POPULATION
(Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition)
1.
India’s population is larger
than the total population of North America, South America and Australia put
together.
2.
More often, it is argued that
such a large population invariably puts pressure on its limited resources and
is also responsible for many socio-economic problems in the country.
Distribution
of Population
1.
Uttar Pradesh has the highest population followed by Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh
2.
U.P., Maharashtra, Bihar, West
Bengal, Andhra Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Karnataka and Gujarat, together account for about 76 per cent of the total
population of the country.
3.
On the other hand, share of
population is very small in the states like Jammu & Kashmir (0.98%),
Arunachal Pradesh (0.11%) and Uttaranchal (0.83%) in spite of these states
having fairly large geographical area
4.
Such an uneven spatial
distribution of population in India suggests a close relationship between
population and physical, socioeconomic and historical factors.
5.
Consequently, we observe that
the North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have higher proportion of
population than the interior districts of southern and central Indian States
6.
Himalayas, some of the north
eastern and the western states. However, development of irrigation (Rajasthan),
availability of mineral and energy resources (Jharkhand) and development of
transport network (Peninsular States) have resulted in moderate to high
proportion of population in areas which were previously very thinly populated
7.
Among the socio-economic and
historical factors of distribution of population, important ones are evolution
of settled agriculture and agricultural development
8.
Pattern of human settlement;
development of transport network, industrialisation and urbanisation.
9.
The concentration of population
remains high because of an early history of human settlement and development
10.
On the other hand, the urban
regions of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and
Jaipur have high concentration of population
11.
On the other hand, the urban
regions of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and
Jaipur have high concentration of population
Density of
Population
1.
The density of population in
India (2001) is 313 persons per sq. km and ranks third among the most densely
populated countries of Asia following Bangladesh (849 persons) and Japan (334
persons).
2.
There has been a steady
increase of about 200 persons per sq. km over the last 50 years as the density
of population increased
3.
From 117 persons/ sq. km in
1951 to 313 persons/sq. km in 2001
4.
This ranges from as low as 13
persons per sq. km in Arunachal Pradesh to 9,340 persons in the National
Capital Territory of Delhi.
5.
Among the northern Indian
States, West Bengal (903), Bihar (880) and Uttar Pradesh (690) have higher
densities
6.
While Kerala (819) and Tamil
Nadu (480) have higher densities among the peninsular Indian states
7.
States like Assam, Gujarat,
Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Orissa have moderate densities
Growth of
Population
1.
Growth of population is the
change in the number of people living in a particular area between two points
of time
2.
Its rate is expressed in
percentage.
Population
growth has two components
1. Namely; natural and
induced
2.
While the natural growth is analysed by assessing
the crude birth and death rates
3.
Induced components are explained by the volume of inward and outward movement of
people in any given area the growth rate of population in India over the last
one century has been caused by annual birth rate and death rate and rate of
migration and thereby shows different trends.
4.
There are four distinct phases of growth identified within this period:
5.
Phase I: The period from
1901-1921 is referred to as a period of
stagnant or stationary phase of growth of India’s population
6.
Even recording a negative
growth rate during 1911-1921
7.
Phase II: The decades
1921-1951 are referred to as the period of
steady population growth.
8.
An overall improvement in
health and sanitation throughout the country brought down the mortality rate.
9.
Phase III: The decades
1951-1981 are referred to as the period of
population explosion in India
10.
This was caused by a rapid fall
in the mortality rate but a high fertility rate of population in the country.
11.
Phase IV: In the post 1981
till present, the growth rate of country’s
population though remained high
12.
A downward trend of crude birth
rate is held responsible for such a population growth
13.
It has been projected by World
Development Report that population of India will touch 1,350 million by 2025.
Regional
Variation in Population Growth
1.
The States like Kerala,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Pondicherry, and Goa show a low
rate of growth not exceeding 20 per cent over the decade.
2.
Kerala registered the lowest
growth rate (9.4) not only in this group of states but also in the country as a
whole
3.
A continuous belt of states
from west to east in the north-west, north, and north central parts of the
country has relatively high growth rate than the southern states.
4.
It is in this belt comprising
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal,
Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand,
the growth rate on the average remained 20-25 per cent
5.
An important aspect of
population growth in India is the growth of its adolescents.
6.
