Census of the population
The census is a statistical operation of enumeration of a population. Although demographic censuses have existed since antiquity, they have been truly implemented in a systematic way only from the Classical Age and even more from the advent of the nation-state. They served various purposes, including the distribution of taxes, knowledge of the number and wealth of the population and therefore the sovereign and military conscription. Today, censuses are mainly tools for economic forecasting. In addition to the number of inhabitants, they almost always indicate their age, occupation, housing conditions, commuting, home and work, and modes of transport. was their name and surname. Other personal data are sometimes collected, such as religion, language, or, as in the United States, "race".