Per Capita Income

Доход на душу населения.

Hahahahahaha. It sounds so weird.
But why is translated like this?

:elephant::bravo::madred::obm:

In the period of serfdom the cattle owned by a landlord was numbered in heads or 'по головам', while peasants (serfs) owned by him were numbered 'по душам' for statistics. E.g. "Сколько душ имеете?" ('How many serfs/persons do you own?'). This number of persons or peasant population owned by a landlord (количество душ) was important for keeping statistics, and was also the indicator of the landlord's status or wealth. Today we still count cattle 'по головам' :-) 'Душа (населения)' in your example means a unit for population statistics; the term itself is outdated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsdfrv

In the period of serfdom the cattle owned by a landlord was numbered in heads or 'по головам', while peasants (serfs) owned by him were numbered 'по душам' for statistics. E.g. "Сколько душ имеете?" ('How many serfs/persons do you own?'). This number of persons or peasant population owned by a landlord (количество душ) was important for keeping statistics, and was also the indicator of the landlord's status or wealth. Today we still count cattle 'по головам' :-) 'Душа (населения)' in your example means a unit for population statistics; the term itself is outdated.

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Perfect historical explanation