India Position & Population Statistics

• Population → China > India > US > Indonesia > Brazil > Pakistan
• Area → Russia > Canada > US > China > Brazil > Australia > India
• Religion → Christian > Muslims > Hindus > Chinese folks > Buddhists
• Language → Mandarin Chinese > English > Hindi > Spanish > Russian > Arabic

Factors of Population Distribution in India

• Physical factors such as Climate, Terrain and Availability of water

• North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have climate suitable for agriculture and fertile plains hence have higher proportion of population
• Mountainous and forested regions of southern and central Indian States, Himalayan states, and some of the north-eastern states are less populated
• Development of irrigation (Rajasthan), availability of mineral and energy resources (Jharkhand) and development of transport network (Peninsular States) have resulted in moderate to high proportion of population.

• Socio-economic and historical factors

• Traditional settled agriculture and early human settlement has resulted in large population in river plains and coastal areas of India
• Development of transport and better agricultural development has resulted in large population in North Plains

• Industrialization and urbanization

• Metro cities of India have high concentration of population due to industrial development and urbanization.
• A large numbers of rural-urban migrants come to these towns

Phases of Growth of Indian Population

• 1901-1921 → Referred as a period of stationary phase of growth of India’s population 

• 1911-1921 → Even recorded a negative growth rate
• Both the birth rate and death rate were high
• Major causes → Poor health and medical services, illiteracy of people at large, & inefficient distribution system of food

• 1921-1951 → Referred as the period of steady population growth

• An overall improvement in health and sanitation throughout the country
• Better transport and communication system improved distribution system
• The crude birth rate remained high in this period leading to higher growth rate than the previous phase

• 1951-1981 → Referred as the period of population explosion in India

• Caused by a rapid fall in the death rate but a high birth rate
• The average annual growth rate was as high as 2.2 %
• High birth rate was due to better living conditions & scientific developments
• Due to increased international immigration from Tibet, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan; India’s growth rate exploded 

• After 1981 till present, the growth rate has started slowing down gradually

• Due to decline in crude birth rate
• Due to an increase in the mean age at marriage
• Improvement in female literacy & empowerment
• Better scientific developments & access to common man

Problems due to Higher Population in India

• Unemployment
• Poverty
• Uneven Migration
• Urbanization problems
• Regional disparities
• Increase in crime rate
• Environmental Degradation

Impact of population growth on the Indian Economy

• Adverse effects on savings
• Unproductive investment
• Slow growth of Per Capita Income
• Underutilization of labour
• Growing pressure on land
• Adverse effect on quality of population
• Adverse social impact

Tribes of India

• Officially recognized by the Indian government as “Scheduled Tribes” in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India
• Often grouped together with scheduled castes in the category “Scheduled Castes and Tribes”
• Eligible for certain constitutional benefits & perks

The Constitution of India, Article 366 (25) defines Scheduled Tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to the scheduled Tribes (STs) for the purposes of this Constitution”.

Common Features of Tribes

Problems of Tribal People

• Poverty
• Illiteracy
• Unemployment
• Dependence on forests
• Excessive discrimination
• Problem of land Alienation
• Indebtedness
• Bonded labour
• Malnutrition & other health related problems

Now a days, Large development projects undertaken by the government also encroaches upon their land.

Large scale displacements and unsatisfactory compensation and rehabilitation are common place, leading to further backwardness and seclusion. Because of their diversity they lack a common voice to bargain collectively