Population 1.252 billion (2013) Population growth rate 1.2% annual change (2013) Official languages Hindi, English | Life expectancy 66.21 years (2012) GNI per capita 5,350 PPP dollars (2013) | |
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Density 382 people per.sq.km (2011 est.) Birth rate 19.3 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) Death rate 7.3 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) Infant mortality rate 40 deaths/1,000 live births (2013 est.) 0–14 years 31.2% (male 190,075,426/female 172,799,553) (2009 est.) 15–64 years 63.6% (male 381,446,079/female 359,802,209) (2009 est.) Fertility rate 2.50 births per woman (2012) | ||
India is the second most populated country in the world with nearly a fifth of the world's population. According to the United Nations in July 2016, the population stood at 1,326,801,576.
Contents
- Map of India
- History
- Salient features
- Religious demographics
- Neonatal and infant demographics
- Linguistic demographics
- Structure of the population
- Fertility rate
- CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
- Population projections
- 2020 estimate
- Ethnic groups
- Autosomal DNA
- References
Map of India
India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2022, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.7 billion by 2050. Thus, India is expected to become the first political entity in history to be home to more than 1.5 billion people. Its population growth rate is 1.2%, ranking 94th in the world in 2013. The Indian population reached the billion mark in 1998.
India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over 0.4.
India has more than two thousand ethnic groups, and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan languages) as well as two language isolates (the Nihali language spoken in parts of Maharashtra and the Burushaski language spoken in parts of Jammu and Kashmir).
Further complexity is lent by the great variation that occurs across this population on social parameters such as income and education. Only the continent of Africa exceeds the linguistic, genetic and cultural diversity of the nation of India.
The sex ratio is 944 females for 1000 males (2016).
History
It has been estimated that the population was about 100 million in 1600 and remained nearly static until the late 19th century. It reached 255 million according to the first census taken in 1881.
Studies of India's population since 1881 have focused on such topics as total population, birth and death rates, growth rates, geographic distribution, literacy, the rural and urban divide, cities of a million, and the three cities with populations over eight million: Delhi, Greater Mumbai (Bombay), and Kolkata (Calcutta).
Mortality rates fell in the period 1920–45, primarily due to biological immunisation. Other factors included rising incomes, better living conditions, improved nutrition, a safer and cleaner environment, and better official health policies and medical care.
Salient features
India occupies 2.41% of the world's land area but supports over 18% of the world's population. At the 2001 census 72.2% of the population lived in about 638,000 villages and the remaining 27.8% lived in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations.
India's population has exceeded that of the entire continent of Africa by 200 million people. However, because Africa's population growth is nearly double that of India, it is expected to surpass both China and India by 2025.
Religious demographics
The table below summarises India's demographics (excluding the Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati District of Manipur state due to cancellation of census results) according to religion at the 2011 census in per cent. The data is "unadjusted" (without excluding Assam and Jammu and Kashmir); the 1981 census was not conducted in Assam and the 1991 census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir.
Neonatal and infant demographics
The table below represents the infant mortality rate trends in India, based on gender, over the last 15 years. In the urban areas of India, average male infant mortality rates are slightly higher than average female infant mortality rates.
Some activists believe India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven – activists fear eight million female fetuses may have been aborted between 2001 and 2011. These claims are controversial. Scientists who study human sex ratios and demographic trends suggest that birth sex ratio between 1.08 and 1.12 can be because of natural factors, such as the age of mother at baby's birth, age of father at baby's birth, number of babies per couple, economic stress, endocrinological factors, etc. The 2011 census birth sex ratio in India, of 917 girls to 1000 boys, is similar to 870–930 girls to 1000 boys birth sex ratios observed in Japanese, Chinese, Cuban, Filipino and Hawaiian ethnic groups in the United States between 1940 and 2005. They are also similar to birth sex ratios below 900 girls to 1000 boys observed in mothers of different age groups and gestation periods in the United States.
Linguistic demographics
41.03% of the Indians speak Hindi while the rest speak Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and a variety of other languages.
The table immediately below excludes Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati District of Manipur state due to cancellation of census results.
Structure of the population
Structure of the population (09.02.2011) (Census) (Includes data for the Indian-held part of Jammu and Kashmir, the final status of which has not yet been determined):
Fertility rate
From the Demographic Health Survey:
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
1,166,079,217 (July 2009 est. CIA); 1,210 million (2011 census)
72.2%; male: 381,668,992, female: 360,948,755 (2001 census)
0–14 years: 30.8%; male: 188,208,196, female: 171,356,024
15–64 years: 64.3%; male: 386,432,921, female: 364,215,759
65+ years: 4.9%; male: 27,258,259, female: 30,031,289 (2007 est.)
25.1 years
1.548% (2009 est.)
74% (age 7 and above, in 2011)
81.4% (total population, age 15–25, in 2006)
22% (2006 est.)
7.8%
−0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
At birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
Under 10 years: 1.14 male(s)/female
15–24 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
24–64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.908 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
Total population: 65.8 years (source: UN Human Development Report, 2013)
2.72 children born/woman (2009 est.), although more up-to-date statistics indicate that India's TFR was 2.6 in 2008
The TFR (total number of children born per women) by religion in 2005-2006 was: Hindus, 2.7; Muslims, 3.1; Christians, 2.4; and Sikhs, 2.0.
Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.8%, Buddhists 0.8%, Jains 0.4%, others 0.7%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Scheduled castes: 16.6% (2011 census); scheduled tribes: 8.6% (2011 census)
See Languages of India and List of Indian languages by total speakers. There are 216 languages with more than 10,000 native speakers in India. The largest of these is Hindi with some 337 million, and the second largest is Bengali. 22 languages are recognised as official languages. In India, there are 1,652 languages and dialects in total.
Population projections
India is projected to overtake China as the world's most populous nation by 2030. India's population growth has raised concerns that it would lead to widespread unemployment and political instability. Note that these projections make assumptions about future fertility and death rates which may not turn out to be correct in the event. Fertility rates also vary from region to region, with some higher than the national average and some lower.
Source:
2020 estimate
In millions (example: 361 = 361,000,000)
Source:
Ethnic groups
The national Census of India does not recognise racial or ethnic groups within India, but recognises many of the tribal groups as Scheduled Castes and Tribes (see list of Scheduled Tribes in India).
According to a 2009 study published by Reich et al., the modern Indian population is composed of two genetically divergent and heterogeneous populations which mixed in ancient times (about 1,200–3,500 BC), known as Ancestral North Indians (ANI) and Ancestral South Indians (ASI). ASI corresponds to the Dravidian-speaking population of southern India, whereas ANI corresponds to the Indo-Aryan-speaking population of northern India.
For a list of ethnic groups in the Republic of India (as well as neighbouring countries) see ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent.
Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Indian Y-chromosome pool may be summarised as follows where haplogroups R-M420, H, R2, L and NOP comprise generally more than 80% of the total chromosomes.
Mitochondrial DNA mtDNA represents the female lineage. The Indian mitochondrial DNA is primarily made up of Haplogroup M
Autosomal DNA
Numerous genomic studies have been conducted in the last 15 years to seek insights into India's demographic and cultural diversity. These studies paint a complex and conflicting picture.