Table of contents

I.
General issues
Control arrangements
Requirements for completing the census documents

II.
Directions for completing the list of those usually (permanently) living in the dwelling and their housing conditions (Form 2P)

III.
Directions for recording answers to questions of the enumeration questionnaire (Form 3N)

IV.
Directions for recording answers to questions of the enumeration questionnaire for those temporarily present on the territory of the Republic of Belarus (Form 4E)

Annex: "Supporting table for determining the number of years by the known year of birth as of 16 February 1999".

1. General issues

1. The Population Census in the Republic of Belarus is to be conducted from 16 to 23 February 1999. Completing the census documents is to be started from 8 a.m. on 16 February and continued 8 days (to 23 February inclusive). The census moment (reference time) is set 12 p.m. on the night from 15 to 16 February (i.e. children born after and persons who died before that moment are not to be included in the census documents).

2. The enumeration is to be carried out by enumerators who must visit all housing units located in the territory of their enumerations areas (districts) where people live or may live, including premises occupied by organizations, enterprises, and institutions.

3. All inhabitants permanently (usually) residing in each housing unit are to be enumerated, including those persons who at the census moment were found temporarily absent.
The temporarily present (staying) in a given housing unit citizens of the Republic of Belarus who reside in other places are to be only listed in the check census list.
The population is to be enumerated at their permanent (usual) place of residence.
The permanent place of residence is considered the locality, house or apartment where a person interviewed usually spends the most of time. The place may coincide or may not with the address where a person is registered.
Explanations of the procedures of enumerating selected population categories and exceptions to these are given below.

4. Students of higher and secondary specialized education establishments and of vocational schools living at places of their training are to be enumerated at the place of their tuition, but not at home

5. Military personnel drafted for a fixed period (except those called up for periodical training) are to be enumerated at the place of their service, but not at home.

6. Citizens of the Republic of Belarus working in diplomatic or other representative offices outside the country and their families living with them are to be enumerated by the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the representative offices and consulates on the territory of the country they live in. Those persons are not to be entered
into lists of residents or census questionnaires at their permanent places of residence.

7. Persons who left the country for education, tourism, on business mission, to visit their relatives or friends, etc., are to be enumerated at their permanent place of residence in the Republic of Belarus, irrespective of the duration of their absence from the country at the census moment. In case of their application to the representations or consulates of the Republic of Belarus abroad, control enumeration forms are to be made for them and forwarded to their places of residence in the Republic of Belarus.

8. Persons who left the country for work for the period of a year or less are to be enumerated at the place of their permanent residence in the Republic of Belarus.

9. Persons working abroad more than one year by the census moment are not to be included in the lists of residents and enumerations forms at places of their permanent residence in the Republic of Belarus.

10. Persons living in institutions of confinement are to be enumerated at those places, but not at home. Only persons who are under examination and also those detained by administrative order for the period up to 15 days are to be enumerated at places of their usual residence.

11. While interviewing inhabitants of a given housing unit the enumerator must clear up if the household or some members thereof have other places of residence (except for cases mentioned above). If yes, it should be ascertained where the person is to be enumerated. The preference is to be given to the place where the household of a person interviewed resides.

The same procedure is applied to persons who work in watches.

12. Foreigners permanently living in the Republic of Belarus (i.e. persons only having citizenship of a foreign country) and those stateless are to be enumerated at the place of their residence in a usual way.

13. Citizens of the Republic of Belarus who have arrived in Belarus from foreign countries (CIS countries inclusive) for permanent residence, but have not received the certificate of registration yet, are to be enumerated as residents in the Republic of Belarus in the place of their residence at the time of census.

14. Foreign citizens and stateless persons who reside permanently abroad and arrived in the Republic of Belarus to work, the duration of their stay at the time of census being over a year, are to be enumerated as residents in the Republic of Belarus in the place where the census found them.

15. The following categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons temporarily residing in the territory of the Republic of Belarus at the time of census are also to be enumerated:

For those persons forms 4E are to be completed.

16. Persons without permanent residence are to be enumerated where the census found them (e.g., the homeless or persons moving from one permanent residence to another).
In institutions with moving population (e.g., in hospitals or hotels, etc.) only those persons who have no other residence are to be enumerated.

17. The census documents (forms 2P, 3?. 4E), as well as control enumeration questionnaires and check counters are to be completed by the enumerator through interviewing the population.

In the event that someone of inhabitants of the housing unit is absent during the enumerator's visit, the latter may record his (her) details from other households members in case they are able to provide irrefragable answers to all questions of the census documents. If the household members fail to supply necessary information, the enumerator must put the family name, first name, and patronymic of the person absent on the list and respective questionnaire and question him (her) personally during the second visit or by phone.

Control arrangements

18. For all persons temporarily residing in a given housing unit or maintaining more than one place of residence, the control documents are prescribed to be completed: control questionnaire or control counter. Those persons are issued enumeration certificates.

19. The control questionnaire is to be completed for all temporarily residing inhabitants of a given housing unit who were present there on the night from 15 to 16 February, excluding citizens temporarily residing in the territory of the Republic of Belarus who permanently live abroad (persons listed in item 15). For persons temporarily present who came to the housing unit after the moment of enumeration, as well as for persons in hospitals, hotels and other institutions with moving population, the control questionnaire is only to be completed if those persons inform that nobody is able to provide their details to the census personnel in their usual residence.

In case the enumerator meets a person having more than one place of residence (excluding cases listed in items 4-6, 9-10) and after deciding the place where the person in question is to be enumerated, the other address is chosen, the enumerator must, in view that the person interviewed has no enumeration certificate, complete for him (her) a control counter.

When completed, control enumeration questionnaires are to be delivered to the supervisor. Later the control questionnaires will be used to check if persons have been really enumerated in their usual residences. The control questionnaires are to be numbered in series as those are completed using the single consecutive numbering within the enumeration district, with the note being made in the notebook of the enumerator on the number of control questionnaires made in a given housing unit.

