Introduction

The study of population begins with a simple but powerful idea: people are the most important component of a country. India, with a total population of 1,210 million as of the 2011 Census, is the second most populous country in the world, after China. To grasp the sheer scale of this number, consider that India’s population is larger than the combined populations of North America, South America, and Australia.

A population of this size inevitably raises questions. Many argue that such a large number of people puts immense pressure on the country’s limited resources and is responsible for a range of socio-economic problems. But before we examine those problems, we need to think about what India itself means. Is it simply a territory on a map? Does it signify an amalgam of people? Or is it a territory inhabited by people living under certain institutions of governance? This chapter explores these ideas by examining the patterns of distribution, density, growth, and composition of India’s population.

Sources of Population Data

The primary source of population data in India is the Census. A census is an official count of the population, and in India it is conducted every ten years. The first population census in India was attempted in 1872, but the first complete census — one that covered the entire country uniformly — was conducted only in 1881. Since then, a census has been carried out every decade without fail.