India has been conducting a sincere statistical census since the year 1882. The ministerial workforce provides a quality census on population and house listing every ten years.
The Information of National Population Register includes these census reports necessary for proper storage and analysis.
Since 1951, all censuses have been conducted under the Government of India Act 1948. The responsibility of drafting the census lies with the General Registrar and the Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The year 2011 witnessed the first biometric census in India. In fact, the 2011 census is the recent census of India (the next will be conducted in the year 2021). 2011 features the 15th census report of the country.
This article discusses the different parameters of the recent Indian census and furnishes an authentic tabulation of this data.
Census Report
| Population | Total | 1,210,854,977 |
| Males | 623,724,568 | |
| Females | 586,469,294 | |
| Literacy | Total | 74% |
| Males | 82.10% | |
| Females | 65.46% | |
| Density of population | per km2 | 382 |
| Sex ratio | per 1000 males | 940 females |
| Child sex ratio (0–6 age group) | per 1000 males | 914 females |
State/ Union Territories Wise Census Report
| S.No. | State/Union Territories | Males | Females | Total |
| 1 | Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 2,02,330 | 1,77,614 | 3,79,944 |
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | 4,25,09,881 | 4,21,55,652 | 8,46,65,533 |
| 3 | Arunachal Pradesh | 7,20,232 | 6,62,379 | 13,82,611 |
| 4 | Assam | 1,59,54,927 | 1,52,14,345 | 3,11,69,272 |
| 5 | Bihar | 5,41,85,347 | 4,96,19,290 | 10,38,04,637 |
| 6 | Chandigarh | 5,80,282 | 4,74,404 | 10,54,686 |
| 7 | Chhattisgarh | 1,28,27,915 | 1,27,12,281 | 2,55,40,196 |
| 8 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 1,93,178 | 1,49,675 | 3,42,853 |
| 9 | Daman & Diu | 1,50,100 | 92,811 | 2,42,911 |
| 10 | Goa | 7,40,711 | 7,17,012 | 14,57,723 |
| 11 | Gujarat | 3,14,82,282 | 2,89,01,346 | 6,03,83,628 |
| 12 | Haryana | 1,35,05,130 | 1,18,47,951 | 2,53,53,081 |
| 13 | Himachal Pradesh | 34,73,892 | 33,82,617 | 68,56,509 |
| 14 | Jammu & Kashmir | 66,65,561 | 58,83,365 | 1,25,48,926 |
| 15 | Jharkhand | 1,69,31,688 | 1,60,34,550 | 3,29,66,238 |
| 16 | Karnataka | 3,10,57,742 | 3,00,72,962 | 6,11,30,704 |
| 17 | Kerala | 1,60,21,290 | 1,73,66,387 | 3,33,87,677 |
| 18 | Lakshadweep | 33,106 | 31,323 | 64,429 |
| 19 | Madhya Pradesh | 3,76,12,920 | 3,49,84,645 | 7,25,97,565 |
| 20 | Maharashtra | 5,83,61,397 | 5,40,11,575 | 11,23,72,972 |
| 21 | Manipur | 13,69,764 | 13,51,992 | 27,21,756 |
| 22 | Meghalaya | 14,92,668 | 14,71,339 | 29,64,007 |
| 23 | Mizoram | 5,52,339 | 5,38,675 | 10,91,014 |
| 24 | Nagaland | 10,25,707 | 9,54,895 | 19,80,602 |
| 25 | NCT of Delhi | 89,76,410 | 77,76,825 | 1,67,53,235 |
| 26 | Orissa | 2,12,01,678 | 2,07,45,680 | 4,19,47,358 |
| 27 | Puducherry | 6,10,485 | 6,33,979 | 12,44,464 |
| 28 | Punjab | 1,46,34,819 | 1,30,69,417 | 2,77,04,236 |
| 29 | Rajasthan | 3,56,20,086 | 3,30,00,926 | 6,86,21,012 |
| 30 | Sikkim | 3,21,661 | 2,86,027 | 6,07,688 |
| 31 | Tamil Nadu | 3,61,58,871 | 3,59,80,087 | 7,21,38,958 |
| 32 | Tripura | 18,71,867 | 17,99,165 | 36,71,032 |
| 33 | Uttar Pradesh | 10,45,96,415 | 9,49,85,062 | 19,95,81,477 |
| 34 | Uttarakhand | 51,54,178 | 49,62,574 | 1,01,16,752 |
| 35 | West Bengal | 4,69,27,389 | 4,44,20,347 | 9,13,47,736 |
- Moreover, the Sex Ratio of India is 108.176, i.e., 108.176 males per 100 females in 2020.
- In rural areas, there are 949 females to 1000 men, while in urban areas there are 929 females to 1000 males.
- Rural India has 21,813,264 more males and urban India has 13,872,275 more males than females.
