First Enumeration for 2010 Census Begins in Noorvik, Alaska

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

What: Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves will conduct the first count of the 2010 Census in the Inupiat Eskimo village of Noorvik, Alaska -- a remote village north of the Arctic Circle with a population of about 700.

Census takers must get a head start in Noorvik and other villages in remote Alaska before residents leave for hunting and fishing grounds and while the ground is frozen, which allows access to the region by bush plane, dogsled and snowmobile.

Residents of Anchorage, Fairbanks and other larger Alaska cities will receive 2010 Census questionnaires by mail in mid-March like the rest of the country.

When: Monday, Jan. 25, 1 p.m. (Alaska Time)

Who: Robert M. Groves, director, U.S. Census Bureau

Ralph Lee, director, Seattle Regional Office, U.S. Census Bureau

Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, Alaska

Where: Aqqaluk School

165 Fireweed Dr.

Noorvik, Alaska

A live satellite uplink will be available from noon to 2 p.m. (Alaska Time)

Editor's note: News releases, reports and data tables are available on the Census Bureau's home page. Go to http://www.census.gov and click on "Releases."

Groves will be available to the media before and following the enumeration. However, by law, the Census Bureau cannot allow reporters or photographers to accompany the director or other census workers during the actual count to protect the confidentiality of respondents.

For more information about the 2010 Census, please visit 2010census.gov.

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau