HEALTH AND POPULATION 56 1 



for the latter there seems to have been serious disparity between 

 censuses made in 1924 (2,771,132 persons), 1926 (1,877,113), and 

 1 93 1 (2,223,802). In parts of the Cameroons a card index record 

 of every individual, similar to that of the Belgian Congo, has been 

 started. 



In the Belgian Congo the anxiety felt in recent years as to the 

 alleged decline of the African population has given a stimulus 

 to much census work. The system adopted has been to establish 

 a register in the form of a card index at the headquarters of each 

 administrative division, with a card for every individual. The 

 cards are checked during annual visits, and by 1935 the system 

 was said to cover 91 per cent of the adult males in the Congo. 

 The Governor-General, Monsieur Ryckmans (1933) points out 

 that it has not been possible yet to cover every district in the 

 Congo or to maintain the records up to date, so a check has been 

 introduced in the form of accurate counts each year in sample 

 areas. By 1936 it was estimated that about one -sixteenth of the 

 total population was covered in this way. 



Systems of registration of vital events are at present reasonably 

 complete for Europeans, and in most countries for other non- 

 native races. For Africans, however, data are available only for 

 a small proportion of the population living mainly in urban areas. 

 In South Africa the registration of births and deaths has been 

 compulsory for all races in urban areas since 1923 and for Euro- 

 peans, Asiatics, and coloured races in the rural areas. Even in 

 the urban areas, however, accuracy is very doubtful in regard to 

 Africans in view of the large proportion of temporary residents. 

 In Southern Rhodesia it is stated that reHable vital statistics of 

 Africans are quite unobtainable at present. Northern Rhodesia 

 has instituted a registration of births, deaths, and marriages in 

 some 411 villages with 43,000 inhabitants, representing about 3 

 per cent of the total population; the efficiency of the system is 

 said, however, to be doubtful. Similarly in Nyasaland there is 

 compulsory registration in Fort Manning District with 35,000 

 inhabitants, or 2 per cent of the population. In Tanganyika all 

 registration of races other than Europeans is optional, while in 

 Kenya there is no such system at all, even in Nairobi and Mombasa. 

 Uganda has introduced voluntary registration for all provinces. 



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