March 1953 - 1957
Census of 1953-55
room Myanmar
people ICS U Kyaw Khine Milton Lieberman President Dr. Ba U
The Government of Burma held a national census over several stages between 1953 and 1955 that was the first post-independence census. It managed to cover the country's urban populations but was able to reach only 15 percent of the rural population and was abandoned in 1955 due to security issues and ongoing conflict. The aborted census covered around 5.6 million people, out of an estimated total of 19 million.
The Census Commissioner was ICS U Kyaw Khine. He was assisted by the (USAID funded) United Nations census adviser Milton Lieberman. In this 1953 photo, U Kyaw Khine and Lieberman are asking the first census question to President Dr. Ba U at the President's House.