This project seeks funding to create Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) for the Colombian censuses of 1964, 1973, 1985, 1993 and 2001. Microdata from the Colombian censuses has never been made publicly available, but the original data used to create the aggregate tabulations for these census years do survive in machine-readable form. Thus, it will be possible to create useable PUMS files and associated documentation for Colombia at modest cost. We plan to model the Colombian samples on the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) created at the University of Minnesota, and to the extent feasible to make the coding schemes entirely compatible with the existing U.S. census microdata (Ruggles and Menard 1995). These scientifically drawn samples, once integrated into a single databank with uniform codes and documentation and released into the public domain, will constitute the richest source of quantitative information on long-term change for any Latin American population. The integrated Colombian PUMS will be distributed over the Internet using the system developed at the University of Minnesota for United States census samples (Ruggles, Sobek and Gardner 1996; Sobek and Ruggles 1999).

This project is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE), the Colombian census authority. DANE, with assistance from CELADE in the case of the 1964 census, is providing the machine-readable raw data files for each census year. We are contracting with DANE for several technical aspects of the project to tap the expertise of DANE cartographers, systems analysts, and statisticians. The project will also gain priority access to the 2001 Colombian census. We will be able to plan our integration using the 2001 census schedule, technical definitions, and administrative boundaries as the standard.