20. In case the enumerator meets a person having more than one place of residence (excluding cases listed in items 4-6, 9-10) and after deciding the place where the person in question is to be enumerated, the given housing unit is chosen, the enumerator must put this person on the list of usual residents in the dwelling and their housing conditions (form 2P), complete form 3N for him (her), and also make a control counter and enumeration certificate to be shown to the enumerator at the other place of residence.

The control counters are to be numbered using the single consecutive numbering within the enumeration district and delivered to the supervisor as those are completed. The enumerator is to mark in his (her) notebook how many control counters have been completed in each housing unit. Later those control counters will be used to check the correctness of the enumeration taken.

21. Enumeration certificates are also to be issued to those who do not have permanent places of residence (those moving from one permanent place of residence to another if the enumeration found them on the way; the homeless). The certificate is to be also issued to those persons who intend in the period of enumeration and control visit, i.e. from 16 to 28 February 1999, to leave for another place at least for one day.

22. After the enumeration has been over, a selective control visiting round is to be taken. In urban settlements and rural areas the control visits are to be taken in all enumeration districts with a 10% coverage of dwellings. The purpose of the control visits is to check if omissions or double recording took place and if the records relating to those temporarily absent are correct.

The control visits are to be taken by the supervisor together with the enumerator during the period from 24 to 28 February inclusive.

In the housing units intended for control visits the supervisor (or enumerator) must check if all persons, including those arriving after 15 February, were enumerated.
For all persons, both permanently residing in the dwelling and those temporarily present, it is necessary to find out where those persons were on the night from 15 to 16 February.

For persons subject to enumeration in this dwelling but omitted by the enumerator, enumeration questionnaires are to be completed by the supervisor (or enumerator). If necessary (see items 19, 20), the control documents (control enumeration questionnaire and control counter) are also to be made.

Requirements for completing census documents

23. Answers to the questions of the enumeration questionnaires and control enumeration questionnaires are to be recorded in words or numbers, or the codes of answers posed are to be encircled.

All records and labels in the census documents are to be made with a ball-point pen.
If answers of persons enumerated are recorded on the census documents in words or numbers, this is to be done in a special zone or in special boxes limited by black lines and intended for answers to relevant questions. Enumerators are prohibited
to complete boxes on the enumeration questionnaires limited by colour lines, which are intended for coding answers by statistical personnel.

The census documents are to be protected from crumpling, staining, folding, and breaking.

In case of incorrect completing of the census documents, erroneous codes, numbers or records are to be neatly crossed out and replaced (or encircled) by those correct.

II. Directions for completing the list of those usually (permanently) living in the dwelling and their housing conditions (Form 2P)

1. A separate list is to be made for:

2. The lists are to be numerated using the single consecutive numbering within the enumeration district with the No. of list being specified in the enumerator's notebook. Also to be indicated on the list is the address of the dwelling and the following details: No. of the census division, instructor (supervisor) district, enumeration district, and No. of the list of residents in the dwelling. The enumerator is not to enter the No. of the form. If the list is made in an institution, in its address part under the line "Institution", the type of the institution is to be indicated, e.g.,: boarding-house for war and labour veterans No. 6, hotel, etc.

If more than two households live in a given housing unit or the number of those living exceeds 8 persons, two lists are to be made with the same No. In this case, the letter "a" is to be put down on the first list (in the headline) after the No. and the letter "b" on the second one, etc. (e.g., 16a, 16b, 16c). All lists must bear the address and details.

Section I. The list of residents in the dwelling

3. The private household is defined as a group of people sharing the same housing unit and jointly keeping the house, i.e. fully or partially pooling their individual budgets for common expenditures for food and everyday needs or those having a common budget and obeying common rules.

Persons outside private households (institutional population) are residents in infant's and children's homes, boarding-schools for orphans and children without parental care, boarding houses for the aged and invalids, hospitals for chronic patients, religious institutions (e.g., monasteries), prisons and correctional labor colonies, military barracks, and other similar institutions, i.e. groups of people living together who usually have common objectives, obey common rules and share common meals (excluding the service staff).

4. Before completing the list in each dwelling the enumerator must find out:

Based on this interrogation the enumerator is to determine relying on the given instruction, who is subject to enumeration in this dwelling and what documents are to be completed for each person.

5. All residents in the dwelling are to be entered in the list in households. If several households live in the dwelling, first all members of one household are to be recorded and then all members of the other household, etc.

6. Within each household, first one of the adult members of the household is to be listed and then all other household members. Herewith the following order of recording household members is to be observed:

7. Each person recorded in the first column is given the serial number within the dwelling. In addition, each household member in column 2 is given the serial number within the household and the household consisting of one person is given No 1.

Persons outside private households (institutional population) in column 2 of form 2P are given the serial number 1. Exclusions are those who have kin or in law relations (e.g., husband and wife in a boarding house for aged and invalids or brother and sister in a children's home, etc.). In this case the husband and the wife are to be recorded one after another and in column 2 of form 2P they are given numbers 1 and 2 respectively. The brother and the sister are to be recorded similarly, etc.

The family name, first name and patronymic of each person are to be put down in full in column 3.

8. For persons absent at the moment of count at their places of residence, in column 4 of the list the reason of absence is to be indicated (e.g., "business trip") and in column 5 -- the duration of absence (e.g., 3 months). If the absence lasted less than a month, the note "less than a month" is to be entered.

Those temporarily absent are persons usually (permanently) living in the dwelling, but at the moment of census having appeared absent, except for cases listed in items 4-6, 9-10 of the General Issues.

For persons present at home at the moment of census, in columns 4 and 5 dashes are to be filled in.

Section II. Housing conditions of the population

The Section II "Housing conditions of the population" is to be completed for housing units in which private households live.

