4.3.1 Population and settlements notes

1. 4.3.1.1Census of India: history and Census 2011 highlights

   India counts its people every ten years under the Census Act, 1948; the last completed count, Census 2011, found 121.09 crore people, and the next census is being run in 2026-27.

   Advanced · 7 min · Full course
2. 4.3.1.2Distribution and density of population

   India holds about 17.5 per cent of the world's people on about 2.4 per cent of its land, and its density of 382 persons per sq km (Census 2011) varies from over 1,100 in Bihar to 17 in Arunachal Pradesh.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
3. 4.3.1.3Population growth in India: phases since 1901

   India's population grew slowly until 1921, then accelerated as deaths fell faster than births, peaked in growth rate in 1961-71, and has been growing more slowly since.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
4. 4.3.1.4Sex ratio and child sex ratio

   India counts sex ratio as females per 1,000 males; it was 943 in 2011, and the child sex ratio of 919 is the more worrying figure.

   Advanced · 4 min · Full course
5. 4.3.1.5Literacy in India: trends and state-wise pattern

   India's literacy rate rose from 18 per cent in 1951 to 74.04 per cent in 2011, with Kerala at the top and Bihar at the bottom, and women still behind men.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
6. 4.3.1.6Population composition: age structure, religion, language and demographic dividend

   India's population is young, mostly Hindu and speaks Indo-Aryan languages, with 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule, and its working-age bulge is a possible demographic dividend.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
7. 4.3.1.7Scheduled Tribes: distribution and major tribes of India

   Scheduled Tribes are 8.6 per cent of India's population (Census 2011), concentrated in a central tribal belt and the North-East, with Bhils and Gonds the largest groups.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
8. 4.3.1.8Migration: types, causes and streams

   Migration is the movement of people to change residence; in India most migration is within a state and by women for marriage, while work drives male movement to cities.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
9. 4.3.1.9Urbanisation: trends, million-plus cities and urban problems

   About 31 per cent of Indians lived in towns in 2011 (377 million), up from under 11 per cent in 1901, and the fastest urban growth came in 1971-81.

   Advanced · 5 min · Full course
10. 4.3.1.10Rural and urban settlements: types and patterns

    Rural settlements are grouped as clustered, semi-clustered, hamleted or dispersed by how houses are arranged, and towns are classed by their origin and by their main function.

    Advanced · 5 min · Full course

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