DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania on Tuesday began conducting its National Population and Housing Census with President Samia Suluhu Hassan being among the first persons to be counted at State House in Chamwino in the capital Dodoma.

A team of census officials led by the statistician general of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Albina Chuwa, and the commissioner of the National Population and Housing Census, Anne Makinda, visited the president at 6 a.m. for the counting.

"I have done with the counting. It is true there were many questions but they all can be answered in a short time," President Hassan told journalists after she was counted.

Addressing the nation on Monday night ahead of the National Population and Housing Census, President Hassan urged all Tanzanians to show up during the census to enable the country to have appropriate statistics which can help in planning for development.

"Better data will help our country to plan for better lives and accountability," she reiterated.

President Hassan said preliminary results of the census will be announced in October.

The last Population and Housing Census was conducted in Tanzania in 2012. - Xinhua