CHAPTER 11 : Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 12TH GEOGRAPHY | EDUGROWN NOTES

Short Answer Type Questions:

Q1.Give in brief the factors that affect population distribution in India.
Answer:
Physical, socio-economic and historical factors influence population distribution in India. Climate along with terrain and availability of water largely determines the pattern of the population distribution. North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have higher proportion of population than the interior districts of southern and central Indian States, Himalayas, some of the north eastern and the western states. Evolution of settled agriculture and agricultural development, pattern of human settlement, development of transport network, industrialization and urbanization also affect population distribution.

Q2.Why does rural/urban distribution of population vary in India?
Answer:
Pattern of distribution of rural population of India reveals that both at intra-State and inter-State levels, the relative degree of urbanization and extent of rural-urban migration regulate the concentration of rural population.

The growth rate of urban population has accelerated due to enhanced economic development and improvement in health and hygienic conditions. In almost all the states and Union Territories, there has been a considerable increase of urban population. Urbanization is low in remote, hilly, tribal and flood prone areas.

Q3.What does the ‘sectoral workforce’ of population in India signify?
Answer:
In India, there is large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors. But it is important to note that the proportion of workers in agricultural sector in India has shown a decline over the last few decades (58.2% in 2001 to 54.6% in 2011). Consequently, the participation rate in secondary and tertiary sectors has registered an increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farm based occupations to non-farm based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country. Male workers overshadow the female workers in all sectors.

Q4.Some places in India are densely populated while others are sparsely populated. Substantiate.
Answer:
Some places in India are densely populated while others are sparsely populated. It is clear from the following statistics:

• Spatial variations of population densities in the country which ranges from low as 13 persons per sq. km in Arunachal Pradesh to 9,340 persons in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• Among the northern Indian states, West Bengal, Bihar & U.P. have high population densities, while Kerala and Tamil Nadu have higher population densities among the peninsular Indian states.
• States like Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and Odisha have moderate densities.
• The hill states of the Himalayan region and North-eastern states of India have relatively low densities (except Assam).
• The Union Territories (excluded Andaman 8s Nicobar) have very high densities of population.

Q5.What do you mean by population growth? Explain how is it estimated?
Answer:
Population growth refers to the change in the number of people living in a particular area between two points of time. It is calculated as follows:
 Population growth rate = Population in period two – population in period one  Population in period one ×100

Q6.India is a secular country. Substantiate the statement with statistical facts.
Answer:
It is absolutely right that India is a secular country where people following different religions live together with unity.

• Hindus: Range from 70-80 per cent except in the districts of states along Indo- Bangladesh border, Indo-Pak border, Jammu 8s Kashmir, hill states of North¬east 8s in scattered areas of Deccan Plateau 8s Ganga Plain.
• Muslims: They are the largest religious minority that are concentrated in Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Kerala, UP, Delhi & Lakshadweep. They form majority in Kashmir valley & Lakshadweep.
• Christians: They are concentrated along the Western coast of Goa, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chotanagpur & Hills of Manipur.
• Sikhs: They are concentrated in small areas of the country particularly in states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
• Jains and Buddhists: They are the smallest religious groups.
• Other religions include Zoroastrians tribal and other indigenous faiths and beliefs.

Q7.Analyse the linguistic composition of India.
Answer:
India is a land of linguistic diversity. According to Grierson (Linguistic Survey of India, 1903-1928) there were 179 languages and as many as 544 dialects in the country.

• In the context of modern India, there are about 22 scheduled languages and number of non-scheduled languages.
• Among the scheduled languages, the speakers of Hindi have the highest percentage (40.42).
• The smallest language groups are Kashmiri and Sanskrit speakers (0.01 per cent each).

Q8.What are the salient features of population of India?
Answer:
Some of the salient features of population of India are given below:

• India is the second most populous country after China with population of more than 1 billion in 2001 A.D.
• The average growth rate of the population from 1991-2001 has been 19.3%. Cities & towns have registered higher growth of population due to migration from rural areas.
• Population is male dominated and sex ratio is continuously declining.
• At present growth rate, India’s population will be doubled after 36 years.
• About 50% of the population is less than 20 years of age. Such a youth population has its own socio-economic and political problems.
• Majority of population consists of non-workers.

