Demographics of India

This article is about the people from India. For Other uses, see Indian (disambiguation).

Demographics of India
Population of India, 1961-2003
Population:	1,210,193,422 (2011 est.) (2nd)
Growth rate:	1.41% (2009 est.) (93rd)
Birth rate:	22.22 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:	6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life expectancy:	69.89 years (2009 est.)
–male:	67.46 years (2009 est.)
–female:	72.61 years (2009 est.)
Fertility rate:	2.68 children born/woman (2010 est.) (82nd)
Infant mortality rate:	30.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:	31.1% (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.)
65-over:	5.3% (male 29,364,920/female 32,591,030) (2009 est.)
Sex ratio:
At birth:	1.12 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Under 15:	1.10 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
15-64 years:	1.06 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
65-over:	0.90 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Nationality:
Major ethnic:	See Ethnic Groups of India
Language:
Official:	See Languages of India

Crude birth rate trends in India
(per 1000 people, national average)

Infant mortality rate trends in India
(per 1000 births, under age 1, national average)

The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census), more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050. Its population growth rate is 1.41%, ranking 102nd in the world in 2010.

India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% hovers 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^{[citation needed]} ethnic groups, and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages (Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman 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.

Salient features

India occupies 2.4% of the world's land area and supports over 17.5% of the world's population. India has more arable land area than any country except the United States, and more water area than any country except Russia, Canada and the United States. Indian life revolves mostly around agriculture and allied activities in small villages, where the overwhelming majority of Indians live. As per the 2001 census, 72.2% of the population lives in about 638,000 villages and the remaining 27.8% lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations.

Comparative demographics

Main article: Fact sheet on India

Category	Global Ranking	Notes (Reference)
Area	7th
Population	2nd
Population growth rate	102nd of 212	as of 2010
Population density (people per square kilometer of land area)	24th of 212	as of 2010
Male to Female ratio, at birth	12th of 214	as of 2009

