population composition
census, gender & age
population size & growth
India is the most populous country with its total population of 1,428 million (Dec, 2022), india is believed to have surpassed china in October 2022.
- First censusto be ever postponed in India - The 2021 Census of India, also the 16th Indian Census, has been postponed till October 2023, at least.
- Big states - U.P (51%), Maharashtra(9.28%), Bihar(8.26%), West Bengal(7.5%), Andhra Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat, together a count for about 76 per cent of the total population of the country.
- Small states -On the other hand, share of population is very small in the states like Jammu & Kashmir (0.98%), Arunachal Pradesh (0.1 1%) and Uttaranchal 0.83%) in spite of theses states hitting fairly large geographical area.
- India’s population has grown by more than 1 billion people since 1950, the year the UN population data begins & increased by more than 300% since independence(33 crores in 1947 to 142 crores in 2023).
- India enters the demographic dividend stage - People under the age of 25 account for more than 40% of India’s population. In fact, there are so many Indians in this age group that roughly one-in-five people globallywho are under the age of 25 live in India. Looking at India’s age distribution another way, the country’s median age is 28. By comparison, the median age is 38 in the United States and 39 in China.
- India”s sex ratio is narrowing - India’s artificially wide ratio of baby boys to baby girls – which arose in the 1970s from the use of prenatal diagnostic technology to facilitate sex-selective abortions– is narrowing. From a large imbalance of about 111 boys per 100 girls in India’s 2011 census, the sex ratio at birth appears to have normalized slightly over the last decade. It narrowed to about 109 boys per 100 girls in the 2015-16 NFHS and to 108 boys per 100 girls in the 2019-21 NFHS.
Rank |
State or Union Territory |
National Share (%) |
Population Density[a] |
Sex ratio |
1 |
Uttar Pradesh |
16.51% |
828/km2 |
912 |
2 |
Maharashtra |
9.28% |
365/km2 |
929 |
3 |
Bihar |
8.6% |
1,102/km2 |
918 |
4 |
West Bengal |
7.54% |
1,029/km2 |
953 |
5 |
Madhya Pradesh |
6% |
236/km2 |
931 |
6 |
Tamil Nadu |
5.96% |
555/km2 |
996 |
7 |
Rajasthan |
5.66% |
201/km2 |
928 |
8 |
Karnataka |
5.05% |
319/km2 |
973 |
9 |
Gujarat |
4.99% |
308/km2 |
919 |
10 |
Andhra Pradesh |
4.1% |
303/km2 |
993 |
11 |
Odisha |
3.47% |
269/km2 |
979 |
12 |
Telangana |
2.89% |
312/km2 |
988 |
13 |
Kerala |
2.76% |
859/km2 |
1,084 |
14 |
Jharkhand |
2.73% |
414/km2 |
948 |
15 |
Assam |
2.58% |
398/km2 |
958 |
16 |
Punjab |
2.29% |
551/km2 |
895 |
17 |
Chhattisgarh |
2.11% |
189/km2 |
991 |
18 |
Haryana |
2.09% |
573/km2 |
879 |
19 |
NCT of Delhi |
1.39% |
11,297/km2 |
868 |
20 |
Jammu and Kashmir |
1.01% |
297/km2 |
890 |
21 |
Uttarakhand |
0.83% |
189/km2 |
963 |
22 |
Himachal Pradesh |
0.57% |
123/km2 |
972 |
23 |
Tripura |
0.3% |
350/km2 |
960 |
24 |
Meghalaya |
0.25% |
132/km2 |
989 |
25 |
Manipur |
0.21% |
122/km2 |
992 |
26 |
Nagaland |
0.16% |
119/km2 |
931 |
27 |
Goa |
0.12% |
394/km2 |
973 |
28 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
0.11% |
17/km2 |
938 |
29 |
Puducherry |
0.1% |
2,598/km2 |
1,037 |
30 |
Mizoram |
0.09% |
52/km2 |
976 |
31 |
Chandigarh |
0.09% |
9,252/km2 |
818 |
32 |
Sikkim |
0.05% |
86/km2 |
890 |
33 |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |
0.05% |
970/km2 |
711 |
34 |
Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
0.03% |
46/km2 |
876 |
35 |
Ladakh |
0.02% |
2.8/km2 |
853 |
36 |
Lakshadweep |
0.01% |
2,013/km2 |
946 |
Total |
India |
100% |
382/km2 |
940 |
Religious composition
Religious composition
As of the 2011 census,
Hindus were a majority in 28 of India’s 35 states and union territories, including all of the country’s most populous states: Uttar Pradesh (total population 200 million, or 20 crore), Maharashtra (112 million, or 11.2 crore), Bihar (104 million, or 10.4 crore) and West Bengal (91 million, or 9.1 crore).
