Population Composition

Population Composition is a detailed analysis of age and sex, place of residence, ethnic characteristics, tribes, language, religion, marital status, literacy and education, occupational characteristics, etc in population geography.

• Rural-Urban Composition– In India, its 68.84% of total population lives in rural villages by 2011. As per the census conducted in 2011, India has 6,40,867 villages.
  Percentage of rural population is high in Himachal Pradesh (89.97% highest) and Bihar (88.71%) and low in Goa (37.83%) and Mizoram (47.89%). Delhi has the least rural population (2.50%).

• Rural Population in Indian States– States having High Proportion of Rural Population Himachal Pradesh (89.97%) and Bihar (88.71%), Assam (85.90%), Odisha (83.31%).

• States having Moderate Proportion of Rural population– Meghalaya (79.93%), Uttar Pradesh (77.73%), Arunachal Pradesh (77.06%), Chattisgarh (76.76%), Jharkhand (75.95%).

• States having Low Proportion of Rural Population– Goa (37.83%), Mizoram (47.89%), Tamil Nadu (51.60%), Kerala (52.30%). Delhi (2.50%), Chandigarh (2.75%).

• Regions having High Degree of Urbanisation– Goa (62.17%), Mizoram (52.11%), Tamil Nadu (48.40%) Kerala (47.70%). Delhi (97.50%), Chandigarh (97.25%), Lakshadweep (78.07%).

• Regions having Low Degree of Urbanisation- Himachal Pradesh (10.03%), Bihar (11.29%), Assam (14.10%), Odisha (16.69%), Meghalaya (20.07%).

• Linguistic Composition- India is a land of linguistic diversity. There are 22 scheduled languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Hindi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Manipuri, Marathi, Odiya, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sindhi, Nepali, Sanskrit, Santhali, Urdu and many non-scheduled languages.

• Linguistic Composition- The speakers of major Indian languages belong to four language families, which have their sub-families and branches or groups.

Classification of Modern Indian Languages

• Religious Composition- India being a land of diverse cultures, has many religious communities residing such as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and others.

Religious Communities of India, 2001

Hindus form the majority religious group in India, somewhere around 70-90% in many states except the districts of states along the Indo-Pak border, Jammu and Kashmir, hill states of North-East and in scattered areas of Deccan Plateau and the plains of Ganga.

Muslims are the largest religious minority and found largely in states of Jammu and Kashmir followed by certain districts of West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and in Delhi and Lakshadweep.

Christians are found mostly in rural areas of India. They are mostly found along the Western Coast around Goa, Kerala and hill states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chotanagpur area and Manipur hills.

Jains are found in urban areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Buddhists are found mostly in Maharashtra followed by Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, Tripura, Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.

Amongst other religious communities are the Zoroastrians, tribal and other indigenous faiths and beliefs who are concentrated in small pockets in India.

Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 1 Population- Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition: Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 1 Population- Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition focuses on the various patterns of distribution, density, growth and composition of India’s population. In this article, we will talk about the Distribution of Population, Density of Population, Growth of Population, Phases of Population Growth, Regional Variation in Population Growth, Population Composition and Composition of Working Population.