A modified version of the Mulliken population analysis is developed. In the original Mulliken population analysis, the overlap density is equivalently partitioned into the two concerning atoms. In the present version, this trivial assumption is uprated by using the first-order moment of the integral, i.e. dipole moment integral. The modified version of the analysis computes the gross charge population that exactly reproduces total dipole moment of linear molecules. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.