Census 2011 Analysis

Density of Population: What, why, and Where

Let’s begin with the concept of density of population—a foundational idea in Population Geography.

🟡 Definition:
Population density refers to the number of persons living per unit area, usually measured per square kilometre.

🔸 In India’s context, the population density has increased dramatically over time.
📈 In 1951, it was 117 persons/sq.km, and by 2011, it had jumped to 382 persons/sq.km—that’s a rise of over 200 persons in just 60 years!

Now, ask yourself: Is this density uniform across India? Of course not. Let’s see the spatial variation:

Spatial Variation in Population Density

Here, we classify Indian regions into high, moderate, and low-density areas to simplify understanding:

🔴 Very High Density Areas

• Delhi (NCT): 🏙️ 11,297 persons/sq.km – highest in the country!
  (An urban Union Territory with massive in-migration and service economy.)
• Bihar: 🧑‍🌾 1102
• West Bengal: 1029
• Uttar Pradesh: 828

These states have high natural fertility, dense agricultural populations, and significant urbanisation.

🟠 High Density in Peninsular India

• Kerala: 859
• Tamil Nadu: 555

Kerala, despite being highly literate and health-oriented, has a dense population due to historical settlement patterns and low mortality.

🟡 Moderate Density States

• Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha
  These regions have a balanced combination of rural-urban population, and their natural features are not extremely hostile to settlement.

🔵 Low Density Areas

• Himalayan & Northeastern Hill States:
  E.g., Arunachal Pradesh – just 17 persons/sq.km – lowest in India.
• These areas have rugged terrain, limited agriculture, and sometimes political instability or restricted entry, affecting population settlement.

🟣 Union Territories

• With the exception of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, most UTs like Delhi, Chandigarh, and Puducherry show very high population densities, owing to their urbanised character and small geographical size.

Types of Population Density (Analytical Concepts)

In advanced population studies, we use refined metrics beyond simple population per area:

✅ Physiological Density =

Total population / Net cultivated area
— Tells us the pressure on agricultural land.

✅ Agricultural Density =

Agricultural population / Net cultivable area
— Indicates how many people are directly dependent on agriculture.

🧠 UPSC Insight: These are more meaningful in comparing agrarian pressure than crude population density.

Growth of Population in India: Trend Analysis

📊 As per 2011 Census, India’s annual population growth rate was 1.64%.

But this rate has not been constant throughout history. India’s population growth has gone through 4 distinct phases. Understanding these is crucial for demographic transition theory.

🔹 Phase I (1901–1921): Stagnant Phase

• Population growth was low to negative, especially during 1911–1921.
• Why? High birth rate was counterbalanced by equally high death rate.
• Causes:
  • Poor medical services 🏥
  • Frequent famines 🍲
  • Epidemics 🦠
  • Lack of food distribution systems

This was pre-modern India—with high fertility and high mortality, a classic Stage 1 of the Demographic Transition Model.

🔹 Phase II (1921–1951): Steady Growth Phase

• 1921 is often called the “Year of Great Divide” – population starts rising consistently.
• Death rates begin to decline due to:
  • Improvement in health and sanitation
  • Better transport and communication
• However, birth rate remained high, hence population growth increased.

✍️ Despite World War II and the Great Depression, India entered a phase of demographic acceleration.

🔹 Phase III (1951–1981): Population Explosion Phase

• Termed the “explosive” phase of Indian demography.
• Death rates declined sharply, thanks to medical and public health advances.
• But birth rates remained high—leading to rapid population increase.

🧮 Growth Rate: Peaked at 2.2% annually – unprecedented!

• Factors:
  • Rise in living standards
  • Green Revolution improved food availability
  • Influx from Tibet, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan

🔹 Phase IV (Post-1981): Slowing Down Begins

• A decline in the birth rate led to moderation in growth.
• Why the slowdown?
  • Female education 📚
  • Increase in age at marriage
  • Urbanisation and lifestyle changes

But growth still remained positive and substantial—India hasn’t yet reached replacement level fertility in all regions.

Regional Variation in Population Growth: A Differentiated India

Population in India doesn’t grow uniformly—this is not a “one-size-fits-all” phenomenon. The pace at which population grows differs from region to region due to a variety of social, economic, demographic, and policy factors.

