By Wisam Mohammed

BAGHDAD, May 28 (Reuters) - Iraq plans to hold a national census next year, paving the way for parliamentary polls expected by the end of 2009, the planning minister said on Wednesday.

A lack of census data has fed rancorous disputes over the size of Iraq's different ethnic and religious groups. This has affected allocations of its oil wealth to different regions and delayed the passage of this year's $48 billion budget.

Minister Ali Baban told Reuters in an interview the date of the census would be set next week. It would take place in time for the next general election, which must happen by the end of 2009, according to the constitution.

"It will enable us to produce a detailed list of eligible voters and information about them for planning the parliamentary elections," he said.

It would not, however, be done in time for this year's provincial elections scheduled for Oct. 1, Baban said.

He said the Iraqi cabinet approved a census bill on Tuesday, which must now be approved by parliament.

Mehdi al-Allaq, head of the central census department in the Planning Ministry, said questions of ethnic group and religion would appear on the census forms, but they would not ask whether those in the Muslim faith belonged to the Shi'ite or Sunni sects -- an omission consistent with past censuses.

Shi'ites are in the majority in Iraq, with some estimates putting the number at 60 percent of the population, while Sunni Arabs are about 20 percent. Many Sunni Arabs, however, dispute their minority status in a country they ruled under Saddam Hussein.

"Counting sectarian affiliations is not our business," he said. "The census sheet includes no data that incites tension."

Passage of the budget was stalled this year after minority Kurds insisted on 17 percent of allocations, while some Shi'ite and Sunni Arab MPs said 12 percent was fairer based on current population estimates.

A compromise was reached whereby the allocation would be 17 percent this year and reviewed after a proper census.

"The census will include Kurdistan region in coordination with the regional government," Baban said.

The last census in 1997, which estimated the population at 22 million, did not count the three Kurdish provinces then separated by a U.S.-imposed no-fly zone.

Now the population is estimated at 27 million, although 2 million have fled the country to escape sectarian violence, while another 2 million have been displaced internally.

Baban said the census would count refugees outside the country as well as internal refugees. (Additional reporting by Khalid al-Ansary, Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Charles Dick)

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