Q9.Name four Indian Linguistic families and give four examples of each family. Ans. Indian languages have been grouped in four families as follows:

• Austric (Nishada): Meghalaya, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh
• Dravidian (Dravida): M.P., Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar
• Sino-Tibetian (Kirata): Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya.
• Indo-European (Aryan): Jammu & Kashmir, U.P., M.P., Goa.

Q10.“Socio-economic factors influence high density of population”. Give reasons with examples.
Answer:
It is absolutely right to say that social-economic factors influence high density of population:

• Evolution of settled agriculture and agricultural development.
• Pattern of human settlement.
• Development of transport network.
• Urbanisation and industrialisation before.
• River plains and coastal areas; urban centres/industrial areas.

Q11.Why is there a decline in the number of workers in agricultural sector?
Answer:
There is a decline in the number of workers in agricultural sector due to following reasons:

• Availability of limited farming.
• Lack of employment in rural areas due to mechanization of agriculture.
• Seasonal nature of employment.
• Large scale urbanization and industrialization.
• Attraction and access towards tertiary and quarternaiy occupations.

Q12.“Female participation rate is low in India” Why?
Answer:
Female participation rate is low in India due to following factors:

• Joint family system.
• Low rate of literacy among females.
• Frequent child birth.
• Greater family responsibility.
• Male dominated society.

Long Answer Type Questions:

Q1.Describe India’s population growth over the years.
Answer:
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:

Phase-I: The period from 1901-1921 is referred to as a period of stagnant or stationary phase of growth of India’s population, since in this period growth rate was very low, even recording a negative growth rate during 1911-1921. Both the birth rate and death rate were high keeping the rate of increase low.

Phase II: The decades 1921-1951 are referred to as the period of steady population growth. An overall improvement in health and sanitation throughout the country brought down the mortality rate. At the same time 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.

Phase III: The decades 1951-1981 are referred to as the period of population explosion in India, which was caused by a rapid fall in the mortality rate but a high fertility rate of population in the country. The average annual growth rate was as high as 2.2 percent. Increased international migration bringing in Tibetans, Bangladeshis, Nepalies and even people from Pakistan contributed to the high growth rate.

Phase IV: In the post 1981 till present, the growth rate of country’s population though remained high, has started slowing down gradually.. A downward trend of crude birth rate is held responsible for such a population growth. This was, in turn, affected by an increase in the mean age at marriage, improved quality of life particularly education of females in the country.
Though the growth rate of population is still high in India, there is wide regional variation from one region to the other.

Q2.Write a note on the adolescent population in India.
Answer:.
An important aspect of population growth in India is the growth of its adolescents. At present the share of adolescents i.e., up to the age group of 10-19 years is about 20.9 per cent (2011), among which male adolescents constitute 52.7 per cent and female adolescents constitute 47.3 per cent. The adolescent population, though, regarded as the youthful population having high potentials, but at the same time they are quite vulnerable if not guided and channelized properly.

There are many challenges for the society as far as these adolescents are concerned, some of which are lower age at marriage, illiteracy – particularly female illiteracy, school dropouts, low intake of nutrients, high rate of maternal mortality of adolescent mothers, high rates of HIV/ AIDS infections, physical and mental disability or retardedness, drug abuse and alcoholism, juvenile delinquency and commitence of crimes, etc.

In view of these, the Government of India has undertaken certain policies to impart proper education to the adolescent groups so that their talents are better channelized and properly utilized. The National Youth Policy of Government of India, launched in 2003, stresses on an all round improvement of the youth and adolescents enabling them to shoulder responsibility towards constructive development of the country. It also aims at reinforcing the qualities of patriotism and responsible citizenship.

