tellingen

Tellingen is the Dutch noun for counts or tallies, and also for the act of counting. The word derives from the verb tellen, to count, and the singular is de telling while the plural is de tellingen. In ordinary use, telling can refer to both the process of enumerating items and to the numerical results produced by counting.

In statistics, demography and inventory work, tellingen are the figures that result from enumeration. They are produced by methods such as a census (complete enumeration) or sample counting, and they may be rounded or aggregated to fit the definitional scope of the study. Counting exercises require clear definitions of what is being counted (for example, residents, objects, or events) and careful handling of potential errors such as undercounting, overcounting, or double counting.

Tellingen are essential for public policy, planning and research, informing budgets, resource allocation, and demographic analysis. They can be reported at different geographic levels (national, regional, or local) and at different time points, enabling trend analysis. The term also appears in everyday contexts, such as inventory management or crowd counting, where accurate counts are needed for decision making.

In Dutch, tellingen are distinct from telling as a verb form in normal speech, where 'tellen' means to count and 'vertellen' means to tell a story. Understanding the scope of what is counted is central to interpreting the figures produced by tellingen.