population

• India covers only 2.4 percent of the land area of the world, but is the home of about 17.5 percent of the world’s population.

• one out of every six persons in the world is from India.

• First [[Census]] was carried out in the year 1872.

• But the first complete and synchronous census was conducted in 1881.

• The 2011 census represents the 15th census of India.

Distribution and Density of Population

• [[Uttar Pradesh]] is the most populous state in the country with a population of 199.5 million followed by [[Maharashtra]] (112.3 million), [[Bihar]] (103.8 million) [[West Bengal]] (91.3 million) and the combined [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Telangana]] (84.6 million). These five states account for about half of the country’s population.
• [[Sikkim]] is the least populous state of India(0.61 million).
• [[Delhi]] with 16.75 million population tops among the Union territories.

Density of population

• It is expressed as No. of persons per sq km.
• According to 2011, the average density of population of India is 382 persons per sq.km.
• India is one of the most thickly populated ten countries of the world.
• The most densely populated state of India is Bihar and the state with least population density is Arunachal Pradesh.
• Among the union territories, Delhi is the densely populated one with 11,297 per sq.km,
• while Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the lowest density of population.

India’s population increased by about

27 million during 1921-1931;

37 million during 1931-1941;

44 million during 1941-1951;

78 million during 1951-1961!