India has experienced rapid population growth over the past century. The population grew from 361 million in 1951 to over 1.2 billion in 2011, representing growth rates of over 20% per census. Currently, 30% of India's population lives in urban areas, though the urbanization rate is growing at 2.4% annually. Literacy rates and life expectancy have also increased over time but still vary significantly between states. The population is ethnically diverse and includes Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and other groups. Rapid population growth presents challenges like gender discrimination but also opportunities if India can provide jobs, schools and resources for its large youth population.

1. Demography
Society
of India
Ass. Professor
Irina Petrosyan
MSU
FFLAS

2. Demographics: introduction
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/7-billion
http://www.economist.com/blogs/multimedia/2010/
11/world_population
• lakh = 100,000
• crore = 10m

3. Population
growth
Historical population of India
Census Pop. %±
1951 361,088,000 —
1961 439,235,000 21.6%
1971 548,160,000 24.8%
1981 683,329,000 24.7%
1991 846,387,888 23.9%
2001 1,028,737,436 21.5%
2011 1,210,193,422 17.6%
Age structure
0-14 years: 29.7% (male
187,450,635/female 165,415,758)
15-64 years: 64.9% (male
398,757,331/female 372,719,379)
65 years and over: 5.5% (male
30,831,190/female 33,998,613)
Median age
total: 26.5 years
male: 25.9 years
female: 27.2 years

4. Fertility rate
• 2.58 children
born/woman
• Goa –
the lowest
• Uttar Pradesh –
the highest
Crude birth rate trends in India
(per 1000 people, national average

5. Population
density
Rank City name State/UT Pop.
1 Mumbai Maharashtra 12,478,447
2 Delhi Delhi 11,007,835
3 Bangalore Karnataka 8,425,970
4 Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh 6,809,970
5 Ahmedabad Gujarat 5,570,585
6 Chennai Tamil Nadu 4,681,087
7 Kolkata West Bengal 4,486,679
8 Surat Gujarat 4,462,002
9 Pune Maharashtra 3,115,431
10 Jaipur Rajasthan 3,073,350
urban population: 30% of total population
rate of urbanization: 2.4% annual rate of change

6. Literacy rate
State/UT Code India/State/UT Literate Persons (%) Males (%) Females (%)
10 Bihar 63.82 73.39 53.33
32 Kerala 93.91 96.02 91.98
INDIA 74.04 82.14 65.46
Infant mortality rate
total: 46.07 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 67.14 years
male: 66.08 years
female: 68.33 years

7. Ethnic groups
• Indo-Aryan 72%,
• Dravidian 25%,
• Mongoloid and Negrito 3%

8. Genetics
• fewer females since prehistoric times
• tribes and castes – highly differentiated
• Austroasiatic tribals – the earliest settlers in
India (?)
• most population migrated from the northeast
• the Tibeto-Burman tribals – the Austroasiatic
tribals – south China (?)
• the Dravidian tribals – used to be more
widespread but moved to the south
• the upper castes – closer to Central Asian
populations, but not that much in southern India
• “melting pot”

9. 7 billion
• The 7th
billion person
born in Uttar Pradesh,
India, in 2011
• Malthusian theory of the English economist
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) stated
that increases in population tend to exceed
increases in the means of subsistence and
that therefore sexual restraint should be
exercised

10. Population growth implications
• unbalanced population (north – south,
urban – rural)
• strategic asset for India: innovation, army,
etc.
• growing demand in
jobs,
schools,
opportunities,
resources.

11. Population growth implications
• gender discrimination – ‘gendercide’, ‘foeticide’
• child marriages (for protection, debt cancellation,
capture, etc.)
• girl = somebody else’s wealth
• migration, ‘trafficking’, of women
• Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 m/f
15-64 years: 1.07 m/f
65 years and over: 0.9 m/f
total population: 1.08 m/f

12. Next class
Lecture: Economy
Presentation:
The economic prospects of India
Discussion:
What’s the recipe for economic success?