From 1782 to 1858, 7 countings of the population were organized which could be considered forerunners of modern population censuses. The Statistical Committees, established in Estonia and Livonia in 1863, considered it necessary to conduct censuses according to the principles laid down at international conferences on Statistics. The first population census organized on the basis of these principles took place in the towns of Livonia on 3 March 1867. In the Estonian territory 5 towns were included: Pärnu, Tartu, Valga, Viljandi and Võru. At that time those towns were part of the Livonian
