Global Census Archive (GCA)

200+ countries, Early 19th century–current,

Over 7 million pages and growing

A global aggregation initiative to collect the world’s census data in all its formats

Census information, in all forms, matters—now more than ever—with conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, and global population growth (or contraction in some cases) driving massive human migration, infrastructure development, and public policy challenges. The East View Global Census Archive® (GCA) is an innovative program to collect official data and publications issued by the national census authorities of more than 200+ countries, from the early 19th century to the present day, providing a key resource for scholars and analysts to find current and historical census data to support critical research into our changing world.

More than numbers: Census data provide unparalleled insight into the world’s demographic, social, and economic development

GCA provides a single platform experience to explore the world’s census publications: all countries and regions, the complete depth of published census materials, including original census publications in e-book form, as well as modern tabular data in Excel format and GIS files for advanced users. This truly global collection contains all available primary source and official census publications associated with a given census. GCA currently contains millions of pages of publications and billions of data points in GIS format, with more content continually added as new censuses are produced across the globe. Users can browse historical publications as full-image, full-text e-books (in any language), download tabular data in Excel format (for born-digital publications), and download GIS data (e.g., shape files of administrative boundaries)—all from a unified discovery interface. GCA simplifies access and increases the discoverability of demographic data from the world’s census publications. Research and analysis is improved with e-books that are fully machine-searchable, with full-image, cover-to cover browsing of original census publications (as well as important supplementary primary source materials, such as original census questionnaires and ephemera), plus the ability to download a variety of GIS and tabular data files to complement existing modern census collections.

What kinds of materials are included in Global Census Archive?

Global Census Archive provides a centralized platform for all available published content that accompanies the release of a census. Census publications present a wealth of information and provide a comprehensive picture of results, particularly in the case of older census rounds for which GIS data may not be available.

While the availability and type of materials will vary by country and year, examples of typical census publications include:

  • Official results (analytical and tabular)
  • Questionnaires
  • Survey forms
  • Maps, atlases
  • Methodological and preparatory works
  • Public campaign literature
  • Newspaper and journal articles
  • Conference materials
  • Legislative works
  • East View-produced census catalog
  • MARC records (available upon request)

GIS Data

Since the 2000s, authorities around the world have increasingly made their census outputs available as geographic information system (GIS) data. East View acquires the official outputs and formats the data into an easy-to-use geodatabase. These East View-created datasets are tailor-made for instant analysis and visualization using any GIS software. GIS datasets on the GCA platform include:

  • Administrative boundary vector data
  • Feature classes
  • Shapefiles
  • Full attribute level metadata
  • A GIS data dictionary with native language and English-translated variables
  • All data and files are hosted on the platform itself. No need to worry about storing data within your institution. Researchers have easy access to GIS data and can download individual components of the dataset with the click of a button.

▇Download GIS data title list   ▇View demo of GIS census data

If there is a particular country or census year of interest, please send a mail and contact us.
If there is a particular country or census year of interest, please send a mail and contact us.
If there is a particular country or census year of interest, please send a mail and contact us.

GCA Platform Features:

With a majority of the content spanning from the 1800s to today, the GCA platform currently includes over 30,000 items and 7 million pages of content, with over 200 countries and dozens of languages represented. This includes censuses that span the globe from the Americas, Africa, Australia and Oceania, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

  • IP authentication
  • Usage statistics
  • Unlimited simultaneous users
  • Cross-searching across censuses from around the world that are hosted on the platform
  • Full-image/full-text content
  • Page-level digitization with hit-term highlighting
  • Full-screen browsing
  • Clipping and text extraction tools
  • Citation generator in MLA, APA, Chicago, and RIS format
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