For persons living in institutions (infant's and children's homes, boarding-schools for orphans and children without parental care, boarding houses for the aged and invalids, military barracks, prisons, and other similar institutions (excluding service staff)), as well as for private households living in hotels, railroad cars, and other temporary premises, including those for the homeless, only the answer to question 1P is to be completed.

Answers to questions 1P -- 4P are to be filled in for dwellings where the households recorded in section I of the list of residents (form 2P) live.

If several forms 2P are to be made for a dwelling, questions 1P -- 4P are to be completed on the first form.

Answers to questions 5P -- 7P are to be completed for each private household, residing in this dwelling. If more than two households live in a dwelling, then two or more forms 2P are to be made.

For households renting rooms from individuals, in question 5P of the section only code 4 "rents rooms from individuals" is to be marked. The other questions of the section "Housing conditions of the population" are not to be completed.

Question 1P. Type of dwelling
The code is to be marked, which corresponds to the prompt wanted.

"Detached house" is to be marked when one household occupies the whole one-flat house (irrespective of ownership).

If two or more households live in such a house, for each "part of detached house" is to be marked, even if the house is owned by one person.

If a house comprises two or more flats, then in accordance with the type of occupancy the items "separate flat" or "shared flat " are to be marked.

If one household occupies a separate flat, the item "separate flat" is to be marked.

The separate flat is a dwelling used and equipped for permanent residence, which consists of one or more rooms, is separated from other premises by main walls (or by double partitions), and has a separate exit to the staircase, common hall or passage or directly to the street or yard, and is occupied by one household.

If more than one household lives in a flat, the item "shared flat" is to be marked (even if only one customer account exists for the flat). The same item is to be marked for households living in the corridor-type houses, which are not hostels.

If a household lives in a detached house or in a separate flat, but only occupies part of the floor space of the house or flat and gives the remaining part in rent, this household is to be considered to live in a detached house or separate flat.

For households living in hostels (irrespective of the type of building: whether apartment, corridor, sector or hut type), the item "hostel" is to be marked.

"Boarding house for the aged and invalids, children's home, etc." is to be marked for people living in boarding houses (homes) for the aged, invalids and children-invalids, infant's and children's homes, boarding-schools for orphans and children without parental care, etc. (excluding the service staff).

"Other institutions" is to be marked for those living in monasteries, military barracks, etc.

If a household lives in a trailer, hovel, tent, etc., the item "other dwelling" is to be marked.

"Non-residential premises used for human habitation" is to be used for households living in garages, stockrooms, school classrooms, booths, stables, etc.

"Homeless" is to be marked for persons without permanent residence (tramps). They carry their small property along and sleep in the street, in porches or in other places, all those places being more or less casual for them.

Question 2P. Period of the house construction

Answers to this question are to be completed based on form 1-?? (characteristics of dwellings), excluding those households living in private housing stock where the questions are to be completed through interviewing.

One of codes is to be marked, which corresponds to the item wanted.

While determining the year of construction, the year of putting the house into operation is to be marked. E.g., if the construction of a residential house started in 1990 and ended in 1991, the period "1991-1995" is to be marked. If the house was reconstructed, built on or enlarged, the year of putting it into operation is to be considered the year of its first construction.

Question 3P. Material of outer walls

Answers to this question are to be completed based on form 1-?? (characteristics of dwellings), excluding those households living in private housing stock where the questions are to be completed through interviewing.

One of codes is to be marked, which corresponds to the item wanted.

If a house is made of bricks, natural or artificial stone, the item "bricks, stone" is to be marked.

If a house is made of concrete or reinforced concrete blocks and panels, slag blocks or its walls are filled with slag, the item "concrete, reinforced concrete, blocks, panels" is to be marked.

If the walls of a house are made of wood (blocks or logs) or of prefabricated wood boards, the item "wood" is to be marked.

"Wood" is also to be marked if a wooden house is coated with bricks.

If the first floor (half or part of a house) is made of bricks or stone, but the second floor (half or part of a house) is wooden, the item "mixed material" is to be marked.

If the walls of a house are made of adobe blocks, prefabricated panels, etc (those coated with bricks inclusive), or of any other materials not mentioned above, the item "other material" is to be marked.

When the walls of a house are made of several different materials, they are to be related to the prevailing group of materials used in the construction.

Question 4P. Availability of essential facilities

The codes are to be marked that correspond to one or more prompts offered.

A dwelling is considered equipped with:

A house with a detached kitchen (a special capital building intended for cooking), in which a floor electric cooker is installed is also considered equipped with a floor electric cooker;


A house with a detached kitchen, in which a floor gas cooker is installed, is also considered to be equipped with gas supply;


A house with a detached kitchen is also considered equipped with water supply if a water tap connected to the water supply net is installed in the kitchen.

If there is a hydrant (a water pump) in the yard, but there is no water supply to the house, such dwelling is not to be considered equipped with water supply;

A house where the water supply is not available is not to be considered equipped with flush toilet.

A dwelling, in which a bath (shower) is installed but there is no sewerage available, is not to be considered equipped with bath or shower.


If one or another facility of a dwelling is temporarily idle (because of damage, repair or other reasons), the dwelling is to be considered equipped with these types of facilities.

If there is none of the above-mentioned facilities in a dwelling, the item "no specified facilities" is to be marked.

Questions 5P - 7P. are to be completed for households.

Before completing questions 5P - 7P, in a special box of the line "No. of the first member of the household within the dwelling" the serial number is to be entered, under which the person recorded first in the household is specified in column 1 of section 1 of the list of residents in the dwelling. In accordance with the example given on page 10, the following numbers of "the first members of households within the dwelling" are to be inserted: for Tikhonov's household -- No. 1, for Rulev's household -- No. 3, for Bulgakhov's household -- No. 4.

