A Critical Look at the Demography of Urban Centers of Ethiopia

Abstract

Between 1969 and 1971 tbe Central Statistics Office of Etbiopia conducted a demographicsurvey of 91 towns itl Ethiopia. A close look at the report shows that the quality of some of tbe data was below expectation. 17 out of 91 urban centres were found to possess relatively more reliable results and were subjected to furtber demographicanalysis. The  results indicate that women marry relatively early, however this does tlOt seem to have al1 impact on the total fertility ratebecause the latter was found to be relatively low . The apparent absence of relation between age at marriage and total fertility rate suggests tbat 'there may be a voluntary control of fertility at later ages. This bas been verified by m - an index of fertility control. The child mortality rates were within acceptable limits. Even though tbe at'ailability of health services is positively related to the size of towns, th ere was 110 correlation between the child 'mortality and the size of towns suggesting that only basic health services are essential fo r reducing infant and child mortality.