MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s...

"We hope the census will be conducted in October 2013, because October is the best month for a census in Russia," Alexander Surinov said in an interview on Russian Vesti TV news channel.

The last census, conducted in 2002, showed the population in the country was 145.274 million people. According to Rosstat estimates, there were about 141.9 million people living in Russia in the first half of 2009, a fall of about 133,700 year-on-year.

Surinov explained how the population was calculated in the absence of a fresh count.

"We add to the last census figure the number of those born in the period, and take away those who died. We add those who arrived, and take away those who left," he said.

"If you speak about births and deaths, the figure is quite reliable. But if you speak about arrivals and departures there can be various issues, especially in our country" he added.

According to the Russian Federal Migration Service, there are about 15 million immigrants

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