Population Size, Growth and Age Distribution: Fourth Release from the 1961 Census of Pakistan

This review of the fourth census publication1 emanating from the latest census of Pakistan is third in a series2 of review articles on census publica¬tions by members of the Demographic Section of the Institute of Develop¬ment Economics, Karachi. In the meantime, a fifth3 publication has appear¬ed on the all-important subjects of literacy and education. Its review is being prepared. There is, however, this big difference between the reviews. The first review squeezed probably all possible information out of the first bulletin. The second review utilized quite a sizeable proportion of the information contained in the second and third release, but of necessity left the bulk unanalyzed. This review has no chance to do more than to skirt on the fringes of the information provided and to indicate possible lines of further enquiry. The publication under review will provide meat for researchers for many years to come. Their appetite will be further whetted by the promise that the main census reports will have nine tables devoted to age-and-sex distributions and marital status. Nevertheless, the information released is so fascinating and of such an importance for the country that even a preliminary discussion is justified.