The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is a regional economic 

organization which was established in 1962. The ECO countries,

 located in a geopolitically sensitive region and holding high potentials

 and capabilities in various fields including mining, industry, and agriculture,

 cover an area of about 7961216 square kilometers.

Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Turkey are among the vastest countries

 of the organization. Iran, Pakistan and Turkey were the founders

 of the organization. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan,

 Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan and

 Tajikistan also joined the organization. At present the 10-member organization

 has a population of about 409 millions.

According to the charter of the organization, ECO endeavors to

 improve the conditions for sustainable economic development of

 the member counties and takes action to gradually eliminate the

 commercial barriers in the region. Another goal of the organization

 is to prepare a common program for the development of human

 resources in the member countries. The organization also works

 to speed up the program of communication and transportation development.

A means of getting to know the ECO member countries is quantitative and

 qualitative study of the population and investigating the social and

 population indexes of the region. It is believed that any kind of

socio-economic progress and development in any region hinges on the

quality and quantity of the population in that region; in other words,

the results of demographical studies, mainly based on population statistics,

 are the foundation of micro and macro planning and policymaking in

 any given territory. Obviously, planning and policymaking with no

 attention to population statistics and indexes can cause irreparable

 harms to the region is natural wealth and resources.

To learn about the demographic conditions of the ECO member countries,

 a good way is comparing the statistical information[1] and in

particular the demographic data and indexes of the member countries.

 It will help categorize the state and position of each country by

the population variants and related indexes; at same time it is possible

 to compare them with the international indexes as well as specifying

Iran's ranking among the regional countries.

So far, six censuses of population and housing have been taken in

 Iran by taking advantage of the most recent methods and recommendations

by the international statistical organizations. The censuses have been

carried out on a regular basis every 10 years since 1956.

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