Census Under Way In Annexed Crimea

Russian authorities are conducting a census in Crimea.

The population count, which began on October 14 and ends on October 25, is the first on the Black Sea peninsula since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in March.

Crimean Statistics Service official Yelena Tvirovich told journalists that residents will be given a census form with 33 questions.

They include address, type of housing, family status, income, and ethnic identity.

The census comes amid what rights activists say is a crackdown on Crimean Tatars, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group whose members largely opposed the annexation.

According to a 2001 census, Crimea's population was 2.34 million, with more than 60 percent identifying themselves as Russian, 24 percent as Ukrainian, and 12.4 percent as Crimean Tatars.

Russia held a nationwide census in 2010 and plans another in 2020.

Based on reporting by RIA Novosti and TASS