Question 5P. Who owns the dwelling?

The code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of given prompts.

The item "private ownership of residents" is to be marked if the household lives: in a house (part of house) owned by somebody of inhabitants; in a privatized flat; in a flat built or bought out of own or borrowed funds, in a flat of a housing cooperative (irrespective of the amount of installments paid); in a flat of a youth housing estate or of a collective of individual investors; in a flat (or house) acquired on other terms (by inheritance, as a gift, etc.).

The item "local councils" is to be marked if a household lives in a dwelling owned by local councils.

The item "other owners" is to be marked if a household lives in a dwelling owned by an enterprise, organization or institution of either government and non-government ownership, or by other owners.

The item "rents the dwelling from individuals" is to be marked for a household if it is a "lodger", i.e. rents the dwelling from individuals who are either owners or tenants of the dwellings.

Question 6P. Number of rooms occupied

The number of habitable rooms occupied by a household is to be recorded here.

The record is to be entered in numbers (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc) in a special box.

If a household does not occupy the whole room, but only its part, the item "part of room" is to be marked.

If a household occupies two or more rooms, but some of those gives in rent, the total number of rooms (including those rented) is to be recorded.

Habitable room is a room intended for residence: part of a flat (hostel) separated from other rooms by partitions.

Attics, mezzanines, heated terraces and verandahs equipped for habitation the year round are to be included in the number of habitable rooms.

The number of habitable rooms excludes: kitchens, halls, corridors, bath (or shower) rooms, storerooms, and other subsidiary rooms.

Question 7P. Floor space (sq. m)

The size of useful and living space is to be recorded here.

The space is to be recorded in integer numbers of square metres without decimal digits. The records are to be done in numbers (e.g., 9, 27, 103) in a special box.

To round a fractional space to the integer number, the following rules are to be observed: if there is five tenths and more after the decimal sign, then one is to be added to the integer part, if less than five tenths, then the fractional part is to be discarded. (e.g., numbers 23.50; 23.51 are to be rounded to 24, but 23.49 to 23).

Useful floor space in a detached house, separated or shared flat is determined as the sum of floor areas of all habitable rooms (including heated and appropriate for habitation attics, verandahs, terraces) and back rooms (kitchens, halls, anterooms, indoor corridors, bath (shower) rooms, toilets, pantries or built-in closets). Herewith in shared flats the useful space of the whole flat is to be conventionally recorded only for one household, which is specified first within this flat. For other households sharing the flat the useful space is not to be recorded (only the living space occupied by the household is subject to recording).

Useful floor space falling on residents in a hostel is measured as the sum of the living space occupied by a household and its share of the back rooms space of the hostel. This part is calculated for one person by dividing the whole space of backrooms of the hostel by the number of beds. E.g., the floor space of backrooms in the hostel is 500 sq. m. and the number of beds is 100. In this case 5 sq. m. of the backroom space fall on one person. The useful floor space for the service staff living in institutions is to be calculated similarly.

The useful floor space does not include:

Living floor space includes the space of all habitable rooms occupied by a household excluding the space of built-in closets.

If a household occupies part of the room, the space of this part is to be recorded (e.g., if the room is 24 sq. m in area and is occupied by two households consisting of 1 person and two persons, then 8 sq. m and 16 sq. m fall on each household respectively).

The living space of the service staff living in boarding houses for the aged and invalids, children's homes and similar institutions is to be determined in a similar way.

If a household gives part of the space in rent, the total space, both useful and living, including that rented, is to be recorded for it.

III. Directions for recording answers to questions of the enumeration questionnaire (Form 3N)

For each person recorded in section I of the List of residents in dwelling (form 2P) a separate enumeration questionnaire (form 3N) is to be completed.

Before completing the enumeration questionnaire the enumerator is to complete the boxes in the left upper corner: No. of census division, No. of instructor district, No. of enumeration district, and No. of the list of residents in dwelling. Then the serial No. of a given person within the dwelling, which is indicated in column 1 of section 1 of the list of residents in the dwelling (form 2P), is to be completed. The enumerator is not to specify No. of the form.

The family name and initials of a person interviewed are to be recorded (e.g., Ivanov A.I.).

Question 1. Relationship to person No 1 in the household

The code corresponding to the prompt from the list of possible responses is to be marked.

For the household member specified first within the household the prompt "person recorded first within household" is to be marked. All other household members are to get codes corresponding to prompts required (e.g., if a person questioned is a son of the first person, the code corresponding to the prompt "daughter, son" is to be marked. If a person questioned has kinship or in-law relationship to the reference (No. 1) person, which is different from those listed (e.g., nephew), the reply corresponding to the "other relation degree» is be marked.

If a household is a one-person household, a mark against the reply "person recorded first within household" is to be made.

Persons living in a given household, but being not related to any household member either by blood or by law (e.g., nanny or servant living in the household and contributing to it) are to be marked as "non-relative".

For persons usually living together, but making no common provisions for food or other essential for living and fully or partially supported by the government, public or religious organizations in institutions like boarding houses for the aged and invalids, children's homes, monasteries, etc. (the institutional population), except those related to each other by blood or law (e.g., husband and wife in a boarding house for the aged or invalids or brother and sister in a children's home, the reply "person recorded first within household" is to be marked.

For each household member (regardless of the age and marital status) living in the same household with both parents or one of them, the serial number of his (her) mother (related by blood or not) within the dwelling, i.e. the number indicated against her name in the list of residents in the dwelling (column 1), is to be recorded. If there is no mother in the household, the number of father is to be entered. If there is neither mother nor father within the household, no number is to be recorded.

Question 2. Sex

The code is to be marked corresponding to one of the responses listed.

Question 3. Date of birth

The answer on the day, month and year of birth is to be recorded in numbers in special boxes. E.g., a person was born on 12 May 1946. It should be recorded "12", "5" and "1946" respectively.

