Let me start this article with the meaning of Census. Census is an official survey of the entire population. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) conducts the census once in 10 years. The first census was conducted in 1871 and the latest census was done in 2011. The first census after independence was conducted in 1951. The population of India in 1951 was 36 Crores and it increased to 121 Crores in 2011. India has 2.4% of the world’s land area, accounts for 17.5% of its population and is the 2ndmost populous country in the world. (World population is 700 Crore). Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state with 20 Crore people and Sikkim is the least populated state with 6 Lakhs of people. Karnataka has over 6 Crores of people. During the census the Government collects information about buildings (called as house listings), population (male, female, children, literacy, marital status etc). Literacy– means any one above the age of 7 years, who can read, write and understand any language. The literacy rate was 16% of the population in 1951 and it increased to 74% in 2011 Urban and Rural Population – India is a country of villages, over 70% of the population live in 6,30,000 villages and the remaining 30% live in over 5100 towns and 380 cities. Age Group – We are a young country; over 65% of the population is below the age of 35 years. Language – 41% of Indians speak Hindi while the rest speak regional languages.

• published: 21 Aug 2014
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