The ethnic and ecological diversity of Colombia makes it an exceedingly interesting laboratory for studying compelling demographic issues of contemporary Latin America and beyond (Flórez Nieto, 2000). In terms of population size the third largest country in the region, Colombia is fortunate in constructing and preserving large census microdata samples for each of the four national censuses taken since 1964. In terms of scholarship, as measured by number of citations in Population Index, Colombia ranks fourth in Latin America, behind Mexico, Brazil and Peru in a cluster with Argentina, Costa Rica and Cuba. There is widespread agreement that on the whole Colombian censuses are of good quality, approaching the highest standards in Latin America, such as those of Argentina, Costa Rica, and Chile. Colombia is one of the few countries in Latin America where both pre- and post-enumeration surveys are regularly carried out. Beginning with the census of 1964, the Colombian statistical agency Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE) has conduc