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Guide to locating government census records, population records, or church census records, for ancestry, family history, and genealogy research.

What Are Census Records?

 * A census is a count and description of the population of a country, state, county, or city for a given date.
 * A census took a "snapshot" of a family on a certain day.
 * In the United States a nationwide census has been taken every ten years since 1790. British censuses were taken every 10 years since 1841.
 * A well-indexed census is one of the easiest ways to locate where an ancestor lived and when they lived there. You can also use censuses to:
 * Follow the family over time
 * Determine family relationships
 * Find clues to other locations where the family lived
 * Show clues for finding other records

What can you find in census records?
The content of census records varies by time and locality. The more recent a record is the more detailed it can be.
 * For example, depending on the year, U.S. census records can list, in addition to other minor details, this information vital to research:
 * Name, age, and gender of each family member
 * Birthplace (state)
 * Father's and mother's birthplaces
 * Month and year of birth
 * Length of marriage
 * Mother of how many children and number of children living
 * Naturalization status: alien, papers submitted, or naturalized
 * Year of naturalization
 * Year of immigration to U.S. or how many years lived in U.S.


 * And for example, British census records will list even more specific details, such as
 * Birthplace by parish and county
 * Father's and mother's birthplaces, also by parish and county


 * And for example, Scandinavian church censuses can include information on where a family moved from and/or where they moved to.

How do you find census records?
If a specific country is not listed below, try searching this page: Census records by country

Wiki Articles
Each U.S. state and country page has full articles written about finding and using census records. These articles provide details on the dates censuses were kept, links to online records, and where records are kept in archives and other records repositories.

Online Genealogical Records Pages
On the main page for each U.S. State page and country page, a blue button leads to a listing of online record collections.

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 * Also, all the available Online Genealogy Records pages are linked at Online Genealogy Records by Location.

Wiki Articles
Each U.S. state and country page has full articles written about finding and using census record if they were kept.s. These articles provide details on the dates censuses werekept, links to online records, and where records are kept in archives and other records repositories.

Category Links to Articles
Another way to jump quickly to articles for different states and countries is to find them in category pages. These categories have direct links to topic articles for each country and U.S.State:
 * Category:United States Census
 * Category:Census records by country

Countries With Census Records
If a specific country is not listed below, try searching this page: Census records by country