Census of India
The Census is one of the most credible sources of information on the following:
Demography
Economic Activity
Literacy and Education
Housing & Household Amenities
Urbanization, Fertility, and Mortality
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Language
The Census was first started under British Viceroy Lord Mayo in 1872. It helped in framing new policies,
government programs to uplift areas of improvement in the community.
The 15th Census of India and the 7th Census of Independent India-2011 was started on 1st April 2010 with
President being the first citizen to be enumerated, followed by the Vice President of India.
The slogan of census 2011 was ‘Our Census, Our future’.
C. Chandramouli was the Census Commissioner of India 2011.
What is the Legal/Constitutional basis of Census in India?
Population census is listed in Union List (entry 69) of Seventh Schedule in Indian Constitution.
Census is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948.
Census of India 2011 was conducted in two stages:
House listing & Housing Census: (April to September 2010)
Population Enumeration (9th to 28 February 2011)
The population of the nation as per the provisional figures of Census 2011 is 1210.19 million of
which 623.7 million (51.54%) are males and 586.46 million (48.46%) are females.
Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India its population is more than the population of Brazil.
Background
This is the first set of data released from the Population Enumeration exercise held in February
2011
So far the data released from Census 2011 pertained to Houselisting and Housing Census covering
• All Households
• SC & ST Households
•Female Headed Households
• Slum Households
Number of Households in India - 2011
• In India there are 24.95 crore (2,495 million) million)
households as per Census 2011
• The number has increased by 5.58 crore over the
last Census held in 2001
• Largest number of households are in Uttar Pradesh
(3 3. 4 crore).
• There are 10 States where more than one crore
households have been returned.
Population – India 2011
Final Total Population of the country is
Weekly Banking and finance 1st Sept - 7th Sept’24 www.parchamclasses.in
1,210,569,573 (or 1.21 billion)
Provisional Population Total:
1 210 193 422
• There is a marginal increase of 376,151 persons in the country s’ population in the population in
the Final Population compared to Provisional Population.
Largest and Smallest States
Top 5 States/UTs States/UTs
Uttar Pradesh
Maharashtra
Bihar
West Bengal
Andhra Pradesh
Bottom 5 States/UTs States/UTs
Sikkim
A. & N. Islands
D. & N. Haveli
Daman & Diu
Lakshadweep
District ranked by population
Top 5 Districts
Thane (Maharashtra)
North Twenty Four Parganas (West Bengal)
Bangalore (Karnataka)
Pune (Maharashtra)
Mumbai Suburban (Maharashtra)
Bottom 5 Districts
Nicobars (Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
Upper Siang (Arunachal Pradesh)
Lahul & Spiti (Himachal Pradesh)
Anjaw (Arunachal Pradesh)
Dibang Valley (Arunachal Pradesh)
Population – Rural Urban Distribution
833 million persons live in Rural areas, which is more than two‐third of the total population
Rural – Urban distribution : 68.8% & 31.2%
Level of Urbanization increased from 27 % .81 in 2001 Census to 31.2% in 2011.
The proportion of Rural Population declined from 72.19% to 68.8%
Urbanisation – India
Among the States/UTs in India the level of Urbanisation (proportion of urban population to total population) in
Census 2001 is highest in NCT Delhi (97.5 %)
Top five most urbanized States (excl UTs):
• Goa 62.17%
• Mizoram 52.11%
• Tamil Nadu 48.40%
• Kerala 47.70% .
Weekly Banking and finance 1st Sept - 7th Sept’24 www.parchamclasses.in
• Maharashtra 45.22%
Sex Ratio
Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in a population
It is an important indicator to measure the extent of prevailing equity between males and females at a given
point of time
Residence 2001 2011 Change
Total 933 943 +10
Rural 946 949 +3
Urban 900 929 +29
States ranked by sex ratio
Top 5 States/UTs
Kerala 1 084
Puducherry 1,038
Tamil Nadu 995
Andhra Pradesh 992
Manipur 987
Bottom States/Uts
Andaman & Nicobar 878
NCT of Delhi 866
Chandigarh 818
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 775
Daman & Diu 618
Number of literates
A person is considered literate if he or she can read and write, with understanding, in any language.
Literacy rate: The total percentage of the population of an area at a particular time aged seven years or above who
can read and write with understanding. Here the denominator is the population aged seven years or more.
Sex 2001 2011 Change
Persons 64.8 73.0 +8.2
Males 75.3 80.9 +5.6
Females 53.7 64.7 +10.9
States ranked by Literacy rate
Top 5 States/UTs
States/UTs Literacy Rate
Kerala 94.0
Lakshadweep 91.8
Mizoram 91.3
Tripura 88.7
Goa 87.2
Bottom 5 States/Uts (In %)
States/UTs Literacy Rate
Andhra Pradesh 67.0
Jharkhand 66.4
Rajasthan 66.1
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Arunachal Pradesh 65.4
Bihar 61.8
State with the highest population density Bihar
State with the lowest population density Arunachal Pradesh
Union territory with least population Lakshadweep
State with the highest population Uttar Pradesh
State with the lowest population Sikkim
State with the highest sex ratio Kerala
State with the lowest sex ratio Haryana
State with the highest literacy rate Kerala
State with the lowest literacy rate Bihar
