menage - Millennium Development Goals Indicators

The sovereign group, consisting of countries which were selfgoverningas of 31 December 1968, is set forth first; "non-sovereign"countries, formerly designated as "non-self-governing", follow, with anindication of who administers each is given in brackets following eachcountry name.In contrast to table 2, tables 3-43 show only those countries forwhich statistics are available. The names of these countries, like thosein table 2 are arranged in English alphabetical order within continentsand the continental order is the same as in table 2. But unlike table 2,countries are not sub-classified according to sovereignty and the nameof the administering authority is not shown except in those caseswhere confusion might result because two countries have identicalnames.Changes in country names in 1968Date3 July 1967Former NameFrench Somaliland31 Jan. 1968 Nauru NauruCurrent NameFrench Territoryof the Afarsand the Issas12 Mar. 1968 Mauritius Mauritius12June1968 South West NamibiaAfrica27 June 1968 Bonin Islands Bonin IslandsNature of ChangeChange of nameIndependenceIndepenJenceChange of nameReversion to Japanand inclusion inthe orefecture ofTokyoAs noted above, changes in name, administration and status whichoccurred during the calendar year 1968 are described in all tables; forconvenience, they are also set forth in chronological order below.Changes which occurred in 1967 and earlier years are assumed tohave been described in previous issues of the Demographic Yearbook.It should be emphasized that the designations employed and thepresentation of the material in this publication do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat ofthe United Nations concerning the legal status of any country orterritory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of itsfrontiers. They were adopted solely for the purpose of providing aconvenient geographic basis for the dccompanying statistical series.The same qualification applies to all notes and explanations concerningthe geographic units for which data are presented.6 Sept. 1968 Swaziland12 Oct. 1968 Equatorial~llineaSwazilandEquatorialGuineaEVALUATION OF QUALITY OF DATAIndependenceIndependenceThe attempt to differentiate demographic statistics according totheir degree of accuracy, begun in the 1959 issue, has been continuedin this Demographic Yearbook. Distinction is achieved through the useof two different type fonts-rorTl'ln type for relatively "reliable" dataand italics for those of lesser reliability. For a description of themethods used to evaluate the data, see the discussion under "Population"and "Vital Statistics", which follows.AREAStatistics of territorial expanse or geographic area are found intables 1 and 2. Table 2 shows the most recent area estimate for everygeographic unit of the world; table 1 shows aggregate area for theworld, 8 Major Areas and 22 Component Regions. Unless otherwisespecified, all of these figures are assumed to represent total area, thatis, they comprise the land area and inland waters (assumed to consistof major rivers and lakes) and exclude only polar regions and someuninhabited islands.Area is given in square kilometres, the conversion from square miles(if required) having been accomplished by equating 1 square mile to2.589988 square kilometres. Use of a different factor would giveslightly different results. Rounding also may affect the last digit of thevalue.Apparent inconsistency with previously published figures may bedue to the introduction of improved area estimates, to increases inactual land surface by reclamation, or to a change in the unit ofmeasurement used. In most cases it was possible to ascertain thereason for a revision but, failing this, the latest figures have neverthelessbeen accepted as correct and substituted for values previously on file.Some slight changes in area figures from those previously publishedare also due to the use of the factor given above (2.589988), whichwas adopted by the Statistical Office in 1965, replacing the factor of2.589998 previously used.SOURCES OF VARIATIONLack of international comparability between area statistics arisesprimarily from differences in definition. For example, area defined as"land and water" cannot be considered comparable to "land area"figures unless the amount of inland water is known to be negligible.Also the term "water area" may vary in meaning from one country toanother; in one, it may comprise only major rivers and lakes ("inlandwater" according to the standard), while in others, it may include, inaddition, coastal bays, inlets and gulfs. Variations of this type especiallyamong countries with long coastlines can impair international comparability.Another problem concerns the source of the area data. Some areafigures are based on surveys, carried out by modern scientific methods;others are simply conjectures based on random items of information.Some values are of recent origin, reflecting current knowledge andsignificant territorial changes up to the present time; others are notcurrent and may thereby fail to take cognizance of recent boundaryrectifications. Since neither the exact method of determining the areanor the precise definition of its composition and time reference isknown for all countries, the values in table 2 should not be consideredstrictly comparable from country to country.POPULATIONAlthough the feature subject of this issue of the DemographicYearbook is marriage and divorce statistics, population statistics arefound in 11 of the 42 tables. Five of these are tables which, beingconsidered basic recur each year; six new ones show cross-classificationsrequired for an understanding of the feature subject. Together,these statistics exemplify clearly the types of variation common topopulation data as a whole.SOURCES OF VARIATIONCertain types of variation will be readily seen in the data: viz,definitions and concepts of characteristics differ from country tocountry, and national classification schemes do not always conform tothe standard adopted for the Yearbook tables. These types of variationare noted on the tables whenever possible; they are also discussed inconnexion with specific tables 22 For further discussion, see Handbook of Population Census Methods:Vol. I, General Aspects of a Population Census; Vol. II, Economic Characteristicsof the Population; Vol. III, Demographic and Social Characteristics of thePopulation (United Nations publication, Sales No.: 58.XVII.6 (Vols. I, II, III)).7