Census 2011

Definition of Rural and Urban Areas in Census 2011

Statutory Town

All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment or notified town area committee;

Census Town

All other places which satisfy the following criteria:

(a) A minimum population of 5000;

(b) At least 75 per cent of the male main workers engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and

(c) A density of population of at least 400 per square km.

Concept of Literates and Illiterates

For the purpose of Census, a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding of any language, is treated as literate. A person who can only read but cannot write, is not literate. All children in the age-group 0-6 are treated as illiterate.

Crude literacy rate = Number of illiterate persons/Total population*100

Effective literacy rate = Number of illiterate persons aged 7 and/above Population aged above 7 and above*100

Administrative Units in India

Census 2011 covered 35 States/Union Territories, 640 districts, 5,924 sub-districts, 7,935 towns and 6,40,867 villages. In Census 2001, the corresponding figures were 593 districts, 5,463 subdistricts, 5,161 towns and 6,38,588 villages. There is an increase of 47 districts, 461 sub districts, 2774 towns (242 Statutory and 2532 census towns) and 2279 villages in census 2011 as compared to Census 2001.

Number of Administrative Units in Census 2011

State/Union Territories ”’35

Districts ”””””””””””””””640

Sub-districts ”””””””””””5924

Towns ””””””””””””””””7936

Villages ”””””””””””””””6.41 lakh (Source: Census 2011)

Ranking of States in Terms of Number of Districts in 2011

Top five States in terms of number of districts

1 Uttar Pradesh 71

2 Madhya Pradesh 50

3 Bihar 38

4 Maharashtra 35

5 Rajasthan 33

Bottom five States in terms of number of districts

1 Goa 2

2 Tripura 4

3 Sikkim 4

4 Meghalaya 7

5 Mizoram 8 (Source: Census 2011)

India in World Population

In 2010, the estimated world population was 6908.7 million. The ten most populous countries account for nearly three-fifth (i.e. 60ft) of the world population. Of these three most populous one, namely China, India and USA, together account for 40ft of the world population. At present, a little more than one out of six persons in the world is from India. 6’Economic and Social Development Population of all ten most populous countries have grown over the last decade, except in Russian Federation, which has registered a negative growth. The gap between India (with 17.5ft of global population) and China (with 19.4ft share of world population) has however narrowed down from 238 million in 2001 to nearly 131 million in 2011.

On the other hand, the gap between India and USA (4.5ft of global population) has now widened to about 902 million from 741 million in 2001. The population of India is almost equal to the combined population of USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan. India accounts for a meagre 2.4ft of the surface area of the world, it sustains 17.5ft of the world population. In contrast, USA with 7.2ft of the surface area caters to only 4.5ft of the global population. Among the 10 most populous countries, only Bangladesh has a higher population density compared to India.

India’s population compared to nine other most populous countries of the world

As per UN estimate, the world population grew at an annual rate of 1.23ft during 2000-2010. China’s growth rate of population was 0.53ft during the same period, while India registered a growth of 1.64ft during 2001-2011. BY 2030, India is most likely to overtake China with 17.9ft of global population living here.

Decadal change in population of selected countries in percentage

The growth rate of Indian population in rural and urban areas was 12.18ft and 31.80ft respectively. Bihar (23.90ft) exhibited the highest decadal growth rate in rural population.

Total Population and Rural-Urban Population

As per Census 2011, the total population of India was 1210.2 million. Of this, the rural population stands at 833.1 million and the urban population 377.1 million. In absolute numbers, the rural population has increased by 90.47 million and the urban population by 91.00 million in the last decade. In percentage terms, the rural population formed 68.84ft of the total population with the urban population constituting 31.16ft (increase of 3.35ft). In percentage terms, the rural population formed 68.84ft of the total population with the urban population constituting 31.16ft (increase of 3.35ft).

Uttar Pradesh has the largest rural population of 155.11 million (18.62ft of the country’s rural population) whereas Maharashtra has the highest urban population of 50.83 million (13.48ft of country’s urban population) in the country. In percentage terms, Himachal Pradesh (89.96ft) has the largest proportion of rural population, while Delhi (97.50ft) has the highest proportion of urban population. The EAG States have a lower percentage of urban population (21.13ft) in comparison to non EAG States (39.66ft).

Ranking of States in Terms of Rural and Urban Population

Top Three States in Terms of Rural Population (in Million) and as % of state’s total population

Bottom Three States in Terms of Rural Population (in‘Million) and as % of state’s population

Top Three States in Terms of Urban Population (in Million) and as % of state’s total population

1 Maharashtra’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 45.21%

2. Uttar Pradesh’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 23.37%

3. Tamil Nadu’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 48.38%

Bottom Three States in Terms of Urban Population (in Million) and as % of state’s total population

1 Sikkim’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 26.23%

2. Arunachal Pradesh’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 22.46%

3. Mizoram’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘51.38%

Largest and Smallest States/UTs in Terms of Population

Top Five States/UTs in Terms of Population

Uttar Pradesh’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 19,95,81,477

Maharashtra’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 11,23,72,972

Bihar’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 10,38,04,637

West Bengal’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘9,13,47,736

Andhra Pradesh’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘8,46,65,533

Bottom five States/UTs in Terms of Population

Ranking of Districts in Terms of Population

Top two Districts in Terms of Population

Ranking of States/UTs and Districts in Terms of Percentage Growth of Population

Top two States/UTs in Terms of Percentage Growth of Population

Bottom two States/UTs in Terms of Percentage Growth of Population

Top two Districts in Terms of Percentage Growth of Population

Bottom two Districts in Terms of Percentage Growth of Population

Literacy

As per Census 2011, the number of literates in India was 778.5 million. Of this, 493.0 million literates were in rural areas and 285.4 million literates in urban areas. Out of an increase of 217.8 million literates over the decade 2001-2011, rural areas accounted for 131.1 million and urban areas 86.6 million. e highest number of rural literates has been recorded in Uttar Pradesh (88.4 million). Maharashtra (40.8 million) has recorded the highest number of literates in urban areas.

Literacy Rates in India in percentage

The literacy rate of India as per Census 2011 is 74.04. In rural areas the Literacy Rate is 68.91 and in urban areas it is 84.98. The Male Literacy Rate which is 82.14 (Rural- 78.57; Urban-89.67) is higher than the Female Literacy Rate of 65.46 (Rural- 58.75; Urban-79.92). It is significant to note that the gap in literacy rate among males and females has reduced to 16.68 in the country. The gap is 19.82 points in rural areas and 9.75 points in urban areas. Improvement in female literacy is more than males in both rural and urban areas. Kerala (92.92) ranks first in rural areas whereas Mizoram (98.1) ranks first in urban areas. As far as Male literacy rate is concerned, Kerala (95.29) ranks first in rural areas whereas Mizoram (98.67) ranks first in urban areas. Rajasthan (46.25) has recorded lowest female literacy rate in rural areas, whereas, Jammu & Kashmir (70.19) has the lowest female literacy rate in urban areas. Lowest male literacy rate in rural areas has been recorded in Arunachal Pradesh (68.79) and in urban areas in Uttar Pradesh (81.75).