After the date of birth has been entered, the enumerator without any additional questions being asked is to determine with the help of the "Supporting table for determining the number of years by the known year of birth as of 16 February 1999" and record in a special box the number of complete years. For children under one year, "0" should be entered (see Annex).

Question 4. Place of birth

In the answer to this question, for persons born in the territory of the Republic of Belarus only the name of the region or the city of Minsk is to be entered.

For persons born in other countries, the names of their native countries are to be entered (e.g., "Russia", "Ukraine", "Poland", "Italy").

Question 5. Language

In the answer about the mother tongue the language is to be recorded, which the person questioned recognizes as his/her native.

If a person finds difficult to name his/her mother tongue, it should be explained that the mother tongue is the language usually spoken by the person in his/her home in the early childhood.

For young children the mother tongue is to be determined by their parents.

For the deaf and dumb persons the mother tongue is the language in which they read and write or the language used by the members of their household or persons they mainly speak to at home.

In the answer on the language usually spoken at home, the language should be recorded that is used for communication to the family or in private life.

For young children the usually spoken language is to be determined by their parents.

For the deaf and dumb persons the spoken language is the language in which they read and write or the language used by the members of their household or persons they mainly speak to at home.

After the language the person questioned speaks usually at home has been entered, for persons having a perfect command of other languages, i.e. being able to read, write and fluently speak or just speak those languages, the name of one language at person's discretion is to be entered.

For persons having no command of other languages, "no" should be entered.

Question 6. Citizenship

For the citizens of the Republic of Belarus the response "Republic of Belarus" is to be marked.

For persons having no citizenship a mark against the "without citizenship" should be made.

For foreigners the response "the other country" should be marked and the name of the country where the person in question is a citizen (e.g., "Italy", "Ukraine") should be entered in a special box. For persons with dual citizenship the name of one country at the person's discretion is to be recorded.

Question 7. Nationality

The nationality is to be recorded, which is indicated by the person interviewed him(her)self. The nationality of children is to be determined by their parents. In case of difficulties arisen (in multinational families), for the national identity of a child his/her mother's nationality should be recorded.

Question 8. Marital status (for persons aged 15 years and over)

For persons aged 15 years and over the code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of the prompts listed.

"Never married" should be marked for persons who have never been either in a registered or in a common law (unregistered) marriage.

"Registered marriage" is to be marked for persons presently married, their marriage being registered with the registry office.

"Common law marriage" is to be marked for persons presently married without registration with the registry office.

For those married the serial No. of the spouse within the dwelling is to be entered, i.e. the number indicated against his/her family name in the list of residents in the dwelling (column 1) if the spouse lives in the same household.

"Widowed" is to be marked for persons having been married earlier (whether their marriage registered or not) whose marriage has been stopped because of the death of the spouse and who have not remarried.

"Divorced" is to be marked for persons who have been earlier in a registered marriage, but at the moment are unmarried, their divorce being registered with the registry office.

"Separated" is to be marked for persons who have been earlier in a registered marriage, but at the moment are unmarried, their divorce not being registered with the registry office, as well as for persons who have been earlier in unregistered marriage and at the moment are separated.

For persons under 15 years of age the answer to this question is usually not to be completed. Only if a person questioned is de facto married, the corresponding response should be marked.

Question 9. Do you attend any general educational, vocational, secondary specialized or higher institution? (for persons aged 6 -- 60 years)

The code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of the prompts listed.

For a preschool child it should be indicated if the child attends any preschool educational institution.

The code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of the prompts listed.

"Yes" is to be marked for children attending preschool institutions: nurseries, preprimary schools, and kindergartens irrespective of their ownership. If at the moment of census a child is temporarily away from the preschool institution, e.g., because of illness, "yes" is to be also marked for it.

"No" should be marked for children not attending any preschool institutions.

Question 10. Education (for persons aged 15 years and over)

For persons 15 years of age and over the code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of the prompts listed.

In marking codes of educational attainment, it should be kept in mind that the current educational levels correspond to the following levels used before:

"Higher vocational (higher)" is to be marked for those graduated from higher education institutions: institute, academy, university, higher college, the higher fire-technical school of the MIA of the Republic of Belarus, etc.

"Secondary vocational (secondary specialized)" is to be marked for those graduated from secondary specialized education institutions: technical school, training school (e.g., medical, normal), college, technical school at enterprise, etc.

"Primary vocational (vocational)" is to be marked for those graduated from primary vocational education institutions (vocational school, technical school, vocational education center, etc.) and who along with profession received a certificate or diploma.

"Secondary general" is to be marked for those graduated from secondary general education schools (including those with in-depth study of some subjects), lyceums, gymnasia, etc.

In marking codes for "basic general (incomplete secondary)" and "primary general" it is expedient to use the following table.

Table for determining the educational attainment for persons without the secondary general education on the basis of the number of grades completed

Basic general (incomplete secondary)

Primary general


"Illiterate" is to be recorded for those who cannot write and read.

For persons who have no primary education but can read and write the question "Education" is not to be completed.

Educations in correspondence or evening educational institutions, as well as external studies, are to be considered equal to the corresponding full-time educational institutions.

For pupils and graduates of educational institutions not providing general education (e.g., trade schools, sectoral vocational schools, factory schools, training stations, field training units, refresher courses, access courses at educational institutions, etc.) the educational attainment is to be recorded, which was reached before the admission to those educational institutions.

For persons having academic degrees the code corresponding to one of responses listed is to be marked.

For persons under 15 years of age the answer to this question is not to be completed.

Question 11. Sources of livelihood
Specify all sources available

Before asking the question a person interviewed is to be given a card with all sources of livelihood listed. After the list has been studied, the person is to name one or several sources of livelihood out of those listed. Based on the answer, the codes corresponding to one or several responses given on the enumeration questionnaire are to be marked.