At present the share of
adolescents i.e. up to the age group of 10-19 years is about 22 per cent
7.
Among which male adolescents
constitute 53 per cent and female adolescents constitute 47 per cent
8.
The adolescent population,
though, regarded as the youthful population having high potentials, but at the
same time they are quite vulnerable if not guided and channelized properly.
Population
Composition
·
Analysis of age and sex, place
of residence, ethnic characteristics, tribes, language, religion, marital
status, literacy and education, occupational characteristics, etc.
Rural
– Urban Composition
1.
Composition of population by
their respective places of residence is an important indicator of social and
economic characteristics
2.
72 per cent of its total
population lives in villages
3.
The distribution of rural
population is not uniform throughout the country
4.
States like Bihar and Sikkim
have very high percentage of rural population
5.
The states of Goa and
Maharashtra have only little over half of their total population residing in
villages
6.
The size of villages also
varies considerably
7.
It is less than 200 persons in
the hill states of north-eastern India
8.
Western Rajasthan and Rann of
Kuchchh
9.
As high as 17 thousand persons
in the states of Kerala and in parts of Maharashtra.
10.
The proportion of urban
population (27.8 per cent) in India is quite low but it is showing a much
faster rate of growth over the decades
11.
In fact since 1931, the growth
rate of urban population has accelerated due to enhanced economic development
and improvement in health and hygienic conditions.
Linguistic
Composition
1.
India is a land of linguistic
diversity
2.
According to Grierson
(Linguistic Survey of India, 1903 – 1928) there were 179 languages and as many
as 544 dialects in the country
3.
In the context of modern India,
there are about 18 scheduled languages (1991 census) and a number of
non-scheduled languages
4.
Among the scheduled languages,
the speakers of Hindi have the highest percentage (40.42)
5.
The smallest language groups
are Kashmiri and Sanskrit speakers (0.01 per cent each).
Linguistic Classification
1.
The speakers of major Indian
languages belong to four language families
2.
Which have their sub-families
and branches or groups
·
Austric (Nishada) 1.38%
·
Dravidian (Dravida) 20%
·
Sino-Tibetan (Kirata) 0.85%
·
Indo – European (Aryan) 73%
Religious
Composition
1.
Religion is one of the most
dominant forces affecting the cultural and political life of the most of
Indians.
2.
Muslims, the largest religious
minority, are concentrated in Jammu & Kashmir, certain districts of West
Bengal and Kerala
3.
Many districts of Uttar
Pradesh, in and around Delhi and in Lakshadweep.
4.
They form majority in Kashmir
valley and Lakshadweep
5.
The Christian population is
distributed mostly in rural areas of the country
6.
The main concentration is
observed along the Western coast around Goa, Kerala and also in the hill states
of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chotanagpur area and Hills of Manipur
7.
Sikhs are mostly concentrated
in relatively small area of the country, particularly in the states of Punjab,
Haryana and Delhi.
8.
Jains and Buddhists, the
smallest religious groups in India have their concentration only in selected
areas of the country.
9.
Major concentration in the
urban areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra
10.
While the Buddhists are
concentrated mostly in Maharashtra.
11.
The other areas of Buddhist
majority are Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir,
Tripura, and Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
12.
The other religions of India
include Zoroastrians, tribal and other indigenous faiths and beliefs.
Composition
of Working Population
1.
The population of India
according to their economic status is divided into three groups
·
Main workers
·
Marginal workers
·
Non-workers.
Standard Census Definition
·
Main Worker is a person who
works for at least 183 days in a year
·
Marginal Worker is a person who
works for lessthan183daysinayear
·
It is observed that in India,
the proportion of workers (both main and marginal) is only 39 per cent (2001)
2.
Leaving a vast majority of 61
per cent as non-workers.
3.
This indicates an economic
status in which there is a larger proportion of dependent population,
4.
Further indicating possible
existence of large number of unemployed or under employed people.
5.
The proportion of working
population, of the states and Union Territories show a moderate variation from
about 25 per cent in Goa to about 53 per cent in Mizoram
6.
The states with larger
percentages of workers are Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya
7.
Among the Union Territories,
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have higher participation rate.
8.
In the context of a country
like India, the work participation rate tends to be higher
9.
In the areas of lower levels of
economic development since number of manual workers are needed to perform the
subsistence or near subsistence economic activities.
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