This publication is a review of methodological aspects of the national agricultural censuses conducted within the framework of the Pro­gramme for the 1980 World Census of Agricul­ture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Although much effort was made to pool together all sources of information available in countries that participated in the 1980 World Census of Agriculture, this report is by no means exhaustive. Some census reports did not contain an adequate description of methodolog­ical subjects. This lack of information has been the limiting factor in the contents of the publi­cation. Nevertheless, the publication contains experiences of many countries in conducting their agricultural censuses during the period 1976-1985.