- Muslims are the majority in the small tropical archipelago of Lakshadweep (total population 60,000) and in Kashmir (7 million, or 70 lakh).
- Christians are a majority in Nagaland (total population 2 million, or 20 lakh), Mizoram (1 million, or 10 lakh) and Meghalaya (3 million, or 30 lakh)
- Christians live in large numbers as religious minorities in the much larger states of Kerala (33 million, or 3.3 crore) and Tamil Nadu (72 million, or 7.2 crore).
- Sikhs are the largest group in Punjab (total population 28 million, or 2.8 crore), which is the only state where a religious group other than Hindus, Muslims or Christians forms a majority.
- The populations of two states, Arunachal Pradesh (1.4 million, or 14 lakh) and Manipur (3 million, or 30 lakh), are religiously diverse, with substantial shares of several religious groups and none approaching a majority. In Arunachal Pradesh, for example, where 39% of the population falls into the “other” category of smaller religions, many people identify as Donyi-Polo. Meanwhile, in the state of Sikkim, which borders Tibet, 27% are Buddhists.
Total numbers of various religious denominations –
- Largest population of Hindus (159 million, or 15.9 crore) , Uttar Pradesh, 16% of India’s Hindus.
- Largest population Muslims (38 million, or 3.8 crore) Uttar Pradesh, accounting for and 22% of India’s Muslims.
- The greatest number of Christians live in Kerala (6 million, or 60 lakh, which is about 22% of the country’s Christians).
- Most Sikhs live in Punjab (16 million, or 1.6 crore – 77% of Indian Sikhs).
- Most Sikhs live in Punjab (16 million, or 1.6 crore – 77% of Indian Sikhs).
- Buddhists are most often found in Maharashtra on India’s western coast (6.5 million, or 65 lakh), making up 77% of India’s Buddhists.
- Jains - Maharashtra, India’s second most populous state – which includes Mumbai, India’s largest city – is also the state with the largest number of Jains (1.4 million, or 14 lakh – 31% of Indian Jains).
Language Composition
Language Composition
Linguistic Composition
| Language | First language speakers |
First language speakers as percentage of total population |
Second language speakers (millions) |
Total speakers (millions) | Total speakers as percentage of total population |
| Hindi | 528,347,193 | 43.63 | 139 | 692 | 57.1 |
| Bengali | 97,237,669 | 8.30 | 9 | 107 | 8.9 |
| Marathi | 83,026,680 | 6.86 | 13 | 99 | 8.2 |
| Telugu | 81,127,740 | 6.70 | 12 | 95 | 7.8 |
Scheduled castes & scheduled tribes
Tribes in india:
As per the Census 2011, the tribal population constitutes about 8.9% of the total population in India, totalling 10.5 crores. The global name assigned to tribes is indigenous people.
476 million tribal people inhabit the planet - According to the UN, there are an estimated 476 million indigenous people around the world. They call 90 countries home and represent around 5,000 different cultures.
According to International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs’ publication, The Indigenous World, 2022, the highest proportion of indigenous people as percentage & proportion live in Samoa, Greenland and French Polynesia.
biggest tribal population - By numbers, China is the country with the biggest indigenous population in absolute terms. More than 125 million indigenous people – Tibetans, Uyghurs, Zhuang and 52 other recognized groups – still make up only 8.9 percent of the Chinese population.