🔹 Low-Growth States (<20% decadal growth)

States that have made significant advances in healthcare, education, women empowerment, and fertility control show lower population growth:

• Kerala (lowest at 9.4%)
• Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, Goa

These are classic examples of states that have entered or are approaching the final stage of the Demographic Transition Model, i.e., low birth and low death rate phase.

🔸 Moderate to High Growth States (20–25%)

States like:

• Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana
• Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
• Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttarakhand

…continue to show relatively high growth rates, though these too are decelerating in comparison to earlier decades.

📉 Important trend: Even among the six most populous states—UP, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and MP—the growth rate fell during 2001–2011 compared to the previous decade.
This reflects the nationwide transition toward stabilisation.

🟣 Unusual Trend: Reversal in Growth Rate Decline

Surprisingly, some states that were earlier slowing down saw a marginal rise:

• Tamil Nadu saw a +3.9-percentage point increase
• Puducherry registered a +7.1-percentage point rise (2001–2011 vs 1991–2001)

These outliers are important to analyse—possibly due to migration patterns, changes in enumeration, or urban expansion.

Youth & Adolescents: India’s Demographic Dividend

India is not just growing in numbers—it is also growing younger.

👦 Adolescents (10–19 years) form 20.9% of the population (2011 Census),

• Males: 52.7%
• Females: 47.3%

This massive youth bulge can either be a demographic dividend or a liability, depending on how well they are educated, skilled, and employed.

🔹 National Youth Policy (NYP) – 2014

• Defines ‘Youth’ as individuals aged 15–29 years.
• Vision:
  “To empower youth to achieve their full potential and help India find its rightful place in the community of nations.”

This signals a policy-level recognition of youth power as central to India’s growth story.

🔸 Skill Development Policy (2015)

Launched to consolidate and integrate all skilling and entrepreneurship initiatives under one umbrella.

🔍 UPSC Insight: Connect this with SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

Rural-Urban Composition: India’s Settlement Mosaic

India, despite rapid urbanisation, is still a predominantly rural country.

📊 Rural Population (2011): 68.8%

Spread across 6,40,867 villages

But again, not all states are equally rural or urban.

🔹 States with High Rural Share

• Bihar, Sikkim: Very high percentage of rural population
  These are largely agrarian states with low urbanisation.

🔸 Urban-Majority States

• Goa, Maharashtra: Just about half of their population lives in rural areas
  • Due to economic development, coastal trade, and tourism

🟪 Union Territories: Urban by Nature

• UTs like Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry are primarily urban-centric.
• Exception: Dadra & Nagar Haveli – 53.38% rural – reflects its tribal and forest-based population.

🟫 Variation in Village Size

Village population size isn’t uniform either:

Region	Avg. Village Size
Hill States (NE, Rajasthan deserts)	< 200 persons
Kerala, parts of Maharashtra	Up to 17,000 persons!

The variation results from:

• Topography
• Population density
• Historical settlement patterns

Urban Growth Patterns: Uneven & Selective

Urbanisation has grown, but not equally across India.

📈 Accelerated Urban Growth in:

• Industrial belts
• IT hubs
• Port cities
• Linked to: economic development, better health, and public services

📉 Low Urbanisation in:

• Middle and Lower Ganga Plains (despite population)
• Telangana’s dry zones
• Non-irrigated Western Rajasthan
• Tribal NE India
• Flood-prone areas of Peninsular India
• Eastern Madhya Pradesh

Why? These areas suffer from:

• Poor infrastructure
• Agricultural stagnation
• Difficult terrain
• Low industrialisation

Population Composition in India

1. Linguistic Composition: A Tapestry of Tongues

India is often described as a “linguistic museum”—and rightly so.

🟡 Scheduled Languages

• India officially recognises 22 Scheduled Languages under the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
• Among these, Hindi is the most widely spoken language.
• Smaller linguistic groups include Sanskrit, Bodo, and Manipuri.

📌 Important Note for UPSC: Many languages like Bhili, Gondi, Khandeshi, though unscheduled, have large numbers of speakers—this highlights the diversity beyond the constitutional list.