The thrust of this policy is youth empowerment in terms of their effective participation in decision making and carrying the responsibility of an able leader. Special emphasis was given in empowering women and girl child to bring parity in the male-female status. Moreover, deliberate efforts were made to look into youth health, sports and recreation creativity and awareness about new innovation in the spheres of science and technology.

Q3.To which families do the major Indian languages belong? Give details of their sub-family and areas.
Answer:
The major Indian languages belong to four main language families – Austric, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European.

Q4.What is the occupational composition of Indian’s population? Give a detailed report.
Answer:
The occupational composition of India’s population (which actually means engagement of an individual in farming, manufacturing trade, services or any kind of professional activities) shows a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors. About 54.6 % of total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers, whereas only 3.8% of workers are engaged in household industries and 41.6 % are other workers including non-household industries, trade, commerce, construction and repair and other services. As far as the occupation of country’s male and female population is concerned, male workers out-number female workers in all the three sectors.
The number of female workers is relatively high in primary sector, though in recent years there has been some improvement in work participation of women in secondary and tertiary sectors.Q4.

It is important to note that the proportion of workers in agricultural sector, in India has shown a decline over the last few decades (58.2% in 2001 to 54.6% in 2011). Consequently, the participation rate in secondary and tertiary sectors has registered an increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farm ‘ based occupations to non-farm based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country.

The spatial variation of work participation rate in different sectors in the country is very wide. For instance, the states like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland have very large shares of cultivators. On the other hand states like Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh have higher proportion of agricultural labourers. The highly urbanized areas like Delhi, Chandigarh and Puducherry have a very large proportion of workers being engaged in other services. This indicates not only availability of limited farming land, but also large scale urbanisation and industrialization requiring more workers in non-farm sectors.


Q5.What are the challenges before adolescents? What steps have been taken by government to overcome these challenges?
Answer:
The challenges before adolescents are
as follows:

• Female illiteracy
• School dropouts
• Low intake of nutrients.
• High rates of HIV/AIDS infections.
• Drug abuse and alcoholism
• Physical and mental disabilities.
• Lack of job opportunities.
• Peer pressure
• High rate of maternal mortality of adosescents mothers
• Lower age at marriage
• Domestic violence.
• Juvenile delinquency and commitance of crimes, etc.

In order to solve all these problems government has launched a National Youth Policy.
Features of National Youth Policy:

• It was launched in 2003. It stresses on all round development of youth and adolescents.
• It enables them to shoulder responsibility for constructive development.
• It also aims at reinforcing the qualities of patriotism and responsible citizenship.
• Special emphasis is given on empowering women and girl child to bring equality and status.
• It also lays stress on involvement of youth in decision making process.
• Under this policy, deliberate efforts were taken to improve health, sports, recreation, creativity, technology and create innovations in all spheres of life.

Q6.Explain the variations in the proportion of working population in India.
Answer:
The variations in the proportion of working population in India are:

• Moderate variation from about 25 per cent in Goa to about 53 per cent in Mizoram.
• Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya have larger percentages of workers. Among the Union Territories Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu have higher participation rate because these states have variations in the levels of economic development.
• About 58.2 per cent of total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers.
• Only 4.2% of workers are engaged in household industries.
• 37.6 % are other workers including non-household industries, trade, commerce construction and repair and other services as proportion of people in agricultural sector has shown a decline over last few decades i.e., 68.5% to 58.2% consequently participation in tertiary and secondary sectors have increased.

Q7.Differentiate between marginal worker and main worker.
Answer:

Marginal Worker	Main Worker
(i) Engaged in only economically productive work for less than 183 days in 1 year	(i) It is the person who is engaged in any economically productive work for at least 183 days in a year.
(ii) In 2001, it is defined that the worker who had not worked for the major part of the reference period.	(ii) In 2001, it is defined as the worker who had worked for the major part of the reference period.
(iii) In India, 8.7% of workers are marginal workers	(iii) In 2001, the percentage of main workers was 30.2 % of total population.
(iv) Percentage of marginal workers reflects a less developing economy and poverty	(iv) Contribute large share in economically productive work in the country