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A national population census, which Rwandan President Paul Kagame said was vital for proper planning and the country's modernisation, was launched on Friday.
"Everything will be done so that every Rwandan receives the best quality life he/she deserves, using all the resources we have," he said in his state of the nation address, broadcast by Radio Rwanda on Wednesday.
In addition to counting Rwandans, the census would also enable the government to assess the literacy rate, and the number of orphans, widows and disabled people, the Rwandan News Agency reported.
Quoting the National Coordinator of the General Census for Population and Housing in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the agency said US $8 million had been set aside for the four-day exercise. Of this sum, 80 percent had been contributed by the EU and 5 percent each from the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. The remaining 10 percent was supplied by the Rwandan government.
This is Rwanda's third census, previous censuses having been in 1978 when the population was found to be 4.7 million, and in 1991 when it was 7.15 million.
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