P ermanent T raits The tribal population of India is widely dispersed, but there are also concentrations in certain regions. About % of the tribal population lives in ‘middle India’, a wide band stretching from Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west to West Bengal and Odisha in the east, with Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh forming the heart of this region. Of the remaining %, over % is in the North Eastern states, leaving only a little over % living in the rest of India. If we look at the share of tribals in the state population, then the North Eastern states have the highest concentrations, with all states, except Assam, having concentrations of more than %, and some, like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland with more than % and upto % of tribal population.
In the rest of the country, however, the tribal population is very small, being less than % in all states except Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. The ecological habitats covered includes hills, forests, rural plains and urban industrial areas. In terms of language, tribes are categorised into four categories. Two of them, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian, are shared by the rest of the Indian population as well, and tribes account for only about % of the former and about % of the latter.
The other two language groups, the Austric and Tibeto-Burman, are primarily spoken by tribals, who account for all of the first and over % of the second group. In physical-racial terms, tribes are classified under the Negrito, Australoid, Mongoloid, Dravidian and Aryan categories. The last two are again shared with the rest of the population of India. In terms of size, tribes vary a great deal, ranging from about seven million to some Andamanese islanders who may number less than a hundred persons.
The biggest tribes are the Gonds, Bhils, Santhals, Oraons, Minas, Bodos and Mundas, all of whom are at least a million strong. The total population of tribes amounts to about . % of the population of India, or about million persons according to the Census. According to Census Report , it is .
% of the population of India, or about million tribal persons in the country.