- As of 2020, India has more males than females until the 64-69 age group and there are 10 more males per 100 females until the 34-69 age group.
- Above 25-29 age, the female population keeps improving and there are almost double the number of women than men above 100 years.
- Kerala has the highest sex ratio of 1084 females to 1000 males
- Haryana has the lowest sex ratio of 879 females per 1000 males.
- Among union territories, Puducherry has the highest sex ratio of 1037 and Daman & Diu has the lowest sex ratio of 618.
State/Union Territories Wise Population Density Census Report
| STATES | Population Density | People per square km |
| Andhra Pradesh | 277 | 308 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 13 | 17 |
| Assam | 340 | 397 |
| Bihar | 881 | 1,102 |
| Chhattisgarh | 154 | 189 |
| Goa | 364 | 394 |
| Gujarat | 258 | 308 |
| Haryana | 478 | 573 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 109 | 123 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 100 | 124 |
| Jharkhand | 338 | 414 |
| Karnataka | 276 | 319 |
| Kerala | 819 | 859 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 196 | 236 |
| Maharashtra | 315 | 365 |
| Manipur | 97 | 122 |
| Meghalaya | 103 | 132 |
| Mizoram | 42 | 52 |
| Nagaland | 120 | 119 |
| Odisha | 236 | 269 |
| Punjab | 484 | 550 |
| Rajasthan | 165 | 201 |
| Sikkim | 76 | 86 |
| Tamil Nadu | 480 | 555 |
| Tripura | 305 | 350 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 690 | 828 |
| Uttarakhand | 159 | 189 |
| West Bengal | 903 | 1,029 |
| UNION TERRITORIES | ||
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 43 | 46 |
| Chandigarh | 7,900 | 9,252 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 449 | 698 |
| Daman & Diu | 1,413 | 2,169 |
| Delhi | 9,340 | 11,297 |
| Lakshadweep | 1,895 | 2,013 |
| Puducherry | 2,034 | 2,598 |
Language Census Report
| Language | Percentage of Total Speakers |
| Bengali | 8.90 |
| English | 10.60 |
| Gujarati | 5.00 |
| Hindi | 57.10 |
| Kannada | 4.94 |
| Malayalam | 3.28 |
| Marathi | 8.20 |
| Odia | 3.56 |
| Punjabi | 3.56 |
| Sanskrit | 0.49 |
| Tamil | 6.30 |
| Telugu | 7.80 |
| Urdu | 5.20 |
- Hindi is the most widely spoken language in northern and western parts of India. The Indian census takes the widest possible definition of “Hindi” as a broad variety of “Hindi languages”.
- According to the 2011 Census, 57.1% of the Indian population knows Hindi, in which 43.63% of Indian people have declared Hindi as their native language or mother tongue.
- The language data was released on 26 June 2018.
- Bhili was the most spoken unscheduled language with 10.4 million speakers, followed by Gondi with 2.9 million speakers.
- 96.71% of India’s population speaks one of the 22 scheduled languages as their mother tongue in the 2011 census.
Religions Census Report
| Religious group | Population % 2011 |
| Adivasi | 0.9% |
| Buddhism | 0.70% |
| Christianity | 2.30% |
| Hinduism | 79.80% |
| Islam | 14.23% |
| Jainism | 0.37% |
| Sikhism | 1.72% |
| Zoroastrianism | n/a |
- Hindu Population Growth rate slowed down to 16.76 % from the previous decade figure of 19.92% while Muslims witness a sharp fall in growth rate to 24.60% (2001-2011) from the previous figure of 29.52 % (1991-2001).
- Such a sharp fall in population growth rate for Muslims didn’t happen in the last 6 decades. Christian Population growth was at 15.5% while the Sikh population growth rate stood at 8.4%.
- The most educated and wealthy community of Jains registered the least growth rate in 2001-2011 with a figure of just 5.4%.
- The Growth rate of Hindus, Muslims, and Christian is expected to fall more in the upcoming 2021 census while other religions like Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism are expected to remain stable for the next 2 decades considering the already slowed down growth rate of these religions.
Literacy Census Report
| Year | Total Population (in %) | Males (in %) | Females (in %) | Gap in Literacy (in %) |
| 2011 | 74.0 | 82.1 | 65.5 | 16.6 |
- Anyone above age 7 who can read and write in any language with an ability to understand was considered literate.
- The literacy rate taking the entire population into account is termed as “the crude literacy rate”, and taking the population from age 7 and above into account is termed as “the effective literacy rate”.