"Work (other than work in own personal subsidiary plot)" is to be marked for persons who on 15 February 1999:

Besides, the category of persons having work includes working people engaged in spring, summer or autumn to perform seasonal work (e.g., at peat harvest, water transport, etc.).

Students and pensioners having employment or gainful business, and also army conscripts are to be referred to those working on the same ground as other categories of persons.

For persons engaged in non-reimbursable public or voluntary works this work is not to be marked as a source of livelihood.

"Work in own personal subsidiary plot" is to be marked for people engaged in developing their personal subsidiary plots (including gardens, kitchen gardens, etc.), agricultural works, and (or) livestock management. This source of livelihood is to be marked not only for persons engaged in production of agricultural products for sale, but also for those producing agricultural products for own consumption if this kind of activity provides a considerable contribution to the total household consumption.

"Pension" is to be marked for persons receiving old age or retirement pensions, disability pensions, survivor's pensions, long service and social pensions. Herewith the pension is to be marked for persons whom it is granted, but not for those who actually receive it. So the survivor's pension granted to children is to be marked for children, but not for mother or father, even if they are actual recipients.

"Scholarship" is to be marked for students receiving scholarships (including scholarships paid to students detached by enterprises, organizations, or employment services).

"Benefit (other than unemployment benefit)" is to be marked for persons receiving monthly social benefits:


Herewith "benefit" is to be marked for persons whom it is granted, but not for those who actually receive it.

"Unemployment benefit" is to be marked for persons registered with the employment services as unemployed and who are recipients of unemployment benefits.

"Other government support" is to be marked for inmates of infant's homes, children's homes, boarding schools, boarding houses for the aged and invalids and similar persons supported by the government.

"Rental income" is to be marked for persons gaining income in the form of land or housing rent.

"Interest on deposits and securities, dividends" is to be marked for:


"Savings" is to be marked for persons living on savings.

"Dependent" is to be marked for persons living at the expense of relatives or other people, as well as for persons receiving alimony. For instance, if alimony is paid to minors, the response "dependent" is to be marked for children, but not for their mother or father, who are actual recipients of the alimony.

"Other source" is to be marked for persons having other sources of livelihood than those listed above.

Question 12. Did you have a job or business for profit in the period from 8 through 15 February 1999?
(for persons aged 15 years and over)

This question is to be put to persons aged 15 years and over.

It is necessary to make sure whether a person questioned had work or gainful business during the week from 8 to 15 February 1999 while it could be permanent, temporary, casual or other work regardless of the dates of direct payment for or profit from his/her activity. For professional soldiers it will be their service in the army.

Those having work or gainful business cover the following persons:

The following activity is not considered paid work or gainful business:



For persons having work or gainful business is to be marked "yes" and for those not having -- "no".

Persons who answered in positive to question 12, are to be asked questions 13 and 14 of the enumeration questionnaire.

Herewith persons having more than one job (gainful business) should indicate which job (or gainful business) they consider main (where the greatest number of hours were worked, where the service record is kept, and which brings the highest income, etc.)

Persons who answered in negative to question 12, are not to be asked questions 13 and 14 of the enumeration questionnaire and a skip to question 15 is to be made.

Question 13. What was your post at your main activity?
Specify in detail the name of your post, occupation and duties

For all persons having work (i.e. who answered in positive to question 12 of the enumeration questionnaire) the name of the post, occupation or duties is to be recorded. For persons combining multiple jobs only the activity is to be recorded which the person questioned considers main.

The occupations are to be recorded in detail. One must not just record "director", "chief of department", "specialist", "trainee", "adviser", "expert", "master", "operator", "laboratory technician", but should indicate, for instance, "director for economy", "chief of the marketing department", "personnel specialist"," information protection expert", "hospital trainee", "adviser on economic questions", "legislative counsel", "expert physicist", "shot firer", "sound recordist", "analyst in chemistry laboratory".

If a person questioned was a director of small business, it should be indicated. For instance, "director of company, small business", "manager of hotel, small business", "commercial director, small business", "executive director, small business", etc.

For self-employed persons the name of their trade (occupation) is to be indicated, for instance, "tailoring", "shoemaker", "photographer", "dentist", "psychic", "vendor", etc.

If a person questioned was temporarily involved in the activity outside his main occupation, the main activity is to be recorded.

"Unskilled laborer" is to be recorded only for those engaged in different odd-jobs (excluding agricultural works), but in other cases the nature of work performed should be determined and recorded, for instance, "loader", "watchman", "cloakroom attendant", etc.

If a person was engaged in performing some definite duties in a state or collective farm or in farming holding, the name of his occupation is to be recorded. For example, "milkmaid", "cat hooker", "zootechnician", etc. If he/she was involved in performing various agricultural works and did not have a definite occupation, the name "plant-growing worker", "cattle breeding worker", etc. is to be recorded.

For persons only working without pay for their family business (store, farm or enterprise owned by relatives), the occupation should be recorded, in which they were engaged the most of time. For example, if a family worker is the most of time engaged in unloading of goods, the label "loader" is to be recorded for him.

For persons only working in their personal subsidiary plots and engaged in production of agricultural products, growing flowers, fishing, hunting, etc. aiming at further sale of that taken and produced, the labels "hog farmer", "vegetable grower", "bee-keeper", "flower gardener", "fish farmer", etc. should be recorded depending on the trade.

Specify the name of enterprise and its economic activity

After the names of the post, occupation and duties have been indicated, the name of the enterprises, in which a person questioned works, and its economic activity should be recorded because there are occupations having the same names but relating to different kinds of human activity.

The name of the enterprise, institution or organization, in which a person interviewed worked, should be recorded in full in order that it could be possible to determine the branch and economic activity. For instance, not the LLC "Rassvet", but the LLC cafe "Rassvet", not the JSC "Kommunarka" or "Factory "Kommunarka", but the "JSC confectionary plant "Kommunarka". In selected cases only the "Machine-building plant" or "Chemical factory" can be indicated.

