geography 12 · Section 5

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition Physiological density = total population / net cultivated area Agricultural density = total agricultural population / net cultivable area Agricultural population includes cultivators and agricultural labourers and their family members. Gr Gr Gr Gr Growth of owth of owth of owth of owth of P P P P Popula opula opula opula opulation tion tion tion tion Growth of population is the change in the number of people living in a particular area between two points of time. Its rate is expressed in percentage. Population growth has two components namely; natural and induced. While the natural growth is analysed by assessing the crude birth and death rates, the induced components are explained by the volume of inward and outward movement of people in any given area. However, in the present chapter, we will only discuss the natural growth of India’s population. The decadal and annual growth rates of population in India are both very high and steadily increasing over time. The annual growth rate of India’s population is . per cent ( ). Population Doubling Time Population doubling time is the time taken by any population to double itself at its current annual growth rate. The growth rate of population in India over the last one century has been caused by annual birth rate and death rate and rate of migration and thereby shows different trends. There are four distinct phases of growth identified within this period: * Decadal growth rate: p –p g = × p where p1 = population of the base year p2 = population of the present year ** Source : Census of India, (Provisional) Table . : Decadal Growth Rates in India, - Census Total Population Growth Rate* Years Absolute Number % of Growth 238396327 ------------ ------------ 252093390 (+) 13697063 (+) . 251321213 (–) 772117 (–) . 278977238 (+) 27656025 (+) . 318660580 (+) 39683342 (+) . 361088090 (+) 42420485 (+) . 439234771 (+) 77682873 (+) . 548159652 (+) 108924881 (+) . 683329097 (+) 135169445 (+) . 846302688 (+) 162973591 (+) . 1028610328 (+) 182307640 (+) . ** 1210193422 (+) 181583094 (+) . Reprint -