Mapping for the 2012 Rwandan General Population and Housing Census

Less common but more useful than the methods used to develop traditional map is the new Global Positioning System (GPS) based data capturing technology which has been used by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) in mapping the Enumeration Areas (EA) in the preparatory stages of the fourth Population and Housing Census of Rwanda which is slated to begin on August 15, 2012.

Maps will guide Census enumerators to the dwellings "imidugudu" they need to enumerate

This work, which has been conducted since fall of 2010, has also resulted in a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) database with detailed map data  including boundaries, location of main social and economic infrastructures (schools, health centers, hospitals, markets, etc.) as well as the areas of economic significance (plantations, mines, parks, forest reserves, etc). The details pertain to more than 14,738 villages and landmarks in all administrative units of the country.

The mapping work was accomplished by the NISR cartographers who not only went to capture the GPS coordinates in the field but also plotted the maps. These maps in hard copy are now ready for use  as a guiding tool by around 16,500 enumerators – one for each enumeration area - who will visit every household in his/her EA across the country to record census information.

Also, these maps will allows enumerators to record comparable data from the actual exercise of the Census with the data collected in the field during the mapping phase.

This is the 4th General Population and Housing Census to be conducted in Rwanda which will cover the entire population and households of the country. In Rwanda it’s been conducted once after every 10 years since 1978.

Read the related article in "ArcNews", Fall 2011 Edition:  http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall11articles/gis-supports-rwandas-2012-census.html