MONGOLIA’S EXPERIENCE ON

INTEGRATING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION WITH

ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS TO PRODUCE

OFFICIAL STATISTICS

Workshop on Integrating Geospatial

and Statistical Standards

6-8 November 2017

Stockholm, Sweden

Lkhagvadulam Chimeddamba

Population and Housing Census Bureau

National Statistical Office of Mongolia

www.nso.mn

www.1212.mn

CONTENT

• Quick facts about Mongolia

• Geospatial statistical development at the NSO Mongolia

• Integrated statistical database

• Preparation for the 2020 census

1259 kilometers

MONGOLIA

2392 kilometers

Key facts about Mongolia

Territory /19th in the world/

1.5 million

sq.km

Population /135th in the world/

3.1 million

Population density/1st in the world/

2.0

Rate of natural

increase

20.1

GDP per capita/WB Atlas method/

USD 3857

HDI 0.734

Western region

Khangai region

Central region

Eastern region

Ulaanbaatar region

MONGOLIA is divided into 5 regions for geographic and

socio-economic policy development

MONGOLIA

CAPITAL CITY1

AIMAGS21

DISTRICTS9

SUMS330

KHOROOS152

BAGS1613

Provincial level

District level

Primary level

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF MONGOLIA

Local statistical departments and divisions – 160 staff

NSO headquarter – 140 staff

POPULATION AND HOUSEHOLDS OF MONGOLIA, by census years

647.5

738.2

754.2

845.5

1017.1

1197.6

1595.0

2044.0

2373.5

2754.7

3353.5

541.1

713.8

958.1

1918

1935

1944

1956

1963

1969

1979

1989

2000

2010

2020

Households Population

1 MILLION

IN 1962

2 MILLION

IN 1988

3 MILLION

IN 2015

Population projection

SOCIO-ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

Over-population in urban areas

VS.

Under-population in rural areas

Internal migration towards

Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar population 1.4 million

/46% of total/

UB population

density 306.5

Poverty Unemployment,

crime rate

Air pollution Traffic jam Water and

soil

Political and

economic

transitions of

1990sInsufficiency

of education

and health

services

Macroeconomic statistics 8 topics 58 indicators

Population and social statistics

17 topics 157 indicators

Industry, science and technology statistics

13 topics 93 indicators

Legal statistics 5 topics 20 indicators

Environmental statistics 5 topics 18 indicators

National Censuses - 5

Household sample surveys - 10

Administrative statistics from ministries and

agencies

SOURCES OF STATISTICAL

INFORMATION NSO COMPILES

NUMBER OF OFFICIAL STATISTICAL INFORMATION NSO

MONGOLIA RELEASES

DEVELOPMENT OF GEOSPATIAL STATISTICAL

FRAMEWORK AT NSO MONGOLIA

• GIS was first introduced at the NSO Mongolia for the 2010 Population and

Housing Census: used throughout all stages

• Before 2010, geographic information in statistical undertaking mainly

served as planning and monitoring tools in forms of roughly drawn basic

cartography.

• The development of GIS at the NSO Mongolia brought the inter-agency

government collaboration to a new level.

– Changes in legal basis were carried out in regards to enabling the use of certain

scale topographic and cadastral maps, which were otherwise considered as

classified and not shared.

MANUALLY DRAWN PROVINCE MAP IN 2000 VS. GIS

GENERATED CENSUS CARTOGRAPHY IN 2010

GEOSPATIAL DATABASE AT THE NSO

• Use of GIS in censuses

– Location of enumeration unit (e.g. household) was captured and

digitized without the use of GPS devices

– Development of web-based GIS

– Dissemination of census results on an interactive web maps

– National Atlas

The 2010 Population and

Housing Census

Agricultural Census of 2012 Business Establishments

Census of 2011 and 2016

INTEGRATED STATISTICAL DATABASE

• In 2015, Population and Housing by-Census was conducted for the first

time since the enactment of the Law on Population and Housing Census

in 2008.

• It was the first ever register-based census approach for Mongolia.

• Based on existing local database of population and household register

booklet recorded and kept at the primary level administrative units, real-

time and online Population and Household Register Database was

created.

VISION OF INTER-AGENCY INTEGRATED GOVERNMENT DATABASE

BASELINE DATABASE

Civil

registration

Population

and

Household

Database

Legal entity Real state

Currently

established

To establish

in near future

Cadaster

Geocoded

address Employme

nt

Education

Health

insurance

Social

welfare

Social

insurance

Government

organizations

Research

institutes

Other advanced

users

General public:

Online,

Publications,

Posters

USERS BY LEVEL

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

• Integration of over 1700 sets of existing population and household

register local database was checked against more than 30 administrative

records databases. It revealed serious underlying problems and identified

areas of improvements

• One of the major problems was inconsistency of coding standards and

classifications for commonly used main attributes, such as geospatial

information standards and guidelines

– Discrepancies between the administrative unit names and codes among the Civil

Registration Database (administered by Civil Registration Authority) and the

Population and Household Register Database (supervised by NSO and administered

by local Governor’s Office)

– This specific type of discrepancies require minor to major changes to be made in

more than 150 primary level administrative units for their names and codes in either

of the two databases.

