"Three specialised areas will be surveyed during the 2001 national census," Ivan Balev, chairman of the National Census Committee, said on Sunday.

During the census, which is to be carried out from March 1-14, a number of randomly chosen households will fill out three types of cards. The results will provide information on migration, birth rate, and the population's health.

The migration rate will be studied among people from 15 to 60 years of age. All of them must be permanent citizens of the towns they live in. The basic questions in the first section are "How do you estimate the living conditions in your town?", "Where do you want to move and why?" and "Did you make a final decision to move to a new place?" The second section includes questions concerning plans for travelling abroad. In total, 17,736 households throughout the country will fill out the migration card.

Women from 15 to 49 years of age and men from 15 to 59 years old will complete birth-rate cards. Questions will include "Why, according to you, do people have children?", "How many children should Bulgarian families have?", "How many children do you want to have and when?" and "According to you, what age is most suitable for marriage?"

Health condition cards will include the largest number of questions. Of interest will be basic questions concerning people's health, particular illnesses they are suffering from, and any recent need for medical attention. There are also questions connected with dental treatment, preventative medicine, and nutrition habits.

People who provide false information or refuse to participate in the census will be fined 60 leva. Counters and officials, who have sworn not to reveal data from the individual records of people, will be fined between 2,000 to 6,000 leva if they violate this trust.

According to the previous census, conducted in 1992, the Bulgarian population was 8,487,317 people. A century ago, this number was 3,744,283.