Population observatories as sources of information on mortality in developing countries

A ‘population observatory’ is a study in which a whole population of a defined geographical area is monitored over a long period (several years or decades), and information on the events that happen (births, deaths, marriages, migration) is collected on a regular basis. This paper presents the collection method used in population observatories, the type of results that they provide, and how they are useful for the study of mortality in the nations of the South. In the first part, the different observatories in the developing countries are reviewed, and certain specific aspects of their methodology are studied in detail. In the second part two examples are presented - the observatories of Bandafassi and Mlomp, in Senegal.