India has 2nd largest population of tribals - with 104 million indigenous people (8.6 percent of the population).
| Namtre of the Tribe | States in which they reside |
| BHIL | Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka. |
| GOND | Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka. |
| SANTAL | Bihar, Tripura, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand. |
| MINA | Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. |
| NAIKDA | Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Goa. |
| ORAON | Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra. |
| SUGALIS | Andhra Pradesh. |
| MUNDA | Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha. |
| NAGA | Nagaland. |
| KHOND | Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha. |
| BORO | Assam. |
| KOLI MAHADEV | Maharashtra. |
| KHASI | Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam. |
| KOL | Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra. |
| VARLI | Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa. |
| KOKNA | Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka. |
| KAWAR | Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra . |
| GUJJAR | Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh. |
| BHUMIJ | West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha. |
| GARO | Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura. |
| KOYA | Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka. |
The decadal population growth of the tribal’s from Census 2001 to 2011 has been 23.66% against the 17.69% of the entire population.
- The sex ratio for the overall population is 940 females per 1000 males and that of Scheduled Tribes 990 females per thousand males.
- Broadly the STs inhabit two distinct geographical area – the Central India and the North- Eastern Area.
- More than half of the Scheduled Tribe population is concentrated in Central India,
- Madhya Pradesh (14.69%), Chhattisgarh (7.5%), Jharkhand (8.29%), Andhra Pradesh (5.7%), Maharashtra (10.08%), Orissa (9.2%), Gujarat (8.55%) and Rajasthan (8.86%). The other distinct area is the North East (Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh).
- More than two-third of the ST population is concentrated only in the seven States of the country, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. There is no ST population in 3 States (Delhi NCR, Punjab and Haryana) and 2 UTs (Puducherry and Chandigarh), as no Scheduled Tribe is notified.
Scheduled Tribe Population by State
| States with population of Scheduled Tribes as per 2011 census | |||
| State | Population | Scheduled Tribe (%) | Scheduled Tribe Population |
| Mizoram | 1,097,206 | 94.44 | 1,036,201 |
| Nagaland | 1,978,502 | 86.46 | 1,710,612 |
| Meghalaya | 2,966,889 | 86.15 | 2,555,974 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1,383,727 | 68.79 | 951,865 |
| Manipur | 2,570,390 | 35.14 | 903,235 |
| Sikkim | 610,577 | 33.72 | 205,886 |
| Tripura | 3,673,917 | 31.76 | 1,166,836 |
| Chhattisgarh | 25,545,198 | 30.62 | 7,821,939 |
| Jharkhand | 32,988,134 | 26.21 | 8,646,189 |
| Odisha | 41,974,218 | 22.85 | 9,591,108 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 72,626,809 | 21.09 | 15,316,994 |
| Gujarat | 60,439,692 | 14.75 | 8,914,854 |
| Rajasthan | 68,548,437 | 13.48 | 9,240,329 |
| Assam | 31,205,576 | 12.45 | 3,885,094 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 12,541,302 | 11.90 | 1,492,414 |
| Goa | 1,458,545 | 10.21 | 148,917 |
| Maharashtra | 112,374,333 | 9.35 | 10,507,000 |
| India | 1,210,854,977 | 8.61 | 104,254,613 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 84,580,777 | 7.00 | 5,920,654 |
| Karnataka | 61,095,297 | 6.95 | 4,246,123 |
| West Bengal | 91,276,115 | 5.80 | 5,294,014 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 6,864,602 | 5.71 | 391,968 |
| Uttarakhand | 10,086,292 | 2.90 | 292,502 |
| Kerala | 33,406,061 | 1.45 | 484,387 |
| Bihar | 104,099,452 | 1.28 | 1,332,472 |
| Tamil Nadu | 72,147,030 | 1.10 | 793,617 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 199,812,341 | 0.57 | 1,138,930 |
| Haryana | 25,351,462 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Punjab | 27,743,338 | 0.00 | 0 |
Schedule Castes in India
As per Census- 2011, the number of scheduled castes in India is 20, 13, and 78,086. It is 16.6% of the total population of India. The scheduled castes are 18.5% of the total population of rural areas and 12.6% of urban areas. It is to be noted that during 2001-2011 the decadal growth rate of the population of India was 17.64%. During this period decadal growth rate of the scheduled castes was 20.8%.
As per Census- 2001; it was 16.2% of the total population of India.
A total of 15, 38, 50,562 people belonging to the scheduled castes reside in rural areas whereas 4, 75, 27,524 people in urban areas.