List of States and Union territories by demographics

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%
Source:Census of India

Rank	State or union territory	Population (2011)	%	Rural Pop.	Urban Pop.	Area km²	Density (per km²)	Area mi²	Density (per mi²)	Sex ratio
1	Uttar Pradesh	199,581,520	16.49%	131,658,339	34,539,582	240,928	828	93,022.8	2146	908
2	Maharashtra	112,372,972	9.29%	55,777,647	41,100,980	307,713	365	118,808.7	815	925
3	Bihar	103,804,637	8.58%	74,316,709	8,681,800	94,163	1,102	36,356.5	2,855	916
4	West Bengal	91,347,736	7.55%	57,748,946	22,427,251	88,752	1,030	34,267.3	2,666	947
5	Andhra Pradesh	84,665,533	7.00%	55,401,067	20,808,940	275,045	308	106,195.5	797	992
6	Madhya Pradesh	72,597,565	6.00%	44,380,878	15,967,145	308,245	236	119,014.1	610	930
7	Tamil Nadu	72,138,958	5.96%	34,921,681	27,483,998	130,058	555	50,215.7	1,437	995
8	Rajasthan	68,621,012	5.67%	43,292,813	13,214,375	342,239	201	132,139.2	519	926
9	Karnataka	61,130,704	5.05%	34,889,033	17,961,529	191,791	319	74,050.9	826	968
10	Gujarat	60,383,628	4.99%	31,740,767	18,930,250	196,024	308	75,685.3	798	918
11	Orissa	41,947,358	3.47%	31,287,422	5,517,238	155,707	269	60,118.8	698	978
12	Kerala	33,387,677	2.76%	23,574,449	8,266,925	38,863	859	15,005.1	2,225	1,084
13	Jharkhand	32,966,238	2.72%	20,952,088	5,993,741	79,714	414	30,777.7	1071	947
14	Assam	31,169,272	2.58%	23,216,288	3,439,240	78,438	397	30,285.1	1029	954
15	Punjab	27,704,236	2.29%	16,096,488	8,262,511	50,362	550	19,444.9	1,425	893
16	Chhattisgarh	25,540,196	2.11%	16,648,056	4,185,747	135,191	189	52,197.5	489	991
17	Haryana	25,353,081	2.09%	15,029,260	6,115,304	44,212	573	17,070.3	1,485	877
18	Jammu and Kashmir	12,548,926	1.04%	7,627,062	2,516,638	222,236	56	85,805.8	146	883
19	Uttarakhand	10,116,752	0.84%	6,310,275	2,179,074	53,483	189	20,649.9	490	963
20	Himachal Pradesh	6,856,509	0.57%	5,482,319	595,581	55,673	123	21,495.5	319	974
21	Tripura	3,671,032	0.30%	2,653,453	545,750	10,486	350	4,048.7	907	921
22	Meghalaya	2,964,007	0.24%	1,864,711	454,111	22,429	132	8,659.9	342	986
23	Manipur	2,721,756	0.22%	1,590,820	575,968	22,327	122	8,620.5	316	987
24	Nagaland	1,980,602	0.16%	1,647,249	342,787	16,579	119	6,401.2	309	931
25	Goa	1,457,723	0.12%	677,091	670,577	3,702	394	1,429.4	1020	968
26	Arunachal Pradesh	1,382,611	0.11%	870,087	227,881	83,743	17	32,333.4	43	920
27	Mizoram	1,091,014	0.09%	447,567	441,006	21,081	52	8,139.4	134	975
28	Sikkim	607,688	0.05%	480,981	59,870	7,096	86	2,739.8	222	889
UT1	Delhi	16,753,235	1.38%	944,727	12,905,780	11,297	9,340	572.6	29,258	866
UT2	Pondicherry	1,244,464	0.10%	325,726	648,619	479	2,598	184.9	6,730	1,038
UT3	Chandigarh	1,054,686	0.09%	92,120	808,515	114	9,252	44.0	23,970	818
UT4	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	379,944	0.03%	239,954	116,198	8,249	46	3,185.0	119	878
UT5	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	342,853	0.03%	170,027	50,463	491	698	189.6	1,808	775
UT6	Daman and Diu	242,911	0.02%	100,856	57,348	112	2,169	43.2	5,623	618
UT7	Lakshadweep	64,429	0.01%	33,683	26,967	32	2,013	12.4	5,196	946
Total	India	1,210,193,422	100.00%	742,490,639	286,119,689	3,287,240	382	1,269,210.5	954	940

Districts in India: Census 2011

Rank	India/State/UT	No. of districts in 2001	No. of Districts in 2011	No. of Districts without any geographical change
01	Uttar Pradesh	70	71	47
02	Madhya Pradesh	45	50	36
03	Bihar	37	38	34
04	Maharashtra	35	35	31
05	Rajasthan	32	33	18
06	Tamil Nadu	30	32	25
07	Karnataka	27	30	24
08	Orissa	30	30	26
09	Assam	23	27	15
10	Gujarat	25	26	20
11	Jharkhand	18	24	9
12	Andhra Pradesh	23	23	23
13	Jammu & Kashmir	14	22	5
14	Haryana	19	21	17
15	Punjab	17	20	8
16	West Bengal	18	19	17
17	Chattisgarh	16	27	14
18	Kerala	14	14	14
19	Arunachal Pradesh	13	16	10
20	Uttarakhand	13	13	11
21	Himachal Pradesh	12	12	12
22	Nagaland	8	11	4
23	NCT of Delhi	9	9	9
24	Manipur	9	9	9
25	Mizoram	8	8	4
26	Meghalaya	7	7	4
27	Sikkim	4	4	4
28	Tripura	4	4	2
29	Pondicherry	4	4	4
30	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	2	3	1
31	Goa	2	2	2
32	Daman & Diu	2	2	2
33	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	1	1	1
34	Chandigarh	1	1	1
35	Lakshadweep	1	1	1
	INDIA	593	640	464

Religious demographics

Main article: Religion in India

Religions of India

Religion	Population	Percent
All religions	1,028,610,328	100.00%
Hindus	827,578,868	80.5%
Muslims	138,188,240	13.4%
Christians	24,080,016	2.3%
Sikhs	19,215,730	1.9%
Buddhists	7,955,207	0.8%
Jains	4,225,053	0.4%
Bahá'ís	1 953 112	0.18%
Others	4,686,588	0.32%
Religion not stated	727,588	0.1%

India contains the majority of the world's Zoroastrians (even ahead of Iran), Sikhs, Hindus, Jains and Bahá'ís. India is also home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.