If it is difficult to identify the economic branch by the name of enterprise, its economic activity should be indicated (e.g., LLC "Veta", marketing, CJSC (closed joint stock company) "Domkrat", construction, etc.).

For persons working in multi-industry organizations, for instance, in firms or concerns, not the name of the firm or concern itself is to recorded, but the name of a specific enterprise belonging to it (e.g., not the concern "Bellegprom" should be recorded, but a detailed name of an enterprise, trading organization, etc.). If a person questioned worked at an enterprise as a full-time official of trade union, etc., the name of the activity "trade union" is to be recorded.

For persons working in a personal service centre the name of a specific workshop, atelier, etc. should be recorded (e.g., "Shoe-repair store", "Sewing workshop", but not the "Personal service centre").

Names of enterprises and institutions should not be recorded as abbreviations (e.g., it is impermissible to specify MRGW instead of "Mechanical rubber goods works"). Only well-known abbreviations can be admitted (e.g., ?EE (research institute)).

If an enterprise is owned by a state or collective farm, the type of enterprise and the state or collective farm are to be recorded (e.g., "Brick-making plant of the state farm", "Barbershop of the collective farm").

For persons working in canteens, first-aid posts, barbershops, etc. attached to enterprises or institutions, the name of the canteen, first-aid post, barbershop, etc., but not the name of the enterprise or institution, workers of which they served, is to be recorded (e.g., "Canteen of the factory").

For persons engaged in own farming holding, the name "agriculture" is to be recorded.

For self-employed persons the economic activity should be indicated, for instance, "tailoring", "trading", etc.

For unpaid family workers or unpaid workers of farming holding a detailed name of the enterprise should be recorded or "agriculture".

For persons only engaged in developing own personal subsidiary plots, the label "Personal subsidiary plot" is to be indicated.

For ministers of religion and persons engaged in the field of religious faiths, the name of the religious service place is to be recorded (church, Roman-Catholic church, synagogue, monastery, etc.)

When going to question 14 of the enumeration questionnaire, the enumerator should remember that the answer is to be given for the occupation indicated in question 13 of the enumeration questionnaire.

Question 14. What was your employment status (who were you at your main activity):

"Employee (under labor agreement or contract)" is to be recorded for persons working under a written labor contract or verbal agreement concluded with the administration of an enterprise, organization, institution of any ownership or with a private employer and receiving a guaranteed payment in cash or in kind (wage or salary, commission charge, interest on marketing products, etc.) independent of the income of the enterprise for which they work.

The same response is to be marked for:

Persons working for individuals under civil law contracts (orders) for a definite payment, both individually or engaging employees, should not be related to the "employees" (e.g., construction of houses or repair of flats for individual customers, furnace lining, servicing parties, etc.). In these cases, if a person permanently used the labor of one or more employees, code 3 should be marked, but if he/she worked on his/her own account or engaged employees for a short period, code 4 should be marked.

"Member of producers' cooperative" is to be marked for persons working at own enterprises organized in the form of cooperative where each member has equal rights in deciding the matters of work organization, sales of products, and other activity of the enterprise, as well as those concerning investments and income distribution among its members.

"Run own enterprise (farm) or business with permanent use of employees' labor" is to be marked for persons who worked at own enterprise or farm or were engaged in independent professional or commercial activity and permanently used the labor of one or more employees.

"Own-account worker running farm or business without attracting employees" is to be marked for persons who worked at own enterprise or farm or were engaged in independent professional or commercial activity and did not engage employees or engaged those for a very short period.

This category will also include individuals engaged in gainful activity, whether having or not any patent (or license) permitting this kind of activity, as well as persons of so called "liberal professions", for instance, artists, authors, composers, psychics, etc, who are not on the permanent staff of any enterprise, institution or organization; persons engaged in production of products in their personal subsidiary plots with the purpose of further sale thereof or those engaged in sale of those products, even if they did not actually work in their personal subsidiary plots and spent time exclusively for repair of equipment or for ancillary works.

"Unpaid family worker (worked without payment in the shop, farm or enterprise owned by a relative)" is to be marked for persons working without payment in a peasant (farming) holding, production cooperative, private (individual or family) enterprise owned by a relative. Works performed in country houses or kitchen gardens are not to be included because those do not relate to family enterprises.

Question 15. For those not having job or gainful business specify: did you look for a job or try to organize your own business
(for persons aged 15-65)

The question is to be completed for persons aged 15-65 years (including pupils, students, and pensioners) who did not have work or any gainful business, i.e. who answered in negative to question 12 of the enumeration questionnaire.

At the same time, for persons actively looking for work or trying to organize own business, "yes" should be marked.

Specific kinds of job search include: registration with a state or commercial employment service, visiting enterprises, institutions, and organizations, consulting private employers, placing job postings and answering vacancy advertisements, recourse to friends, acquaintances, relatives; efforts to organize own business (registration of own enterprise or acquisition of patent, search for premises, land, resources, equipment, etc.).

In addition, to persons taking steps for seeking work the availability for work should be indicated.

a) if you have found a job, could you start working in the nearest 2 weeks?
"Yes" is to be marked for persons available for work during the nearest two weeks.
For persons not available for work during the two nearest weeks "no" is to be marked.

b) are you registered with the employment agency as unemployed?
The code corresponding to one of responses listed is to be marked.

For persons aged 15-65 years who are not looking for work or gainful business "no" is to be marked and, in addition, reasons are to be indicated (the code corresponding to one of responses listed is to be labeled).

"Have got a job and will start working in the nearest 2 weeks" is to be marked for those who have already found a job by 16 February 1999 and are to start it (or have already started) within the nearest two weeks following the reference week.