The scheduled castes are 18.5% of the total population of rural areas and 12.6% of urban areas. It is to be noted that during 2001-2011 the decadal growth rate of the population of India was 17.64%. During this period decadal growth rate of the scheduled castes was 20.8%. The decadal growth rate of the scheduled castes in rural areas was less (15.7%) whereas it was more (41.3%) in urban areas because of their migration from villages to towns and cities.
- States having maximum ratio of scheduled castes, as per Census- 2011 (in descending order) - Punjab(31.9%) > Himachal Pradesh(25.2%) > West Bengal (23.5%) >Uttar Pradesh (20.7%) > Haryana (20.2%)
- States and Union territories having minimum ratio of Scheduled Castes, as per Census-2011 (in ascending order) - Mizoram(0.1%) < Meghalaya(0.6%) < Goa (1.7%) < Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1.8%) < Daman and Diu (2.5%)
[Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep Islands have no population of Scheduled Castes.]
Scheduled Caste Population by State
| States with population of Scheduled Castes as per 2011 census | |||
| State | Population | Scheduled Caste (%) | Scheduled Caste Population |
| Punjab | 27,743,338 | 31.94 | 8,860,179 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 6,864,602 | 25.19 | 1,729,252 |
| West Bengal | 91,276,115 | 23.51 | 21,463,270 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 199,812,341 | 20.70 | 41,357,608 |
| Haryana | 25,351,462 | 20.17 | 5,113,615 |
| Tamil Nadu | 72,147,030 | 20.01 | 14,438,445 |
| Uttarakhand | 10,086,292 | 18.76 | 1,892,516 |
| Rajasthan | 68,548,437 | 17.83 | 12,221,593 |
| Tripura | 3,673,917 | 17.83 | 654,918 |
| Karnataka | 61,095,297 | 17.15 | 10,474,992 |
| Odisha | 41,974,218 | 17.13 | 7,190,184 |
| India | 1,210,854,977 | 16.63 | 201,378,086 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 84,580,777 | 16.41 | 13,878,078 |
| Bihar | 104,099,452 | 15.91 | 16,567,325 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 72,626,809 | 15.62 | 11,342,320 |
| Chhattisgarh | 25,545,198 | 12.82 | 3,274,269 |
| Jharkhand | 32,988,134 | 12.08 | 3,985,644 |
| Maharashtra | 112,374,333 | 11.81 | 13,275,898 |
| Kerala | 33,406,061 | 9.10 | 3,039,573 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 12,541,302 | 7.38 | 924,991 |
| Assam | 31,205,576 | 7.15 | 2,231,321 |
| Gujarat | 60,439,692 | 6.74 | 4,074,447 |
| Sikkim | 610,577 | 4.63 | 28,275 |
| Manipur | 2,570,390 | 3.78 | 97,042 |
| Goa | 1,458,545 | 1.74 | 25,449 |
| Meghalaya | 2,966,889 | 0.58 | 17,355 |
| Mizoram | 1,097,206 | 0.11 | 1,218 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1,383,727 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Nagaland | 1,978,502 | 0.00 | 0 |
Among union territories, Delhi has the maximum number (28.19 lakh) of Scheduled Castes.
Sex Ratio in Scheduled Castes
As per Census 2011, the sex ratio in India is 943 whereas it is 945 in scheduled Castes. The sex ratio of children (0-6 age group) in India is 919 whereas it is 933 in scheduled castes. The sex ratio in scheduled castes is in favour of females in Kerala (1057), Puducherry (1056), Goa (1015), Arunachal Pradesh (1008) and Tamil Nadu (1004). Mizoram is the only state where the sex ratio in scheduled castes is not only lowest (509) in the country but deplorable also.
Literacy in Scheduled Castes
As per Census 2011, the rate of literacy in India is 72.99% whereas that of it in scheduled castes is 66.1 %. State wise, the rate of literacy in scheduled castes is highest in Mizoram (92.4%) and lowest in Bihar (48.6%). Among union territories, the highest rate of literacy in scheduled castes is in Daman and Diu (92.6%). According to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Act, 1990 Scheduled Castes can only belong to Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist religions. [The Scheduled tribes may belong to any religion.]