Religious majorities vary greatly by state. The majority of states have a Hindu majority. However, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep are Muslim majority states; Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya are Christian majority; Punjab is majority Sikh; Sikkim and Ladakh are Buddhist majority areas^{[citation needed]}

The table below summarises the findings of the 2001 census with regard to religion in India:

1. All figures in %.
2. Others including Bahá'ís, Jews, and Parsis.
3. Tribal Animists (and non religious) are grouped under Others after 1926 (1931 census onwards)

Table 2: Census information for 2001*

Composition	Hindus	Muslims	Christians	Sikhs	Buddhist	Jains	Others
% total of population 2001	80.5%	13.4%	2.3%	1.9%	0.8%	0.4%	0.6%
10-Yr Growth % (est '91–'01)*	20.3%	29.5%	22.6%	18.2%	24.5%	26.0%	103.1%
Sex ratio† (avg. 944)	935	940	1009	895	955	940	1000
Literacy rate (71.7% for Age 7 & above)	75.5	60.0	90.3	70.4	73.0	95.0	50.0
Work Participation Rate	40.4	31.3	39.7	37.7	40.6	32.9	48.4
Rural sex ratio	944	953	1001	895	958	937	995
Urban sex ratio	922	907	1026	886	944	941	966
Child sex ratio (0–6 yrs)	925	950	964	786	942	870	976

N.B. Table excludes Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati District of Manipur state.

* The data is "unadjusted" (without excluding Assam and Indian-administered Kashmir); 1981 census was not conducted in Assam and 1991 census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir.

† No. of females/1000 males.

Neonatal and infant demographics

The table below presents the infant mortality rate trends in India, by gender, in last 15 years.

Infant mortality demographic trends, India (per 1000 births)††

Year	Infant (0-1 year), Male	Infant (0-1 year), Female	Reference
1998	70	74
2005	56	58**
2009	49	52

†† India's nationwide average ratio of female to male infant mortality is similar to over 70 countries, including China.
** In urban areas of India, average male infant mortality rates are slightly higher than 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 foetuses 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 to 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 to 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.

Population within the age group of 0-6: Census 2011

State/UT Code	India/State/UT	Persons	Males	Females
01	Jammu & Kashmir	20,08,642	10,80,662	9,27,980
02	Himachal Pradesh	7,63,864	4,00,681	3,63,183
03	Punjab	29,41,570	15,93,262	13,48,308
04	Chandigarh	1,17,953	63,187	54,766
05	Uttarakhand	13,28,844	7,04,769	6,24,075
06	Haryana	32,97,724	18,02,047	14,95,677
07	NCT of Delhi	19,70,510	10,55,735	9,14,775
08	Rajasthan	1,05,04,916	55,80,212	49,24,704
09	Uttar Pradesh	2,97,28,235	1,56,53,175	1,40,75,060
10	Bihar	1,85,82,229	96,15,280	89,66,949
11	Sikkim	61,077	31,418	29,659
12	Arunachal Pradesh	2,02,759	1,03,430	99,329
13	Nagaland	2,85,981	1,47,111	1,38,870
14	Manipur	3,53,237	1,82,684	1,70,553
15	Mizoram	1,65,536	83,965	81,571
16	Tripura	4,44,055	2,27,354	2,16,701
17	Meghalaya	5,55,822	2,82,189	2,73,633
18	Assam	45,11,307	23,05,088	22,06,219
19	West Bengal	1,01,12,599	51,87,264	49,25,335
20	Jharkhand	52,37,582	26,95,921	25,41,661
21	Orissa	50,35,650	26,03,208	24,32,442
22	Chhattisgarh	35,84,028	18,24,987	17,59,041
23	Madhya Pradesh	1,05,48,295	55,16,957	50,31,338
24	Gujarat	74,94,176	39,74,286	35,19,890
25	Daman & Diu	25,880	13,556	12,324
26	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	49,196	25,575	23,621
27	Maharashtra	1,28,48,375	68,22,262	60,26,113
28	Andhra Pradesh	86,42,686	44,48,330	41,94,356
29	Karnataka	68,55,801	35,27,844	33,27,957
30	Goa	1,39,495	72,669	66,826
31	Lakshadweep	7,088	3,715	3,373
32	Kerala	33,22,247	16,95,935	16,26,312
33	Tamil Nadu	68,94,821	35,42,351	33,52,470
34	Pondicherry	1,27,610	64,932	62,678
35	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	39,497	20,094	19,403
	INDIA	15,87,89,287	8,29,52,135	7,58,37,152