"Have organized own business and will start activity in the nearest future" is to be marked for persons who have completed all preparatory work for organizing own business, but have not started it yet in the reference week (have not opened a store, have not got any orders, etc.).

"Discouraged to find a job" is to be marked for persons who have stopped looking for work having used all possibilities to get it.

"Have no necessity or wish to work" may be marked for those having sufficient income from pension, shares, etc., or for those living at expense of the other household member sufficiently keeping the family.

"Keep the house" is to be marked for persons having neither work nor gainful business, but performing domestic duties for own family without payment (for example, cooking, cleaning up, laundering, care for children and other family members, etc.).

"Other reason" is to be marked for persons not looking for work by some other reason than those listed. This category may include persons having applied for a job and waiting for a reply, having participated in the contest for post and waiting for a result, those not able to work (because of age, disability, illness, etc.), those having received calling-up papers, those who are going to leave for a new place of permanent residence in the other city, country, etc.

Question 16. Have you continuously been living in this urban settlement or rural area of this district since birth?

"Yes" should be marked for persons who have continuously been living in a given urban settlement or rural area of a given administrative district since birth.

Continuity is not affected by:

Continuity of residence does not depend on registration and the nature thereof (whether permanent or temporary) and is not affected by the change of address within the same urban settlement or rural area of the same administrative district.

"No" is to be marked for persons who have been living in the urban settlement not since birth, those inclusive who were born here, but moved for permanent residence to other urban settlements or rural areas.

"No" is also to be marked for persons who have been living in the rural area of a given administrative district not since birth, those inclusive who were born here, but moved for permanent residence to other urban settlements or rural areas of other administrative districts.

For person answering to this question in negative the answers to the following questions are to be completed:

a) the year since which you have permanently been living here

The year should be indicated since which a person questioned has continuously been living in a given urban settlement or rural area of a given administrative district. For persons (both born here and those living here not since birth) who moved from this urban settlement or rural area of a given administrative district for permanent residence to other places, the year since which they have permanently been living here after return, is to be indicated.

b) previous place of residence

For persons coming from the territories of the Republic of Belarus the name of the region or the city of Minsk is to be indicated. For those coming from foreign countries the name of the country where they have come from should be specified.

c) what settlement have you come from?

The code is to be marked, which corresponds to one of the responses listed.

If a person questioned has come from a city or urban type settlement (or industrial community), "urban" is to be marked, if from a rural locality -- "rural" should be labeled. In this case, the administrative-territorial changes taking place after the move of the person from his/her previous place of permanent residence are not to be taken into account. For instance, if the rural locality where the person lived before his/her move to the given settlement was later converted to urban one or included within the city limits, the label "rural" is still to be used.

Question 17. For a woman aged 15 years and over specify:

For women aged 15 years and over (whether married or not) under item "a" the total number of children ever born (excluding stillbirths) is to be marked whether all children are alive or not at the moment, belong to the woman's household or live separately. At the same time, adopted or patronized children, as well as children of the husband's previous marriage, are not to be included to the number of children born to a woman.

Out of the total number of children born to a woman, under item "b" the number of children alive at the moment of census is to be specified.

Out of children surviving, under item "c" the number of children living separately from their mother, i.e. do not belonging to her household (e.g. because of their leave for education or separating into an independent household, etc.) should be specified.

If a woman did never procreate children, under items "a", "b" and "c" the label "0" should be placed.

If out of children ever born no child is surviving at the moment of census, under items "b" and "c" the label "0" is to be placed.

If all children ever born live together with their mother, under item "c" the label "0" is to be placed.

For a married woman aged 15-49 years specify how many children she is planning to have (including those surviving).

The question is to be only asked of married (whether registered or not) women aged 15-49 years.

A woman questioned is to be asked how many children she is planning to have (all surviving inclusive) and the number said by her is to be recorded in a special box. The number is to include all children alive at the moment of census, whether they live in the household or not.

The answer is to be recorded as obtained strictly from a woman questioned. If it is not clear from the answer whether a woman names the total number of children planned or only the number of future children (excluding those surviving), the question is to be made more precise and the total number should be indicated. For example, if a woman has one child and is going to have one more, the number "2" is to be recorded; if she having one child is not going to have more children, the number "1" is to be recorded.

If a woman finds it difficult to name the exact number of children and answers ambiguously, for instance, "two or three", the numbers "2-3" should be recorded.

If a woman has no child and is not going to have any, the number "0" is to be recorded.

This question is to be only completed through a personal interview. If the enumerator has no possibility to ask a given woman in person, the answer is to be recorded.

For women under 15 years the answers to question 17 of the enumeration questionnaire (form 3N) are not, as a rule, to be completed. Only when a woman has children, the number of live-born children is to be indicated with specification of the number of those surviving and those living separately. For married women it should also be indicated how many children she is planning to have (those surviving inclusive).

IV. Directions for recording answers to questions of the enumeration questionnaire for those temporarily present on the territory of the republic of Belarus (Form 4E)

Before completing the enumeration questionnaire for those temporarily present on the territory of the Republic of Belarus the boxes in the left upper corner: No. of census division, No. of instructor district, No. of enumeration district are to be completed. The enumerator is not to specify No. of the form.

For each person temporarily present on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the family name and initials, and also the address where enumeration took place are to be recorded.

Answers to questions 1, 2, 4, and 6 (sex, date of birth, citizenship, and nationality) are to be recorded similarly as in the enumeration questionnaire (form 3N).

Question 3. Country of birth

In the answer to this question the name of the country where a person questioned was born (e.g., Armenia, Uzbekistan, Germany, USA) is to be indicated.

Question 5. Country of permanent residence

In the answer to this question the name of the country where a person questioned permanently (usually) lives (e.g., Kazakhstan, Israel) is to be indicated.

Question 7. Purpose of coming to the Republic of Belarus

The code corresponding to one of the responses listed is to be marked.