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES, cont’d

• NSO Mongolia is taking the lead role for aligning the standards and

classifications used in databases and actively promoting the development

of integrated government database. For this purpose, NSO Mongolia is

undertaking the following activities:

– Carry out complete evaluation of government agency databases and identify

methods of incorporation;

– Make amendments in the Law on Statistics /to enable the NSO to access all

databases established at government and private sectors for only statistical purposes

upon safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality/;

– Improve the development of satellite databases such as health, education, social

insurance, disability and others one by one and foster the linkage to the Population

and Household Register Database;

– Develop or improve current non-coherent coding standards, including addresses,

education and so on that can facilitate linking databases;

USE OF SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR STATISTICAL PRODUCTS

AND DECISION MAKING

• Geospatial statistical database established at the NSO Mongolia

comprises of individual census databases and the Population and

Household Register Database.

• Administered online by local officers at primary level administrative units,

the Population and Household Register Database displays high resolution

satellite imagery as its base map.

• Local officers can digitize household locations on it while keeping the

demographic and socio-economic records of the household members.

BENEFITS OF USING SATELLITE IMAGERY IN THIS DATABASE

• Latest physical location of herders who are highly mobile unit of

enumeration can be determined prior and during census and survey

enumeration.

• Accurate: Contrary to using handheld GPS devices

• Cost-efficient: no field exercise for collecting waypoints

• Huge potential to be used as the basis for planning, producing official

statistics and conducting researches

– When linked with administrative records, such as education, health, border patrol,

emergency and so on

• The biggest challenge when linking different databases remains in the

alignment of key indicators, coding standards and classifications.

17

18

URBAN AND RURAL HOUSEHOLD LOCATION DIGITIZED

USING SATELITE IMAGERY

• Each household is assigned with a unique ID number that stays with

the household when moved to a different place.

• With this feature, lifetime migration can be captured and analyzed

which was otherwise possible based on decennial census results only.

INTEGRATION OF CENSUS DATABASES

• Incorporation of household ID number into the Livestock Census and

Agricultural Census enabled further use of the geospatial statistical

database to produce non-traditional statistical products.

Geocoded

address

Address Health

PERSONAL

ID NUMBER

Clan name

Last name

First name

Population

and

Household

database

Civil

registration

Social

welfare

Business

and

Establish-

ment

Social

insuranc

e

PERSONAL ID NUMBER

HOUSEHOLD ID NUMBER

Etc..

Livestock

database

HOUSEHOLD

ID NUMBER

EXAMPLE OF USING INTEGRATED GEOSPATIAL STATISTICAL DATABASE

FOR INFORMED DECISION MAKING

20

Locations of nomadic households with

livestock in Sums with bad winter condition

Households in Sums

with extremely bad

winter

Households in Sums

with bad winter

Enter Parcel ID’s

Define location using

AgricultureDatabase

by joining Parcel ID

For businesses and

establishments:

Quarterly report

questionnaire on

agricultural activities

Incorporating

administrative records into

geospatial statistical

framework

DEVELOPMENT OF GEOSPATIAL FRAMEWORK IN

MONGOLIA

Ministry of Construction and

Urban Development

Administration Of Land Affairs,

Geodesy And Cartography Master Planning Agency of

Capital city Ulaanbaatar

Initiated in 2004 and

developing with government

support since 2008

Capital city of Ulaanbaatar

Governor’s Office

Central government organization

responsible for delineating the country’s

territory, geographical coordinates and

altitudes, as well as implementing the

state policy by developing national

geospatial infrastructure and providing

the public with services and information

other than classified by the state.

National Geospatial Infrastructure

The project is still under its

development and substantial

amounts of achievements have been

done with supports from international

organizations and partner agencies.

However, establishment of its legal

basis and related documents and

standards are still yet to come.

INTEGRATED URBAN DEVELOPMENT GEOSPATIAL

DATABASE OF THE CAPITAL CITY ULAANBAATAR

9 agencies including

Master Planning Agency of

Capital city Ulaanbaatar

Capital city of Ulaanbaatar

Governor’s Office

33 agencies to access the

database with different settings

of viewing, editing, uploading

and downloading the data

www.ulaanbaatar.maps.arcgis.mn

Apart from the development of the National Geospatial Infrastructure,

the Capital city of Ulaanbaatar has been working on its own creation of

state of the art Integrated Urban Development Geospatial Database.