Population above the age of 7: Census 2011

State/UT Code	India/State/UT	Persons	Males	Females
01	Jammu & Kashmir	1,05,40,284	55,84,889	49,55,385
02	Himachal Pradesh	60,92,645	30,73,211	30,19,434
03	Punjab	2,47,62,666	1,30,41,557	1,17,21,109
04	Chandigarh	9,36,733	5,17,095	4,19,638
05	Uttarakhand	87,87,908	44,49,409	43,38,499
06	Haryana	2,20,55,357	1,17,03,083	1,03,52,274
07	NCT of Delhi	1,47,82,725	79,20,675	68,62,050
08	Rajasthan	5,81,16,096	3,00,39,874	2,80,76,222
09	Uttar Pradesh	16,98,53,242	8,89,43,240	8,09,10,002
10	Bihar	8,52,22,408	4,45,70,067	4,06,52,341
11	Sikkim	5,46,611	2,90,243	2,56,368
12	Arunachal Pradesh	11,79,852	6,16,802	5,63,050
13	Nagaland	16,94,621	8,78,596	8,16,025
14	Manipur	23,68,519	11,87,080	11,81,439
15	Mizoram	9,25,478	4,68,374	4,57,104
16	Tripura	32,26,977	16,44,513	15,82,464
17	Meghalaya	24,08,185	12,10,479	11,97,706
18	Assam	2,66,57,965	1,36,49,839	1,30,08,126
19	West Bengal	8,12,35,137	4,17,40,125	3,94,95,012
20	Jharkhand	2,77,28,656	1,42,35,767	1,34,92,889
21	Orissa	3,69,11,708	1,85,98,470	1,83,13,238
22	Chattisgarh	2,19,56,168	1,10,02,928	1,09,53,240
23	Madhya Pradesh	6,20,49,270	3,20,95,963	2,99,53,307
24	Gujarat	5,28,89,452	2,75,07,996	2,53,81,456
25	Daman & Diu	2,17,031	1,36,544	80,487
26	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	2,93,657	1,67,603	1,26,054
27	Maharashtra	9,95,24,597	5,15,39,135	4,79,85,462
28	Andhra Pradesh	7,60,22,847	3,80,61,551	3,79,61,296
29	Karnataka	5,42,74,903	2,75,29,898	2,67,45,005
30	Goa	13,18,228	6,68,042	6,50,186
31	Lakshadweep	57,341	29,391	27,950
32	Kerala	3,00,65,430	1,43,25,355	1,57,40,075
33	Tamil Nadu	6,52,44,137	3,26,16,520	3,26,27,617
34	Pondicherry	11,16,854	5,45,553	5,71,301
35	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	3,40,447	1,82,236	1,58,211
	INDIA	1,05,14,04,135	54,07,72,113	51,06,32,022