- Effective literacy rate increased to a total of 74.04% with 82.14% of the males and 65.46% of the females being literate
State/Union Territories Wise Literacy Census Report
| S.N. | State/ Union Territory | Literacy Rate in % (Person) | Male Literacy Rate in % | Female Literacy Rate in % |
| 1. | Kerala | 94.0 | 96.1 | 92.1 |
| 2. | Lakshadweep | 91.8 | 95.6 | 87.9 |
| 3. | Mizoram | 91.3 | 93.3 | 89.3 |
| 4. | Goa | 88.7 | 92.6 | 84.7 |
| 5. | Tripura | 87.2 | 91.5 | 82.7 |
| 6. | Daman & Diu | 87.1 | 91.5 | 79.5 |
| 7. | Andaman & Nicobar Island | 86.6 | 90.3 | 82.4 |
| 8. | NCT of Delhi | 86.2 | 90.9 | 80.8 |
| 9. | Chandigarh | 86.0 | 90.0 | 81.2 |
| 10. | Puducherry | 85.8 | 91.3 | 80.7 |
| 11. | Himachal Pradesh | 82.8 | 89.5 | 75.9 |
| 12. | Maharashtra | 82.3 | 88.4 | 75.9 |
| 13. | Sikkim | 81.4 | 86.6 | 75.6 |
| 14. | Tamil Nadu | 80.1 | 86.8 | 73.4 |
| 15. | Nagaland | 79.6 | 82.8 | 76.1 |
| 16. | Manipur | 79.2 | 86.1 | 72.4 |
| 17. | Uttrakhand | 78.8 | 87.4 | 70.0 |
| 18. | Gujarat | 78.0 | 85.8 | 69.7 |
| 19. | West Bengal | 76.3 | 81.7 | 70.5 |
| 20. | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 76.2 | 85.2 | 64.3 |
| 21. | Punjab | 75.8 | 80.4 | 70.7 |
| 22. | Haryana | 75.6 | 84.1 | 65.9 |
| 23. | Karnataka | 75.4 | 82.5 | 68.1 |
| 24. | Meghalaya | 74.4 | 76.0 | 72.9 |
| 25. | Odisha | 72.9 | 81.6 | 64.0 |
| 26. | Assam | 72.2 | 77.8 | 66.3 |
| 27. | Chhattisgarh | 70.3 | 80.3 | 60.2 |
| 28. | Madhya Pradesh | 69.3 | 78.7 | 59.2 |
| 29. | Uttar Pradesh | 67.7 | 77.3 | 57.2 |
| 30. | Jammu & Kashmir | 67.2 | 76.8 | 56.4 |
| 31. | Andhra Pradesh | 67.0 | 74.9 | 59.1 |
| 32. | Jharkhand | 66.4 | 76.8 | 55.4 |
| 33. | Rajasthan | 66.1 | 79.2 | 52.1 |
| 34. | Arunachal Pradesh | 65.4 | 72.6 | 57.7 |
| 35. | Bihar | 61.8 | 71.2 | 51.6 |
- India’s literacy rate is 74.04%. Kerala is the most literate state in India, with 93.91% literacy.
- Bihar is the least literate state in India, with a literacy of 63.82%.
State Wise Child Sex-Ratio Census Report (From 2001-2011)
| Rank | India/State/ Union Territory | CSR 2001 | CSR 2011 | Variation |
| India | 927 | 914 | -13 | |
| Pop 10 M + | ||||
| 1. | Haryana | 819 | 830 | +11 |
| 2. | Punjab | 798 | 846 | +48 |
| 3. | Jammu & Kashmir | 941 | 859 | -82 |
| 4. | NCT of Delhi UT | 868 | 866 | -2 |
| 5. | Maharashtra | 913 | 883 | -30 |
| 6. | Rajasthan | 909 | 883 | -26 |
| 7. | Gujarat | 883 | 886 | +3 |
| 8. | Uttarakhand | 908 | 886 | -22 |
| 9. | Uttar Pradesh | 916 | 899 | -17 |
| 10. | Madhya Pradesh | 932 | 912 | -20 |
| 11. | Bihar | 942 | 933 | -9 |
| 12. | Odisha | 953 | 934 | -19 |
| 13. | Andhra Pradesh | 961 | 943 | -18 |
| 14. | Karnataka | 946 | 943 | -3 |
| 15. | Jharkhand | 965 | 943 | -22 |
| 16. | Tamil Nadu | 942 | 946 | +4 |
| 17. | West Bengal | 960 | 950 | -10 |
| 18. | Assam | 965 | 957 | -8 |
| 19. | Kerala | 960 | 959 | -1 |
| 20. | Chhattisgarh | 975 | 964 | -11 |
Conclusion
Altogether, the recent census (2011) provides a detailed and well elaborate analysis of different parameters. This article covers factors such as population, region, literacy, language, demography, etc. to enlighten on the fundamental concepts of the Indian census.
As a dutiful citizen of the country, one should maintain law and order by providing authentic details to their volunteers assigned for the deadly data collection. One must be careful while filling the questionnaire for this purpose.
Therefore, the census features as the backbone of the Book of India records. Every ten years, it enumerates the basic principles of the nation’s growth and development.