Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 1 Population- Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition: Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 1 Population- Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition focuses on the various patterns of distribution, density, growth and composition of India’s population. In this article, we will talk about the Distribution of Population, Density of Population, Growth of Population, Phases of Population Growth, Regional Variation in Population Growth, Population Composition and Composition of Working Population.
Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 1 Population- Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
It is the people of a country that are its major assets. The population of a nation, adds to its value. As per 2001 Census, India had around 1028 million population. Now, India is the most populated country in the world with a population of more than 1.43 billion. It recently surpassed China as the most populous country.
India’s population is larger than many continents put together like North America, South America and Australia. It is often argued that while having population may add value to a nation, it may at times also put pressure on limited resources. This may also lead to socio-economic problems in the country.
Distribution of Population
Distribution of population means how population is distributed in any given area. In India, spatial pattern of population distribution is very uneven. As some areas are sparsely populated whereas others are dense. These states can be categorised into three categories:
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State with High Population
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These states together account for 76% of population.
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States with Moderate Population
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States with Low Population
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- Jammu and Kashmir (1.04%)
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Density of Population
Population density means number of person living in per unit area. As per the 2011 census, the population density in India is 382 people per sq km. Over the last 50 years, the population density has recorded an increase of about 200 persons per sq km, as ranging from 117 persons/sq km in 1951 to 382 persons per sq km in 2011.
Spatial Pattern of Population Density in India uneven in India.
For instance, various states have different densities of population such as:
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States/UTs having High Density of population
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States
Union Territories
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States/UTs having Moderate Density of Population
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States
Union Territory– Dadra and Nagar Haveli (700)
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States/UTs having Low Density of Populaton
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States
- Arunachal Pradesh (17 Lowest)
Union Territory– Andaman and Nicobar islands (46 lowest)
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Agricultural population includes cultivators and agricultural labourers and their family members.
Physiological Density= Total Population/ Net cultivated area
Agricultural Density= Total agricultural population/ Net cultivated area
Growth of Population
Growth of Population refers to the changes occuring in the number of persons living in a particular area between two points of time. Its rate is expressed in percentage.
Two components in population growth are as follows:
- Natural Growth means the change occuring by the births and deaths in any area.
- Induced Growth means the changes occurred by the volume of inward and outward movement in an area.
Population Doubling is the time taken by any population to double itself at its current annual growth rate.
Phases of Population Growth
There are four different phases of population growth:
- Phase-I (1901-1921): stagnant or stationary phase because of very low growth rate. Reasons for high birth and death rates were poor health and medical services, illiteracy of people and inefficient distribution of food and basic necessities.
- Phase-II (1921-1951): period of steady population growth. In India, there was an overall improvement in health and sanitation during this phase.
- Phase-III (1951-1981): This period is known as the period of population explosion in India. Rapid fall in death rate and high fertility rate were the main causes of this explosion.
- Phase-IV (Post 1981 till present): Growth rate has started down gradually because of downward trend in birth rate. But in developing countries like India, growth rate is still high.
The World Development Report says that by 2025, the Indian population will surpass the figure of 1350 million.
Regional Variation in Population Growth
The spatial pattern of population growth in India is very uneven. It ranges from -0.58% (Negative) in Nagaland to 55.88% in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
- States/UTs having High Growth Rate of Population- Meghalaya (27.95%), Arunachal Pradesh (26.03%), Bihar (25.42%), Manipur (24.50%), Jammu and Kashmir (23.64%) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (55.88%), Daman and Diu (53.76%), Puducherry (28.08%).
- States/UTs having Moderate Growth Rate of Population- Chhattisgarh (22.61%), Jharkhand (22.42%), Rajasthan (21.31%), Madhya Pradesh (20.35%), Uttar Pradesh (20.23%).
- States/UTs having Low Growth Rate of Population– Nagaland (-0.58% lowest), Kerala (4.91%), Goa (8.23%), Andhra Pradesh (10.98%) and
Lakshadweep (6.30%), Andaman and Nicobar islands (6.86%).
Growth of Adolescent Population
As per the United Nations, people aged 10-19 years as adolescents population, out of which male adolescents are 52.7% and female adolescents are 47.3%. The Government of India has taken several steps like the, National Youth Policy 2003 which is meant for channelisation and proper utilisation of adolescents by providing them with proper education.
Special attention to women empowerment as well and other fields like health of youth, sports, recreation, creativity and awareness about new innovations in the field of science and technology.
Population Composition
Population Composition is a detailed analysis of age and sex, place of residence, ethnic characteristics, tribes, language, religion, marital status, literacy and education, occupational characteristics, etc in population geography.
- Rural-Urban Composition– In India, its 68.84% of total population lives in rural villages by 2011. As per the census conducted in 2011, India has 6,40,867 villages.
Percentage of rural population is high in Himachal Pradesh (89.97% highest) and Bihar (88.71%) and low in Goa (37.83%) and Mizoram (47.89%). Delhi has the least rural population (2.50%).
- Rural Population in Indian States– States having High Proportion of Rural Population Himachal Pradesh (89.97%) and Bihar (88.71%), Assam (85.90%), Odisha (83.31%).
- States having Moderate Proportion of Rural population– Meghalaya (79.93%), Uttar Pradesh (77.73%), Arunachal Pradesh (77.06%), Chattisgarh (76.76%), Jharkhand (75.95%).
- States having Low Proportion of Rural Population– Goa (37.83%), Mizoram (47.89%), Tamil Nadu (51.60%), Kerala (52.30%). Delhi (2.50%), Chandigarh (2.75%).
- Regions having High Degree of Urbanisation– Goa (62.17%), Mizoram (52.11%), Tamil Nadu (48.40%) Kerala (47.70%). Delhi (97.50%), Chandigarh (97.25%), Lakshadweep (78.07%).