Literacy Rate in India: Census 2011

State/UT Code	India/State/UT	Literate Persons (%)	Males (%)	Females (%)
01	Jammu & Kashmir	68.74	78.26	58.01
02	Himachal Pradesh	83.78	90.83	76.60
03	Punjab	76.68	81.48	71.34
04	Chandigarh	86.43	90.54	81.38
05	Uttarakhand	79.63	88.33	70.70
06	Haryana	76.64	85.38	66.77
07	NCT of Delhi	86.34	91.03	80.93
08	Rajasthan	67.06	80.51	52.66
09	Uttar Pradesh	69.72	79.24	59.26
10	Bihar	63.82	73.39	53.33
11	Sikkim	82.20	87.29	76.43
12	Arunachal Pradesh	66.95	73.69	59.57
13	Nagaland	80.11	83.29	76.69
14	Manipur	79.85	86.49	73.17
15	Mizoram	91.58	93.72	89.40
16	Tripura	87.75	92.18	83.15
17	Meghalaya	75.48	77.17	73.78
18	Assam	73.18	78.81	67.27
19	West Bengal	77.08	82.67	71.16
20	Jharkhand	67.63	78.45	56.21
21	Orissa	73.45	82.40	64.36
22	Chattisgarh	71.04	81.45	60.59
23	Madhya Pradesh	70.63	80.53	60.02
24	Gujarat	79.31	87.23	70.73
25	Daman & Diu	87.07	91.48	79.59
26	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	77.65	86.46	65.93
27	Maharashtra	82.91	89.82	75.48
28	Andhra Pradesh	67.66	75.56	59.74
29	Karnataka	75.60	82.85	68.13
30	Goa	87.40	92.81	81.84
31	Lakshadweep	92.28	96.11	88.25
32	Kerala	93.91	96.02	91.98
33	Tamil Nadu	80.33	86.81	73.86
34	Pondicherry	86.55	92.12	81.22
35	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	86.27	90.11	81.84
	INDIA	74.04	82.14	65.46

Linguistic demographics

Main article: List of languages by number of native speakers in India

43% of the Hindus speak Hindi while the rest speak Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and other languages. Almost 45% of the Muslims speak Urdu while the rest speak Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and other languages. About one-third of the Christians speak Malayalam, one-sixth speak Tamil while the rest speak a variety of languages. In total, there are 1,652 languages and dialects spoken in India.

Languages of India by number of native speakers as per the 2001 census

Rank	Language	Speakers	Percentage
1	Hindi dialects	422,048,642	41.03%
2	Bengali	83,369,769	8.11%
3	Telugu	74,002,856	7.19%
4	Marathi	71,936,894	6.99%
5	Tamil	60,793,814	5.91%
6	Urdu	51,536,111	5.01%
7	Gujarati	46,091,617	4.48%
8	Kannada	37,924,011	3.69%
9	Malayalam	33,066,392	3.21%
10	Oriya	33,017,446	3.21%
11	Punjabi	29,102,477	2.83%
12	Assamese	13,168,484	1.28%
13	Maithili	12,179,122	1.18%
14	Bhili/Bhilodi	9,582,957	0.93%
15	Santali	6,469,600	0.63%
16	Kashmiri	5,527,698	0.54%
17	Nepali	2,871,749	0.28%
18	Gondi	2,713,790	0.26%
19	Sindhi	2,535,485	0.25%
20	Konkani	2,489,015	0.24%
21	Dogri	2,282,589	0.22%
22	Khandeshi	2,075,258	0.20%
23	Kurukh	1,751,489	0.17%
24	Tulu	1,722,768	0.17%
25	Meitei (Manipuri)	1,466,705*	0.14%
26	Bodo	1,350,478	0.13%
27	Khasi	1,128,575	0.112%
28	Mundari	1,061,352	0.105%
29	Ho	1,042,724	0.103%

N.B. The percentage of speakers of each language for 2001 has been worked out on the total population of India (excluding Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati District of Manipur state due to cancellation of census results).

* Excludes Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati District.

