I am interested in learning how the population values for each populated place are identified, specifically for Ukraine (but if not, generally within the OSM populated places data).
Is it from Census data or manually entered by local volunteers?
EDIT: For context, I am working on a research project to identify the best locations for veteran accommodation after the conflict. As the most recent Ukrainian census was in 2001, I am looking for the most accurate or up-to-date population data for all of Ukraineās towns/cities. It is important that I explain how the population values have been sourced, rather than just referencing āOpenStreetMapā.
It is likely to be different for each country. Some countries have a fairly systematic approach to tagging population based on some official source. Often this is accompanied by a separate tag source:population that indicates the source, e.g. it might contain the initials of a national statistics institute. There may also be a population:date tag to indicate the data the figure relates to. See the town of Bray in Ireland, for example, where CSO is the (Irish) Central Statistics Office:
Howeverā¦ Ukraine is not one of those countries. I spot checked a few cities and it looks like many population tags were entered about 8 years ago by a single user, probably using Wikipedia or Wikidata. Sample changeset:
If you can say more about why you are interested, people might be able to suggest alternative sources.
Thank you. I am working on a research project to identify the best locations for veteran accommodation after the conflict. As the most recent Ukrainian census was in 2001, I am looking for the most accurate or up-to-date population data for all of Ukraineās towns/cities. It is important that I explain how the population values have been sourced, rather than just referencing āOpenStreetMapā.
