Population – The total number of people living in a country at a given point of time is called population.
The significance of studying population lies mainly in estimating the total manpower available for production and the total amount of goods and services required for their consumption.
Demography – A branch of social science which deals with statistical study of human population is called demography.
Census – An official enumeration of population which is done periodically is called census.
The first census in India was conducted in 1872, but the first complete census was conducted in 1881.
After that, the census has been done every ten years.
Importance of studying population:
Resources’, ‘calamities’ and ‘disaster’ are all meaningful only in relation to human beings.
Their numbers, distribution, growth and characteristics or qualities provide the basic background for understanding and appreciating all aspects of the environment.
We are primarily concerned with three major questions about the population:
Population size and distribution: How many people are there and where are they located?
Population growth and processes of population change: How has the population grown and changed through time?
Characteristics or qualities of the population: What are their age, sex composition, literacy levels, occupational structure and health conditions?
Population size and distribution:
India’s population as on March 2011 stood at 1,210 million, which is 17 5% of the world’s population.
Area of India 3.28 million sq. km., which is 2.4 % of the world’s area.
U.P. is the most populous state of India with a population size of 199 million while Sikkim has the population of 0.6 million.
The population density of India is 382 persons per sq.km.
J & K, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are the states with density below 100 persons per sq. km.
Rugged terrain and unfavorable climatic conditions are primarily responsible for sparse population in these areas.
Arunachal Pradesh has lowest density of population with 17 persons per sq. km. and Bihar has highest with 1,102 people per sq. km.
Densities vary from 904 persons per sq. km in W.B. to only 13 persons per sq. km. Arunachal Pradesh.
Assam, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have moderate population densities.
Hilly dissected and rocky nature of terrain, moderate to low rainfall, shallow and less fertile soils have influenced population densities in these areas.
UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Kerala have high to very high population densities because of the flat plains with fertile soil and abundant rainfall.
India’s Population Distribution by Density:
Population density provides a better picture of the uneven distribution.
Population density is calculated as the number of persons per unit area.
India is one of the most densely populated countries of the world.
The population density of India in the year 2011 was 382 persons per sq km.
Densities vary from 1,102 persons per sq km in Bihar to only 17 persons per sq km in Arunachal Pradesh.
Note the States with population densities below 250 persons per square km.
Rugged terrain and unfavorable climatic conditions are primarily responsible for sparse population in these areas.
Assam and most of the peninsular states have moderate population densities.
Hilly, dissected and rocky nature of the terrain, moderate to low rainfall, shallow and less fertile soils have influenced population densities in these areas.
The Northern plains and Kerala in the south have high to very high population densities because of the flat plains with fertile soils and abundant rainfall.
Do you know?
Only Bangladesh and Japan have higher average population densities than India. Find out the population densities of Bangladesh and Japan.
Population growth – The Change in number of inhabitants of a country during a specific period of time is called population growth.
Annual growth rate of India is 1.93%.
There are 3 factors, which determine the population change-the birth rate, the death rate and migration.
Process of population change / growth:
Birth rate – The number of live births per thousand persons in a year is called birth rate.
Death Rate – The number of deaths per thousand persons in a year is called death rate.
There has been a rapid decline in the death rate because of the success in controlling epidemics like Plague, small pox etc.
This was possible because of increasing public health measures and advancement in medical technology.
Migration – The movement of people across regions and territories is called migration.
It plays an important role in changing the composition and distribution of population.
Migration can be Internal (within the country) or International (between the countries)
Internal Migration does not change the size of the population, but influences the distribution of population within the nation.
In India, most migrations have been from rural to urban areas because of adverse conditions of poverty and unemployment in the rural areas and increased employment opportunities and better living conditions in cities.
Reasons for Migration:
Poverty and lack of employment opportunities in rural areas work as ‘push’ factors which result in migration to urban areas.
Better employment opportunities in urban areas work as ‘pull’ factors for migration.
Due to increased migration towards urban areas, the share of urban population has increased from 17.29% in 1951 to 27.78% in 2001.
Life Expectancy – The average age upto which the people are expected to live is called life expectancy.
At the time of independence, the life expectancy was a little above 40 years.
It is improved significantly and as per 2011 census, the life expectancy in India is 68.89 years.
