What it means
سرشماری (sarshumâri) means “census”, the official count of a population. It is a pure Persian compound formed from سر (sar, head) and شماری (shumâri, counting), literally “counting heads”. The word belongs to formal and official registers and is used almost exclusively in administrative, statistical, and governmental contexts. In everyday conversation Iranians may say آمارگیری (âmârjiri, data collection) informally, but سرشماری is the standard technical term for a national population survey.
How to use it
- سرشماری نفوس و مسکن هر ده سال یه بار انجام میشه. (sarshumâri-ye nofus va maskan har dah sâl ye bâr anjâm mishe.) “The population and housing census is conducted every ten years.”
- مامور سرشماری اومد خونهمون. (mâmur-e sarshumâri umad khune-mun.) “The census officer came to our house.”
- نتایج سرشماری هنوز منتشر نشده. (natâyej-e sarshumâri hanuz montasher nashode.) “The census results have not been published yet.”
- تو سرشماری تعداد اعضای خانوار رو میپرسن. (tu sarshumâri ta’dâd-e a’zâ-ye khânevâr ro miparsan.) “In the census they ask for the number of household members.”
Cultural note
Iran conducts a national سرشماری every ten years, administered by the Statistical Centre of Iran. The results feed into government planning for housing, education, and infrastructure. The 2015 census was notably the first conducted largely by smartphone app rather than door-to-door paper forms, a shift that sparked public debate about data privacy and accuracy.