- Regions having Low Degree of Urbanisation- Himachal Pradesh (10.03%), Bihar (11.29%), Assam (14.10%), Odisha (16.69%), Meghalaya (20.07%).
- Linguistic Composition- India is a land of linguistic diversity. There are 22 scheduled languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Hindi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Manipuri, Marathi, Odiya, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sindhi, Nepali, Sanskrit, Santhali, Urdu and many non-scheduled languages.
- Linguistic Composition- The speakers of major Indian languages belong to four language families, which have their sub-families and branches or groups.
Classification of Modern Indian Languages
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Family
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Sub-Family
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Branch/Group
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Speech Areas
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1. Austric (Nishada-1.38%)
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Austro-Asiatic
Austro-Nesian
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Mon-Khmer
Munda
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Meghalaya, Nicobar Islands
West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
Outside India
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2. Dravidian (Dravida-20%)
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South-Dravidian
Central-Dravidian
North Dravidian
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Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra
Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh
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3. Sino-Tibetan (Kirata-0.85%)
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Tibeto- Myanmari
Siamese- Chinese
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Tibeto- Himalayan
North Assam
Assam- Myanmari
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Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya
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4. Indo-European (Aryan-73%)
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Indo- Aryan
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Iranian
Dardic
Indo- Aryan
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Outside India
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa
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- Religious Composition- India being a land of diverse cultures, has many religious communities residing such as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and others.
Religious Communities of India, 2001
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Religious Groups
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Population (in million)
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Total %
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Hindus
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827.6
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80.5
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Muslims
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138.2
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13.5
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Christians
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24.1
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2.3
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Sikhs
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19.2
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1.9
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Buddhists
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8.0
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0.9
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Jains
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4.2
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0.4
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Others
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6.6
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0.6
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Hindus form the majority religious group in India, somewhere around 70-90% in many states except the districts of states along the Indo-Pak border, Jammu and Kashmir, hill states of North-East and in scattered areas of Deccan Plateau and the plains of Ganga.
Muslims are the largest religious minority and found largely in states of Jammu and Kashmir followed by certain districts of West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi and Lakshadweep.
Christians are found mostly in rural areas of India. They are mostly found along the Western Coast around Goa, Kerala and hill states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chotanagpur area and Manipur hills.
Jains are found in urban areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Buddhists are found mostly in Maharashtra followed by Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
Amongst other religious communities are the Zoroastrians, tribal and other indigenous faiths and beliefs who are concentrated in small pockets in India.
Composition of Working Population
The proportion of working population to total population is called work participation rate.
The population of India according to their economic status is divided into three groups like:
- Main workers: A person who works at least 183 days (or 6 months) in a year.
- Marginal workers: A person who works for less than 183 days (or 6 months) in a year.
- Non-workers: A person who does not work and depends upon working class.
As per the 2011 census, the working population of India has four major categories:
It is observed that in India, the proportion of workers (both main and marginal) is only 39 per cent (2001) leaving a vast majority of 61 per cent as non-workers.
The occupational composition of India’s population (engagement of an individual in farming, manufacturing trade, services or any kind of professional activities) shows a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors.
About 58.2 per cent of total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers, whereas only 4.2% of workers are engaged in household industries and 37.6% are other workers including non household industries, trade, commerce, construction and repair and other services.
Male workers out-number female workers in all the three sectors. The number of female workers is relatively high in primary sector, though in recent years there has been some improvement in work participation of women in secondary and tertiary sectors.
The participation rate in secondary and tertiary sectors has registered an increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farm-based occupations to non-farm based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country. The spatial variation of work participation rate in different sectors in the country is very wide.
States like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland have very large shares of cultivators. On the other hand states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have higher proportion of agricultural labourers. The highly urbanised areas like Delhi, Chandigarh and Puducherry have a very large proportion of workers being engaged in other services.
Conclusion
The density of population varies across various states and union territories of India. How there is a growth of population is of two types: natural and induced. As per the 2001 Census, the population of India stood around 1028 million. The occupational composition of India’s population shows a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors.
Now, India is the most populated nation in the world with a population of around 1.43 billion. India is a land of various ethnicities, languages and religions which add to its beauty. Thus we see how the population is distributed across India, its density, growth and composition.
People Also Read:
Population Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
What was the population of India as per the 2001 census?
The population of India was 1028 million as per the Census in 2001.
Which is the most populated country in the world?
India with a population of around 1.43 billion is the most populated country in the world.
Define Population Density.
Population density means number of person living in per unit area.
How can Growth in Population be defined?
Growth of Population refers to the changes occuring in the number of persons living in a particular area between two points of time. Its rate is expressed in percentage.
Two components in population growth are as follows:
- Natural Growth means the change occuring by the births and deaths in any area.
- Induced Growth means the changes occurred by the volume of inward and outward movement in an area.
Define Population Doubling.
Population Doubling is the time taken by any population to double itself at its current annual growth rate.
Which is the largest linguistic group of India?
Indo- Aryan is the largest linguistic group in India.
What are the religious communities residing in India?
Various religious communities residing in India are: Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians and others.
Why is worker participation higher in some states of India as compared to others?
Work participation rate is the number of people engaged in economic activities. Some states of India like Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh etc. tend to have higher work participation rate.
The work participation rate tends to be higher in the areas of lower levels of economic development since a certain number of manual workers are required to perform the subsistence or near subsistence economic activities in the absence of other opportunities.
What is India’s population density?
As per the 2011 census the density of population is 382 people/sq. km.
As per the 2001 census of India, what are the major occupation categories?
As per 2001 Census of India there are four major categories: Cultivators, Agricultural labourers, Household industrial workers and Other workers.
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