What is more important is a better life expectancy among females (72.61 years) compared to that in males (67.46 years).
The number of ‘million plus cities’ has increased from 23 to 35 between 1991 and 2001.
Age composition – The number of people in different age groups in a country is called age composition.
Children – (below 15 yrs) – 34.4% –
They are economically unproductive and need to be provided with food, clothing, education and medical care.
Children constitute 34.4% of Indian population.
Working age – (15-59 yrs) – 58.7% –
They are economically productive and biologically reproductive.
They comprise the working population.
They constitute 58.7% of Indian population.
Aged (Above 59 yrs) – 6.9% –
They can be economically productive though they may have retired.
They may be working voluntarily but they are not available for employment through recruitment. Their proportion is 6.9%.
Sex ratio – As number of females per 1000 males in the population is called sex ratio.
According to census 2011, there are 940 females per 1000 males.
Do you know?
Kerala has a sex ratio of 1084 females per 1000 males, Puducherry has 1038 females for every 1000 males, while Delhi has only 866 females per 1000 males and Haryana have just 877.
Literacy rates – A person aged 7 yrs and above who can read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate.
Literacy rate in India – 74.04% (2011)
Males – 82.14%
Females – 65.46% (2011)
Occupational structure – The distribution of the population according to different types of occupation is referred to as the occupational structure.
Occupations are classified as Primary, Secondary and tertiary,
Primary activities –
Include agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, forestry, mining and quarrying etc.
They are primary because, here production is carried on with the help of nature.
Secondary activities –
When primary goods are used to produce finished goods by manual labour or machines, then such an activity is known as the secondary activity.
Making furniture from wood, bread from wheat, machines from metals, cloth from cotton etc are all secondary activities.
Tertiary activities –
All such activities that deal with services like teaching, banking, medical practice, transport, etc.
India 64% of population is engaged in Primary activity.
13% in secondary and 20% in Tertiary activity.
There has been an occupational shift in favour of secondary and tertiary sector because of growing industrialization and urbanization in recent times.
Health:
The role of health in human development is quite important.
Health involves the physical, mental, economic, social well-being of an individual.
Health covers a wide range of activities including family welfare, population control, drug control, immunization and prevention of food adulteration etc.
Life expectancy has increased from 36.7 years in 1951 to 64.7 yrs in 2011 because of improvement in public health, prevention of infectious diseases and application of modern medical practices in diagnosis and treatment of ailment
Adolescent Population:
The most significant feature of the Indian population is the size of its adolescent population.
It constitutes one-fifth of the total population of India.
Adolescents are generally grouped in the age-group of 10 to 19 years.
They are the most important resource for the future.
Nutrition requirements of adolescents are higher than those of a normal child or adult.
Poor nutrition can lead to deficiency and stunted growth.
But in India, the diet available to adolescents is inadequate in all nutrients.
A large number of adolescent girls suffer from anemia.
Their problems have so far not received adequate attention in the process of development.
The adolescent girls have to be sensitised to the problems they confront.
Their awareness can be improved through the spread of literacy and education among them.
National Population Policy – N.P.P. 2000 aims at:
Recognising that the planning of families would improve individual health and welfare, the Government of India initiated a comprehensive Family Planning Programme in 1952.
The Family Welfare Programme has sought to promote responsible and planned parenthood on a voluntary basis.
The National Population Policy (NDP) 2000 is a culmination of years of planned efforts.
The NPP 2000 provides a policy framework for imparting free and compulsory school education up to 14 years of age, reducing infant mortality rate to below 30 per 1000 live births, achieving universal immunisation of children against all vaccine preventable diseases, promoting delayed marriage for girls, and making family welfare a people-centred programme.
NPP 2000 and Adolescents:
NPP 2000 identified adolescents as one of the major section of the population that need greater attention.
Besides nutritional requirements, the policy puts greater emphasis on other important needs of adolescent including protection from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
It called for programmes that aim towards encouraging delayed marriage and child-bearing, education of adolescents about the risks of unprotected sex, making contraceptive services accessible and affordable, providing food supplements, nutritional services, and strengthening legal measures to prevent child marriage.
People are the nation’s most valuable resource. A well-educated healthy population provides potential power.