The 2020 Population and Housing

Census

DATA COLLECTION STEPS

Conduct address

based Building and

Housing Census

Deliver a unique

code to each

housing unit for

accessing the e-

census

questionnaire

Citizens participate

the census via

online (CAWI)

Enumerators visit

households that

have not answered

the e-census

questionnaire to

collect information

CAPI

Establish inter-

agency integrated

government

database matched

by key indicators

Establish geocoded

address database CAPI

PREPARATION FOR THE BUILDING AND HOUSING CENSUS

• Evaluation of existing geospatial database for building and housing

information;

• Establishment of statistical units that are not linked with administrative

units for sole statistical purpose;

• Integrated coding standards;

• Establishment of geocoded address database;

AVAILABILITY OF BUILDING RELATED GEOSPATIAL DATABASES

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ge

os

pa

tia

l a

ttri

bu

tes

Availability of data

Maps

Cadaster

Addresses

Urban planning

Addresses

Buildings

Capital city Master

Planning AgencyAdministration of Land

Affairs, Geodesy and

Cartography Agency

NSO Mongolia

Heating

&Electricity

Companies Authority of

State

Registration

Households

Population

Livestock

Establishments

SchoolsCivil

registration

Legal entity

Real estate

Hospitals

Supply

system

Addresses

Households

• Since the 2010 Population and Housing Census, total of 65 primary administrative units

were newly created, including 45 new Bags in provinces and 20 new Khoroos in the

Capital city.

• Reasons to establish statistical units:

– New administrative units can be created, taken down or merged together by the Order of the

Governor of superior level at any time.

– It creates inconsistencies in statistical dynamics.

– Delineations of the sub-district level administrative unit boundaries are not officially

established and causes confusions between different databases.

• For the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the country territory was divided into over

12000 enumeration areas.

• Enumeration area boundaries were not digitized during the 2010 census; however, the

method of digitizing the household waypoints can indicate rough delineation

ESTABLISHMENT OF STATISTICAL UNITS

ESTABLISHMENT OF STATISTICAL UNITS

• Benefits of establishing statistical units include:

– Consistency of socio-economic statistical dynamics in geographical areas

– Better sampling frame

– Accurate estimation of small area statistics and others

• For the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the country territory was divided into over

12000 enumeration areas.

• Enumeration area boundaries were not digitized during the 2010 census; however, the

method of digitizing the household waypoints can indicate rough delineation, if the 2010

census enumeration area should serve as the base.

Aimag Sum/District Bag/khoroo EA HH#

Household waypoints 21 34 53 01 001

ESTABLISHMENT OF GEOCODED ADDRESS

DATABASE

• Address system and database in Mongolia is very rough.

• Addresses of streets, land plots, buildings, real estates are issued and

administered by different government agencies

– no standardized system or format

– no integrated address database

• Since the enactment of the Law on Addresses in 2013, new standards

and guidelines have been developed

• Adaptation of new standards for assigning street names and numbers

• Establishing a database based on the new adaptation.

• Although the new standard applies commonly used international

practices similar to that in the USA, the implementation requires changes

to be made on existing street names and numbers that were originally

issued in disorganized and unsystematic customs.

ESTABLISHMENT OF GEOCODED ADDRESS

DATABASE

• The implementation process requires certain procedures that include:

– Re-assignment of street names and numbers in accordance with the new standards;

– Legal acts and orders overruling previous resolutions on street names issued by

Governor’s Orders;

– Modification in display signs of street names and numbers

– Re-issuance of personal and organizational ID cards and related documents of

those affected by the modification of addresses;

• Since the scope of the operation is so large and strenuous, the

implementing partners are cautious towards public objection.

• Current approach maintained by the Administration of Land Affairs,

Geodesy and Cartography Office is to act the modification by the normal

flow of administrative procedures.

CONCLUSION

• NSO Mongolia is trying hard and quite successful.

• Point data in censuses created possibilities

– improved its geospatial statistical framework

– enabled visualization

– dissemination of more effective statistical products for informed decision making.

• Satellite imagery for geo-referencing point data has been a cost-efficient

mission while the database is highly regarded by local administrative

officers as the key tool for statistical and administrative purposes.

• National interest on geospatial development has been rising

• NSO Mongolia is one of the leading agency for the improvement of

geospatial statistical framework.

CHALLENGES WE HAVE

• Legal environment to obtain all databases

• Inadequate address system

– Development of geocoded address database

• Inconsistency in standards and guidelines

• Skilled human resource

THANK YOU FOR

YOUR ATTENTION.Please visit

www.nso.mn for general information

www.1212.mn for statistics

www.ulaanbaatar.maps.arcgis.com for UB maps