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR1	CDR1	NC1	TFR1	IMR1
1950–1955	16,832,000	9,928,000	6,904,000	43.3	25.5	17.7	5.90	165.0
1955–1960	17,981,000	9,686,000	8,295,000	42.1	22.7	19.4	5.90	153.1
1960–1965	19,086,000	9,358,000	9,728,000	40.4	19.8	20.6	5.82	140.1
1965–1970	20,611,000	9,057,000	11,554,000	39.2	17.2	22.0	5.69	128.5
1970–1975	22,022,000	8,821,000	13,201,000	37.5	15.0	22.5	5.26	118.0
1975–1980	24,003,000	8,584,000	15,419,000	36.3	13.0	23.3	4.89	106.4
1980–1985	25,577,000	8,763,000	16,814,000	34.5	11.8	22.7	4.47	95.0
1985–1990	26,935,000	9,073,000	17,862,000	32.5	10.9	21.5	4.11	85.1
1990–1995	27,566,000	9,400,000	18,166,000	30.0	10.2	19.8	3.72	76.4
1995–2000	27,443,000	9,458,000	17,985,000	27.2	9.4	17.8	3.31	68.9
2000–2005	27,158,000	9,545,000	17,614,000	24.8	8.7	16.1	2.96	60.7
2005–2010	27,271,000	9,757,000	17,514,000	23.1	8.3	14.8	2.73	52.9
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Chart showing the Total Fertility Rate of Indian states (SRS survey 1996-98)

Total Population

1,166,079,217 (July 2009 est. CIA) 1,028.7 million (2001 Census final figures, March 1 enumeration and estimated 124,000 in areas of Manipur that could not be covered in the enumeration)

Map showing the population density of each district in India.

Rural Population

72.2%, male: 381,668,992, female: 360,948,755 (2001 Census)

Age structure

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.)

Median age

25.1 years

Population growth rate

1.548% (2009 est.)

Map showing the literacy rate of each district in India.

Literacy rate

71.7% (Age 7 & above, as of 2001)
81.4% (Total population, Age 15-25, as of 2006)

Percent of the population under the poverty line

22% (2006 est.)

Unemployment Rate

7.8%

Net migration rate

−0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Sex ratio

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.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.89 years
male: 67.46 years
female: 72.61 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate

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) according to Religion in 2001 was :

Hindus — 2.0 Muslims — 2.4 Sikhs — 2.1 Christians — 2.1 Buddhists — 2.1 Jains — 1.4 Animists and Others — 2.99 Tribals — 3.16 Scheduled Castes — 2.89^{[citation needed]}

Religions

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 and Tribes

Scheduled Castes: 16.2% (2001 Census) Scheduled Tribes: 8.2% (2001 Census)

Languages: 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 (the second largest being Bengali with some 207 million). 22 languages are recognized 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.

Source:

• 2020: 1,326,093,000
• 2030: 1,460,743,000
• 2040: 1,571,715,000
• 2050: 1,656,554,000

2020 Estimate

Source:

Year	Under 15	15–64	65+	Total
2000	361	604	45	1010
2005	368	673	51	1093
2010	370	747	58	1175
2015	372	819	65	1256
2020	373	882	76	1331

Ethnic groups

The national Census of India does not recognize racial or ethnic groups within India, but recognizes many of the tribal groups as Scheduled Castes and Tribes (see list of Scheduled Tribes in India). Nevertheless, modern anthropologists classify Indians as belonging to one of four major ethno-racial groups, which significantly overlap because of racial admixture between populations: Caucasoids, Australoids, Mongoloids and Negritos. The Caucasoids are largely confined to the north and generally speak Indo-Aryan languages; Australoids are found in the south and generally speak Dravidian languages; Mongoloids are largely confined to the Northeastern region of the country and for the most part, speak Tibeto-Burman languages; and Negritos are found on the Andaman Islands located on the southeastern side of the country. These speak a language known simply as Great Andamanese, a linguistic isolate not related to any known language. And finally, Austro-Asiatic languages are spoken by only tribals or Adivasis, who can be of either Australoid or Mongoloid racial stock.

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. This demonstrates that there is a genetic basis to ethno-linguistic labels such as "Indo-Aryan" and "Dravidian".

For a list of ethnic groups in the Republic of India (as well as neighboring countries) see ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent or the tree diagram above.

Genetics

See also: Y-DNA haplogroups in South Asian populations

Y-chromosome DNA

Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Indian Y-chromosome pool may be summarized as follows where haplogroups R1a, H, R2, L & NOP comprise generally more than 80% of the total chromosomes.

• H ~ 30%
• R1a ~ 20%
• R2 ~ 15%
• L ~ 10%
• NOP ~ 10% (Excluding R)
• Other Haplogroups 15%

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA mtDNA represents the female lineage. The Indian mitochondrial DNA is primarily made up of Haplogroup M

• Haplogroup M ~ 60%
• Haplogroup UK ~ 15%
• Haplogroup N ~ 25% (Excluding UK)

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.

