Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 14 India: Composition of Population
Introduction :
- The population of any country reflects social characteristics of the population there.
- Age groups and gender ratio, habitat, human ethnicity, language, religion, literacy, marital status etc. are studied under composition of population.
Rural-Urban Population :
- India is a village-oriented country. Most of the population of india lives in villages.
- In India, in terms of villages, major states are Uttar Pradesh (1,06,704), Madhya Pradesh (54,903), Odisha (51,313), Bihar (44,874), Rajasthan (44,672), Maharashtra (43,663) and West Bengal (40,203).
- Most rural population is found in Himachal Pradesh (89.96%), Bihar (88.70%), Assam (85.92%), Odisha (83.82%), Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
- In 1981, there were 3245 cities of different sizes in India. This number increased to 7935 by 2011.
- In terms of number of cities, major states are Tamil Nadu (721), Uttar Pradesh (648), Madhya Pradesh (364), Maharashtra (256) and Karnataka (220).
- Population living in cities of Tamil Nadu (48.45%), Kerala (47.72%), Maharashtra (45.23%), Gujarat (42.58%), Karnataka (38.57%) and Punjab (37.49%) are the highest urban populations.
- Causes of Urban Population Growth in India : Lack of employment in rural areas, urban attractions, more amenities in cities than villages, better facilities of education, industrialisation, development of modes of transport and communication, low profitability in agriculture, closure of small scale and cottage industries in villages are major causes of urban population growth in India.
Sex-Ratio :
- The ratio of the number of females and males in the given population is called sex-ratio. In this context, the number of women is calculated on per thousand men.
- Sex ratio (940) of India is much lower than average sex ratio (984) of the world.
- In India, the highest sex ratio is found in Kerala (1084) and the lowest sex ratio in Haryana (877).
- The highest decline in sex ratio during the last decade (2001-11) has been in Daman and Diu (92) and the highest increase in sex ratio has been in Mizoram.
- Giving preference to boys over girls, child marriage, lack of girls’ education, lack of economic prosperity of women and increasing urbanisation are responsible for low sex ratio in India.
Age Structure :
- From the age – group study of the population, information is received about labour force, dependent population, longevity, etc.
- Population is divided into three main categories – Juvenile group (less than 15 years), Adult group (15 – 59 years) and Old -age group (60 years and above).
- According to 2011 census, 35.6% population of the country consists of juvenile group, 58.1% population consists of adult group and 6.3% population consists of old – age group.
- India is in the third stage of demographic transition. About one-third of Indian population is youth.
- The highest child population is found in Uttar Pradesh. In terms of percentage of child population in total population, Meghalaya is the leading state (18.75%), while Tamil Nadu is the state with the lowest child population (9.56%).
Literacy :
- Literacy is the criteria for the development of any civilised society. It affects mental, physical and economic condition of the people.
- The factors affecting literacy are level of urbanisation, life-status, spread of economy, status of women in society, price mechanism, availability of educational facilities, level of technological development and public policies.
- India has an average literacy rate of 74.04%. In India, the state with the highest literacy rate is Kerala (93.91%) and the state with the lowest literacy rate is Bihar (63.82%).
- The highest male literacy is found in Lakshadweep (96.11%) and the lowest male literacy is in Bihar (73.5%).
Language :
- India is a nation with linguistic diversity. 22 languages are notified in the Indian Constitution.
- Indian languages have been divided into four groups on the basis of origin – Indo-European, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic.
- Sanskrit is the mother of all the languages, while Hindi is the third largest-spoken language in the world after English and Chinese.
- Language is the main indicator of the identity of any ethnic group. Hindi is the mother-tongue of India.
Religious Structure :
- The main feature of Indian life and population is its religious structure.
- India is the place of origin of four religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.
- According to 2011 census, the followers of different religions reside in India – 76.56% of Hindus, 14.31% of Muslims, 2.36% of Christians, 1.74% of Sikhs, 0.77% of Buddhists and 0.41% of Jains.
- Highest Hindu population is in Himachal Pradesh, while the least number of Hindus live in Mizoram. Similarly, the highest Muslim population is in Lakshadweep (94.92%) and the lowest Muslim population is in Mizoram (1.14%).
Racial Composition :
- Indian population is a mixture of different human races.
- People of Negrito, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloid, Mediterranean, Broad Headed Western Races’ and Nordic Races are found in India.
- Sub-Tribes of Proto-Australoid are Angami Naga, Badgish Negrito, Munda, Santhal, Kol, Bhil also found in India.
- Nordic face was the last one to come in India.
Glossary :
- Population Composition : Under Geography, population composition is a distinct field of study, under which, age structure, gender structure, place of residence, human races’ symptoms etc. are studied.
- Population : The number of people residing in a state is called its population. This term is also used for the number of plants and animals.
- Tribe : A human group which is socially and economically backward and lives in primitive condition.
- Literacy : Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, or having knowledge about a specific subject.
- Sex Ratio : The sex ratio is the ratio between the number of women and men in a population group.
- Race : The subdivision of the castes of humans in which specific physical symptoms are found.
- Population Growth : Changes in the number of people living in a particular area between two certain periods of time is called population growth. This growth of population can be both positive or negative in nature.
- Agriculture : The practice through which the crops are produced from the soil.
- Primary Activity : A primary economic activity is a type of operation or industry that involves extracting or refining natural resources such as mining, agriculture, forestry and fishing. These economic functions deliver the raw-material for other industries which further refine and develop these materials into products to sell to customers.
- Natural Increase : The difference between total births and total deaths in the population of a state in the given time-period.
- Urbanisation : The word urbanisation is used differently in reference with different meanings and contexts.
- Transport : The act of carrying goods and people from one place to another by any mode.
- Communication : Traffic and travel links between different locations. The modes by which people exchange information and ideas like radio, telegram, newspaper, etc.
- Industry : Any work done for economic production. Under this, manufacturing industries and secondary industries are mainly included.
- Environment : The sum total of physical, chemical and biological conditions, which directly or indirectly affect human life and development.
- Age Structure : The ratio of the population of the people of different age groups is called Age Structure.
- Dependent Population : The population that depends on others. This includes the population of children and old-aged people.
- Demographic Transition : The different stages of population growth through which the population passes.
- Sub-continent : A subcontin’ent is a part of a larger continent, made up of a number of countries that form a large mass of land. The term Indian sub-continent is often used to refer to the area that contains India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
- Peninsula : A peninsula is a piece of land of a continent or country which is extended towards sea or any water reservoir and surrounded by water on the majority of its borders.