Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition — Class 12 Geography

India is the world's second most populous country, with a population of 1,210 million in 2011, larger than North America, South America and Australia combined. Population data are collected through the Census held every ten years, first conducted in 1872 and first completed in 1881. India's population is very unevenly distributed: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal hold the largest numbers, and ten states together account for about 76 per cent of the total, shaped by physical factors (climate, terrain, water) and socio-economic factors (agriculture, transport, industrialisation, urbanisation). The density of population in 2011 was 382 persons per square kilometre, rising steadily from 117 in 1951; physiological and agricultural densities give deeper insight into pressure on cultivable land. Population growth has four phases: stagnant (1901-1921), steady (1921-1951), population explosion (1951-1981) and a gradual slowing after 1981. Composition is studied by rural-urban residence (68.8 per cent rural in 2011), language (four families: Austric, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European), and religion (Hindus, Muslims and others). The working population is divided into main workers, marginal workers and non-workers, with about 39.8 per cent workers; the 2011 Census recognises four occupational categories — cultivators, agricultural labourers, household industrial workers and other workers — and the primary sector still dominates with about 54.6 per cent of workers.