Explain about Population In India

Current Situation of Population in India

Imagine a world without people. Impossible to think isn’t it? Without people, there would be no society, economy or a culture. The current population of India is at 132.42 crores (as of 2016) and is the second highest in the world. Also, our population is what contributes to our socio-economic structure and the diverse cultural scenario.

Population Growth and Processes of Population Change

Population growth is determined by the annual growth rate, which is calculated in percent per annum. Like, if there is an increase of two people per 100 people of the population, then the annual growth rate would be 2%

Another important aspect of population study is the change in population. This is largely influenced by three main factors like birth, death, and migration of people in a given year

• Birth rate: The number of children born per 1000 people in a year
• Death rate: The number of people died per 1000 people in a year.
• What is most noteworthy here that the birth rate in India is and has always been higher than the death rate, which is a major reason behind population growth.

The third and one of the most important factors of population change is migration. Migration can be internal (between states) and international (between countries). While internal migration does not lead to population change, it does affect the population density in the migrated areas.

Literacy Rate

This is yet another important characteristics of the population because the literacy rate of a country determines its economic structure and growth. Literacy, according to the 2001 Census, is the ability of a person of 7 years and above to read and write in any language. The census states the literacy rate of the population of India is almost 74.04% (2016).

Occupational Structure

The number of people in a population involved in different economic activities helps assess the growth of the country’s economy. The occupational structure is the distribution of the population across different occupations. This is an important element of the population of India. Also, our occupational structure has three broad categories-

• Primary occupation- agriculture, fishing, mining, animal husbandry, forestry etc.
• Secondary occupation- manufacturing, building, construction work etc.
• Tertiary occupation- communication, transportation, administration etc