bound for the level
of mortality since independence (Nyan Myint 1991,Table 1), recording infant
mortality rates of well over 200 per thousand during the years following independence.
Two
other population surveys were taken in Myanmar around the time of the PCFS.
In late 1990 the Ministry of Labor conducted a lobor force survey, and in early
1991, the PCFS, a survey of infant mortality was taken by the Department of
Planning and Statistics of the Ministry of Health (Aung Tun Thet et.al. 1991).
