Growth-distribution-and density of population UPSC |Cultural Setting | Geography of India

For resource utilization and efficient planning and development, we must know how many people are in-country, how it is growing, and what are characteristics or quality of the population are.

The Population Census of India proved comprehensive information about the country's population. The first census started in 1872, but the full census was only done in 1881, since then every 10-year population census is being held.

We are generally concerned about three types of information about the population:

• Population Size, Growth, and process or rate of population change
• Population distribution and density
• Demographic attributes or quality of Population that includes:
• Sex ratio
• Age Structure
• Literacy rate
• Workforces
• Dependency ratio
• Longevity

We will discuss the first two in this article, third will be discussed in the next article.

Population Size of India:

As per the 2011 population census,

• India has 1210 million people which means we have 17.5 % of the global population and living in 2.4 % of global areas.
• India's population is more than combining the population of North America, South America, and Australia.
• We are second after China in terms of population and will become 1st hopefully after 2027.

Population growth of India:

The population is a dynamic phenomenon and its influence or get changes through three processes:

• Birth
• Death
• Migration

Population growth means incremental population, it is generally measured by two processes.

• The magnitude of increase or absolute number increase
• The rate of increase per year or per decade; is also called the annual growth rate of decadal growth rate.

The below table will give information about India's population growth since 1951.

Year	The total population in million	The absolute increase in million	Decadal Rate of increase
1951	361	42	13.31
1961	439	48	21.51
1971	548	109	24.80
1981	683	135	24.66
1991	846	163	23.85
2001	1028	182	21.54
2011	1210	182	17.64

There is 4 phase of population growth in India:

Phase 1( 1901-1921):

• Stagnant or stationary phase.
• The population even declined between 1911-1921.

Phase II :( 1921-1951)

• Period of steady population growth due to improvement in health.

Phase-III( 1951-1981):

• Very high population growth or period of population explosion.
• The average annual rate of 2.2 %

Phase-IV( 1981-present):

• High absolute increment with a slowing decadal growth rate

Regional variation in population growth:

From 1991 to 2011 data:

• The slow growth rate in southern states and Orissa. Not exceeding 20 % decadal growth.
• Kerala registered only 9.4 % decadal growth.
• The high growth rate in the northern, northeastern, and central states. 20-25 % decadal growth registered.

Distribution of Indian Population:

Indian population is not equally distributed in all regions. Rajasthan is the biggest state in India in terms of areas but it shares only 6 % of India's population while Uttar Pradesh is not the biggest state in India but shares 16 % of India's population.

The following are some population data state-wise as per the 2011 population census:

% indicates the population share of India.

• Uttar Pradesh: 199 Million population (16 % of India's Population)
• Maharastra: 9 %
• Bihar: 9 %
• West Bengal: 8 %
• Andhra  +  Telangana: 7%
• Madhya Pradesh: 6 %
• Tamil Nadu: 6 %
• Karnataka: 5 %
• Gujarat: 5%
• Sikkim: 0.6 million population
• Lakshadweep: 64,429 people.

The following are the three major factors that affect population distribution:

• Geographical factor
• Economic factors
• Social and cultural factors

Geographical factors:

• Topography (plain and hilly areas), availability of water resources, climate, and soil are the four major geographical factors that affect population density.
• Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains and coastal plains are highly populated regions due to plains areas, availability of fertile soils, pleasant climate, and abundance of water resources.
• The Plateau region of India has a moderate population.
• Hilly areas of India's Himalaya region, North Eastern hills, central hills, and southern hills are low-populated regions due to rough terrain.

Economic factors:

• Availability of mineral resources, urbanization, and industrialization are the three major economic factors that affect the distribution of population.
• The industrial sector provides employment opportunities for factory workers, transport operators, shopkeepers, bank employees, doctors, teachers, and other services. Industrial areas like Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-Gurugram-Meerut, and Chotanagpur regions are densely populated due to the presence of many industries. 

Social and cultural factors

• Some people prefer to live in an area that has cultural significance. For example, the cities of Varanasi and Mathura have cultural significance.

Population density of India:

Population density refers to the number of people living per square kilometer area. It represents the actual person-to-land ratio and gave a picture of the pressure of the population. Some information we also get from physiographic density and agricultural density.

Physiographic density = total population/net cultivable land

Agricultural density= total agricultural population/ net cultivable land

The following are population density data as per the 2011 census:

• India population density: 382 person/square km.( in 1951: 117 person/square km)
• Bihar: 1,106 ( Highest in states)
• Arunachal Pradesh: 17 ( lowest in states)
• Delhi: 11320 people per square km

Population density varies due to various factors such as:

• Topography: hilly terrain unfavorable to the population
• Climate: Harsh climate unsuitable
• Shallow fertile land not suitable for the population
• dense forest not suitable for the population
• Availability to water
• Accessibility to transport services
• Political and social stability

Following are the four patterns of population distribution in India in terms of density.

High Population Density Areas:

This includes Delhi, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Kerala.

Areas with Moderate Population Density:

This includes Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Areas with low population density:

Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland

Areas with very low population density:

Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.

Try to solve the following questions:

• Elucidate the population density types in India. ( UPSC geography)
• Critically examine the factors affecting the distributional pattern of the population in India. ( UPSC geography)
• Explain the uneven distribution of population in India. ( 65th BPSC geography)

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