BAGHDAD (AP) — Preliminary results from an Iraqi national census, the first in nearly 40 years, show that the population has grown to 45.4 million, the prime minister said on Monday.

The nationwide population census, carried out earlier this month, is a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Monday that initial results showed the country’s population has reached approximately 45.4 million people. In 2009, an unofficial count estimated the population at 31.6 million.

The gender distribution according to Monday's initial results shows a nearly even split, with males making up 50.1% of the population and females 49.8% of the population.

The act of counting the population, the first in 37 years, is contentious in Iraq, with profound implications for the country’s resource distribution, budget allocations and development planning. Minority groups also fear that a documented decline in their numbers will bring decreased political influence and fewer economic benefits in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

By order of Iraq’s federal court, the census excluded questions about ethnicity and sectarian affiliation, focusing solely on broad religious categories such as Muslim and Christian.

The last nationwide census in Iraq was held in 1987. Another one held in 1997 excluded the Kurdish region.

The next phase of the census will run over the coming weeks before final results, which will include information on religious groups, are announced, according to Ali Arian Saleh, the executive director of the census at the Ministry of Planning.

The census was the first to employ advanced technologies for gathering and analyzing data, providing a comprehensive picture of Iraq’s demographic, social, and economic landscape, officials said. Some 120,000 census workers surveyed households across the country, covering approximately 160 housing units each over two days.