2. Linguistic Classification

Indian languages belong to four major language families, which branch into numerous sub-families:

Family (Percentage)	Sub-Family	Branch/Group	Speech Areas
Austric (Nishada) (1.38%)	Austro-Asiatic	Mon-Khmer	Meghalaya, Nicobar Islands
		Munda	West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
	Austro-Nesian		Outside India
Dravidian (Dravida) (20%)	South-Dravidian		Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
	Central Dravidian		Andhra Pradesh, M.P., Orissa, Maharashtra
	North Dravidian		Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh
Sino-Tibetan (Kirata) (0.85%)	Tibeto-Myanmari	Tibeto-Himalayan	Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim
		North Assam	Arunachal Pradesh
	Siamese-Chinese	Assam-Myanmari	Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya
Indo-European (Aryan) (73%)	Indo-Aryan	Iranian	Outside India
		Dardic	Jammu & Kashmir
		Indo-Aryan	Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, U.P., Rajasthan, Haryana, M.P., Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa

🧠 This linguistic diversity aligns with India’s pluralistic ethos, but also impacts education policy, political movements (e.g., anti-Hindi agitations), and administrative reorganisation (like linguistic states post-1956).

3. Religious Composition: Unity in Diversity

Religion shapes the cultural geography of India.

🔴 Hindus

• Form the majority in most states: 70% to 90% or higher.
• Exceptions:
  • Border districts (Indo-Bangladesh, Indo-Pak),
  • Jammu & Kashmir,
  • Northeast hill states,
  • Some areas in Ganga plains and Deccan plateau.

🟢 Muslims

• Largest religious minority.
• Concentrated in:
  • J&K, West Bengal, Kerala
  • Districts of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi
  • Lakshadweep (Muslim-majority UT)
• Majority in Kashmir Valley and Lakshadweep

⚪ Christians

• Mostly in rural areas.
• High concentration in:
  • Goa, Kerala (Western Coast)
  • Northeast hill states – Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya
  • Chotanagpur plateau, Manipur hills

🟡 Sikhs

• Concentrated in:
  • Punjab (heartland)
  • Haryana, Delhi (diaspora)

🟣 Jains

• Urban-based, primarily in:
  • Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra

🔵 Buddhists

• Highest in:
  • Maharashtra (Neo-Buddhist movement)
  • Also in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Tripura, Lahul-Spiti (HP)

⚫ Others (Zoroastrians, Tribal faiths, Animists)

• Scattered across tribal belts of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and parts of the Northeast.

📌 Mains Angle: Religious composition affects politics, social dynamics, minority policies, and even census enumeration practices.

Composition of Working Population: Who is a Worker?

Census 2011 classifies the population based on work participation into:

Category	Definition
Main Worker	Worked ≥ 183 days in a year
Marginal Worker	Worked < 183 days
Non-Worker	Did not work at all during the census year

🟠 In 2011, total worker participation (main + marginal) was only 39.8%
That means over 60% were non-workers.

🟩 States with High Work Participation

• Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya
• Among UTs, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu top the list.

🔍 Why Higher Participation in Poorer States?

• These are labour-intensive economies
• Mechanisation is low, so human labour is essential
• Women and children often participate in informal work

Sectoral Composition of Workforce (2011)

India still has a primary-sector dominated workforce, but the trend is shifting.

Sector	Total Workers	% of Total	Male Workers	Female Workers
Primary	26.3 crore	54.6%	16.5 crore	9.75 crore
Secondary	1.83 crore	3.8%	0.98 crore	0.86 crore
Tertiary	20.03 crore	41.6%	15.66 crore	4.37 crore

📉 Shift from Agriculture:

• 2001: 58.2% in Primary
• 2011: 54.6% → gradual decline

This signals structural transformation in India’s economy—though still slow.

Occupational Categories (Census 2011)

Workers are further classified into:

1. Cultivators
2. Agricultural Labourers
3. Household Industrial Workers
4. Other Workers (includes services, trade, manufacturing, etc.)

📊 State-Wise Variations

• Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland – high % of cultivators
• Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, WB, MP – more agricultural labourers
• Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry – more in services and industry (non-farm sector)

This reflects:

• Availability of land
• Level of urbanisation
• Industrialisation and job availability