The Public Record Office has announced that after months of painstaking work, the 1901 Census returns for England and Wales will be available online over the Internet. This huge task of digitizing the original census images and creating an index to 32 million names is the result of a partnership between the Public Record Office and QinetiQ (formerly the larger part of the Defense Evaluation and Research Agency) and is a major step towards the Public Record Office's vision of putting records online to reach a wider audience worldwide. From 2 January 2002, visitors to the 1901 Census Web site will be able to search the index by name, place, address, institution or vessel, free of charge. Once the desired subject is found, for a small charge visitors can view a digital image of the original census return and the transcribed details for an individual or order a copy of either. The feedback from the successful operation of a pilot project using the 1891 Census returns has allowed us to develop this technology to make it more user-friendly. Full details of how the census will work, including the cost, can be found at http://www.census.pro.gov.uk Some of the statistics from the census, taken on 31 March 1901: the population was 32,527,843. The population breakdown was 52% women to 48% men, and the density of population was 558 per square mile -- compared to 152 per square mile in 1801. Of the total population 1.04% were born in foreign countries, compared to 0.67% in 1881 and 0.8% in 1891. Comparable statistics for England and Wales in 1999 show a population of 52.7 million, and a split of 49% male to 51% female. The population density was 349 per square kilometer -- around 900 per square mile. Ethnic minority groups made up 6.4% of the overall UK population (although changes in definition since 1901 make this measurement a less accurate comparison). Censuses containing personal information on individuals have been taken every 10 years since 1841, and, because they contain personal information, are subject to closure for 100 years. The Public Record Office holds census returns for England, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.