A special census of the archipelago was taken in 1903 by the Philippine Commission, and the results were compiled, tabulated, printed, and distributed by the United States Census Bureau. This was the first and only inquiry at which anything like complete returns of the population and resources of the Philippines were obtained.

Volume I — Geography, History, and Population

An introduction which describes the scope, organization and administration of the census is followed by sections containing descriptive and analytic texts devoted to geography (physical formation, climate, volcanoes and seismic centers, elevations, islands of the Philippine archipelago); History (discovery and progress, the judiciary), and population (history of the population, characteristics of the civilized or Christian tribes, characterstics of the non-Christian tribes). There are three appendixes: I. An act to provide for taking a census of the Philippine Islands; II. Organization of the Philippine census; and III. Bibliography.

Volume II — Population

An introductory analysis of returns which discusses form of schedule, method of tabulation, summary of statistics, total population, former censuses and estimates, comparison with population of other countries, density of population, center of population, distribution of population, birthplace, color, tribe, sex, age, marital status, literacy, school attendance, and occupations, is followed by 62 general tables with detailed statistics on these subjects.

Volume III — Mortality, Defective Classes, Education, Families and Dewllings

Mortality: Text discusses form of schedules, earlier records, deaths in 1902 and 1903, sex, color, nativity, tribe, age, marital status, occupations, season of year, causes of death, and morality in the City of Manila; and is followed by 19 general tables.

Defective classes: Discussion and tables pertaining to insane, blind, deaf, and deaf and dumb.

Education: Under Spanish rule, under the Americans, and schools with statistics of school buildings, teachers, pupils, sources of revenue, and expenditures.

Families and dwellings: Families, dwellings and tenure.

Volume IV — Agriculture, Social and Industrial Statistics

Includes discussion and statistics of agriculture (products of the archipelago, agricultural lands, number and size of farms, farm areas, color of farmer and tenure, cultivated areas by years, domestic animals); social statistics (newspapers and periodicals, property values and taxes, public libraries, hospitals, churches, pauperism, criminals and prisons, labor and wages, systems of measurement); manufactures (principal articles manufactured and industries in order of importance, with special attention to sugar and hemp industries); Fisheries; currency and banking; insurance; commerce and transportation (induding telegraph lines and express companies).