about Population

General Points

• As per provisional data of Census 2011, India's population stood at 1,21,01,93,422. 
• The census moment, the referral time at which the snapshot of the population is taken was 00.00 hours of 1 March 2001. Until the 1991 Census, the sunrise of 1 March was taken to be the census moment. 
• India’s population as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million males and 496.4 million females). 
• India's population grew by 18,14,55,986 (17.64%) at the rate of 1.64% per annum in the decade 2001­11. India accounts for a meagre 2.4 per cent of the world surface area of 135.79 million sq km. Yet, it supports and sustains a whopping 17.5 per cent of the world population.

 India in relation to other countries 

• The growth in India's population during the decade 2001­11 is slightly lower than the population of Brazil, the fifth most populated country in the world. 
• China's decadal growth is 0.53% against India's 1.64%. At the present rates India is likely to overtake China as the most populous country of world by 2030. 
• Three most populous countries of the world viz. China (1.34 billion), India (1.21 billion) and USA (308.7 million) account for 40% population of the world. 
• The population of India is almost equal to the combined population of U.S.A., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan.

Population Growth ­ 1901­- 2011 

• The population of India in 1901 was 23,83,96,327. It increased more than four times by 2011. 
• The population of India in grew by just one and half times in the first half of twentieth century, while it recorded a three fold growth in the latter half of the century. 
• The population of India saw a negative growth during 1911­1921 when its population decreased from 25,20,93,390 to 25,13,21,213. 
• The population of India in 1951, just four years after independence was 36,10,88,090.

Indian States and Union Territories

• Among the Indian states, Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state with a population of 19,95,81,477 and Sikkim is the least populated state with a population of 6,07,688. 
• The second, third, fourth and fifth ranked states are Maharashtra (11,23,72,972), Bihar (10,38,04,637), West Bengal (9,13,47,736) and Andhra Pradesh (8,46,65,533) respectively. 
• Among the Union Territories, Delhi is the most populated UT with a population of 1,67,53,235 and Lakshdweep is the least populated UT with a population of 64,429. 
• The population of Delhi is greater than Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur 
• The second most populated UT is Puducherry with a population of 12,44,464 followed by Chandigarh with a population of 10,54,686.

Density of Population

• The population density of India is 382 persons per square kilometre while it was 325 persons in 2001. 
• India had a population density of just 77 persons per sq. km in 1901. 
• The state with highest density of population is Bihar with a population of 1102 persons per square kilometre. 
• The state with lowest density of population is Arunachal Pradesh with a population of 17 persons per square kilometre. 
• The UT with highest density of population is Delhi with a population of 11,297 persons per square kilometre.
• The UT with lowest density of population is Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a population of 46 persons per square kilometre. 
• The district with highest density of population is North East Delhi with a population of 37346 persons per square kilometre. 
• The UT with lowest density of population is Lahaul and Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) with a population of 2 persons per square kilometre.

Gender Composition

• Out of the total population, the number of males in India is 62,37,34,248 and number of females is 58,64,69,174. 
• The above figures give a sex ratio of 940 females per 1000 males which is an improvement of 7 points over the 2001 sex ratio of 933. 
• India had the highest sex ratio in 1901 when it was 972 and worst in 1991 when it was 927. 
• India has poorer sex ratio when compared to its neighbours ­ Pakistan (943), Sri Lanka (1034), Nepal (1014), Myanmar (1048) and Bangladesh (978) while it is better than China (926), Afghanistan (931) and Bhutan (897). 
• Among Indian states Kerala has the highest sex ratio of 1084 females to 1000 males while Haryana has the lowest sex ratio of 877. 
• Among the Union Territories, Puducherry has the highest sex ratio of 1038 females to 1000 males while Daman and Diu has the lowest sex ratio of 618.

Literacy

• For the purposes of Census, a person aged 7 and above who can both read and write with understanding in any language is treated as literate. A person who can only read but cannot write is not literate. In the censues prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.
• The overall literacy rate as per 2011 census is 74.04%. The literacy rate in 2001 was 65%. 
• The literacy rate is 82.14% for males and 65.46% for females. 
• Kerala ranks first among Indian states with a literacy rate of 93.91% followed by Mizoram with a literacy rate of 91.58%. 
• Bihar ranks last among Indian states with a literacy rate of 63.82%. Next is Rajasthan with a literacy rate of 67.06%. 
• Four States have achieved literacy rate of above 85% which is the target set by the Planning Commission to be achieved by 2011­12. They are Kerala, Mizoram, Tripura and Goa. 
• Six Union Territories have achieved literacy rate of above 85% which is the target set by the Planning Commission to be achieved by 2011­12. They are Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands