XI General Census of Population and Housing 1990

In Mexico, the conduction of censuses dates back to the Pre-Hispanic Era. The first known population counts were carried out in the year 1116 AD, when the second migration of the Chichimeca tribes arrived in the Valley of Mexico. During the Aztec Empire, records of provinces and towns were carried out to control the payment of taxes.

In the Colonial Era, the population censuses were diverse, whose oldest document is the Sum of Visits of Peoples, by alphabetical order prepared by the evangelizing friars in the 16th century, however, the most important statistical work of this period is the Revillagigedo Census, conducted between 1790 and 1791.

In the Independent Mexico, 3 works stand out for their importance: the work of Don Antonio de Valdes in 1831, also known as the Valdes Census; the General Statistics of the Republic by Don José María Pérez Hernández and the works of García Cubas and Lucas Alaman. However, it is until the Census of 1895 that the modern history of the Censuses of Population in Mexico started, being 11 to this date.

Mexico: Characteristics of the Censuses of Population conduction, from 1895 to 1990
Year	Date	Type of census	Report card	Form of registration
1895	October 20th	De facto a/	Family a/	Self-registration
1900	October 8th	De facto	Family a/	Self-registration
1910	October 27th	De facto	Family	Self-registration
1921	November 30th	De facto	Family	Self-registration
1930	May 15th	De jure	Collective (100 inhabitants)	Interview
1940	March 6th	De jure	Collective (80 inhabitants)	Interview
1950	June 6th	De jure	Collective (45 inhabitants)	Interview
1960	June 8th	De jure	Collective (50 inhabitants)	Interview
1970	January 28th	De jure	Collective (14 inhabitants)	Interview
1980	June 4th	De jure	Collective (10 inhabitants)	Interview
1990	March 12th	De jure	Collective (10 inhabitants)	Interview

a/ Three report cards were used: one for the present population, another for the passing population and one more for the absent; however, only in 1895 information was published separately for each type of population and also for the population de facto and for the present.

To generate statistics on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the country's total population, as well as the construction materials and services that they have in their housing units.

Every ten years, in years ending in zero.

Target population

The resident population, the households and the housing units.

Census unit

The individual, the household and the housing unit.

Census theme

• Characteristics of the housing unit
• Occupants of the housing unit
• Families or groups of people
• Demographic characteristics
• Cultural characteristics
• Educational characteristics
• Economic characteristics

Classifiers used

Own classifiers are used, some on them based on international recommendations.

• Mexican Classification of Economic Activities (CAE), 1990
• Mexican Classification of Occupations (CMO), 1990
• Catalog of indigenous languages, 1990
• Catalog of countries, 1990
• Catalog of kindship, 1990

Data collection instruments

• Questionnaire of the XI General Census of Population and Housing.

International recommendations

The recommendations of the United Nations on Population Censuses are followed, such as:

• Individual registration.- In addition to record the characteristics and services that each housing unit has, information of each and every one of its occupants is collected.
• Universality.- The census should cover the entire territory and housing units, as well as all people.
• Simultaneity.- Census data should be referred to one single moment. For the census of 1990, it is at zero hours of March 12th, 1990.
• Regularity.- Censuses must be conducted at regular intervals, usually every 10 years, in order to have comparable information that makes it possible to assess the past, accurately describe the present and foresee the future.

1990

National.

By state, municipality, locality and urban Basic Geostatistical Area (AGEB).

Until 1980, the conduction was carried out in one day. For the census of 1990, a five-day period was used (From March 12th to March 16th).