• In a 2003 study, Basu, Majumder et al. have concluded on the basis of results obtained from mtDNA, Y-chromosome and autosomal markers that "(1) there is an underlying unity of female lineages in India, indicating that the initial number of female settlers may have been small; (2) the tribal and the caste populations are highly differentiated; (3) the Austro-Asiatic tribals are the earliest settlers in India, providing support to one anthropological hypothesis while refuting some others; (4) a major wave of humans entered India through the northeast; (5) the Tibeto-Burman tribals share considerable genetic commonalities with the Austro-Asiatic tribals, supporting the hypothesis that they may have shared a common habitat in southern China, but the two groups of tribals can be differentiated on the basis of Y-chromosomal haplotypes; (6) the Dravidian tribals were possibly widespread throughout India before the arrival of the Indo-European-speaking nomads, but retreated to southern India to avoid dominance; (7) formation of populations by fission that resulted in founder and drift effects have left their imprints on the genetic structures of contemporary populations; (8) the upper castes show closer genetic affinities with Central Asian populations, although those of southern India are more distant than those of northern India; (9) historical gene flow into India has contributed to a considerable obliteration of genetic histories of contemporary populations so that there is at present no clear congruence of genetic and geographical or sociocultural affinities."
• In a later 2010 review article, Majumder affirms some of these conclusions, introduces and revises some other. The on-going studies, concludes Majumder, suggest India has served as the major early corridor for geographical dispersal of modern humans from out-of-Africa. The archaeological and genetic traces of the earliest settlers in India has not provided any conclusive evidence. The tribal populations of India are older than the non-tribal populations. The autosomal differentiation and genetic diversity within India's caste populations at 0.04 is significantly lower than 0.14 for continental populations and 0.09 for 31 world population sets studied by Watkins et al., suggesting that while tribal populations were differentiated, the differentiation effects within India's caste population was less than previously thought. Majumder also concludes that recent studies suggest India has been a major contributor to the gene pool of southeast Asia.
• Another study covering a large sample of Indian populations allowed Watkins et al to examine eight Indian caste groups and four endogamous south Indian tribal populations. The Indian castes data show low between-group differences, while the tribal Indian groups show relatively high between-group differentiation. This suggests that people between Indian castes were not reproductively isolated, while Indian tribal populations experienced reproductive isolation and drift. Furthermore, the genetic fixation index data shows historical genetic differentiation and segregation between Indian castes population is much smaller than those found in east Asia, Africa and other continental populations; while being similar to the genetic differentiation and segregation observed in European populations.
• In 2006, Sahoo et al. reported their analysis of genomic data on 936 Y-chromosomes representing 32 tribal and 45 caste groups from different regions of India. These scientists find that the haplogroup frequency distribution across the country, between different caste groups, was found to be predominantly driven by geographical, rather than cultural determinants. They conclude there is clear evidence for both large-scale immigration into ancient India of Tibeto-Burman speakers and language change of former Austro-Asiatic speakers, in the northeast Indian region.
• The genome studies through 2010 have been on relatively small population sets. Many are from just one southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. Any conclusions on demographic history of India must therefore be interpreted with caution. A larger national genome study with demographic growth and sex ratio balances may offer further insights on the extent of genetic differentiation and segregation in India over the millenniums.

See also

• Fact sheet on India
• Culture of India
• Ethnic groups of India
• Indian diaspora
• Racial groups of India
• Caste system in India
• Demography of Central Asia

Government:

• 2011 census of India
• National Commission on Population

Lists:

• List of most populous cities in India
• List of most populous metropolitan areas in India

External links

• Census of India; government site with detailed data from 2001 census
• Census of India map generator; generates maps based on 2001 census figures
• Demographic data for India; provides sources of demographic data for India
• 2001 maps; provides maps of social, economic and demographic data of India in 2001
• Population of India 2011 map; distribution of population amongst states and union territories
• India's Demographic Outlook: Implications and Trends