NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS CLASS – 12 | GEOGRAPHY INDIA- PEOPLE AND ECONOMY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS | CHAPTER- 11 | POPULATION: DISTRIBUTION, DENSITY, GROWTH AND POPULATION | EDUGROWN |

In This Post we are  providing  CHAPTER 11 POPULATION: DISTRIBUTION, DENSITY, GROWTH AND POPULATION NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS for Class 12 GEOGRAPHY INDIA- PEOPLE AND ECONOMY which will be beneficial for students. These solutions are updated according to 2021-22 syllabus. These MCQS  can be really helpful in the preparation of Board exams and will provide you with a brief knowledge of the chapter

NCERT MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON POPULATION: DISTRIBUTION, DENSITY, GROWTH AND POPULATION

Question 1.
‘The decades 1921-1951 are referred to as the period of steady l growth of population, whereas the decades of 1951-81 are referred to as the period of population explosion in India Explain giving reasons.
Answer:
Growth the populations is the change in the number of people living in a particular area between two points. The decadal and annual growth rates of population in India are both very high.

The decades 1921 -1951

• It is a period of steady growth of population rate.
• There was an overall improvement in health and sanitation.
• It brought down the Mortality rate.
• The crude death rate remained high.

The Decades 1951 -1981

• It is a period of population explosion in India.
• There was a rapid fall in Mortality rate.
• There was a high fertility rate of population.
• There was improvement in living conditions,
• Migration from neighbouring countries particularly Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, etc., had contributed to high growth rate of India.
• Economy rose and development acitivites.

Question 2.
“Apart from birth and death, migration is another way by which the population size changes.” Justify the statement.
Answer:
Migration is one of the major factors that affects the population change. Rural urban migration is important factor contributing to the population growth of cities. Population declines due to out-migration or immigration of people to foreign countries. Population increases due to in-migration or immigration of people from foreign countries.

Internal migration does not make any change but international migration makes the differences in the size of population. Marriage is a social factor which change the size of population if women married to foreigner population decreased and population of her husband country increased. Facilities of education, health, etc. inspire people to migrate. Due to employment facilities people migrate from their birth place.

Question 3.
Describe briefly the factors responsible for the variations in ; density of population in India.
Or
An uneven distribution of population suggests a close relationship between socio-population and physical and economic factors”. Support the statement with suitable examples.
Answer:
Density of population means the average number of people living in a sq. km. area. It is called arithmetic density. It is calculated as under :
Density ol population = Total population  Total area 
Density of population of India in 2011
=1210 crore persons 32.8 lakh sq. km. area =382 persons per sq. km.
With this average density of 382 persons per sq. km, India is considered to be one of the densely populated countries of the world.

Distribution Of Population

The population in India is not evenly distributed among different states. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are the most populous states of India while Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura are sparsely populated states. The factors affecting the distribution of population can be grouped into three classes:

• Physical factors
• Socio-economic factors
• Demographic factors

The following factors determine the density of population:

(i) Relief of the Land. Plain areas attract more population than mountains and plateaus. It is so because in plains, it is easy to conduct business, industry and farming. Against this, in the mountainous areas like Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya the density is low. It is so because in hilly areas facilities like flat land, transport, irrigation, etc. are not available for the conduct of trade, industry and farming. A high density of population is found in the fertile plains of the Ganga and Sutlej.

(ii) Climate. The extremely cold climate of Ladakh and northern Himachal Pradesh, extremely hot climate of Thar Desert in Rajasthan and wet climate of Meghalaya discourage human settlement.

(iii) Rainfall. Areas with regular and moderate rainfall are densely populated. For instance, in West Bengal, density of population is 1029 per sq. km. due to the adequate rainfall which is beneficial for farming.

(iv) Irrigational Facilities. If the rainfall is scanty in an area but irrigational facilities are available, agriculture becomes possible which in turn supports large population. It is for this reason that we find high density in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where water is available for irrigation.

(v) Soil. Deep, fertile soils are suitable for agriculture. River valleys, deltas and lowlands are the most productive areas. River valleys are densely populated areas. There is sparse population in region of poor soils.

(vi) Minerals. The presence of mineral deposits supports a high population density. New towns have sprung up in Damodar valley due to presence of minerals. Coal, water power and petroleum help in the location of industries. These industrial areas support a large population.

(vii) Rivers and water supply. Rivers are the main source of water supply. Most of the towns are located along the banks of rivers. The ancient civilisation grew up in the river valleys. Deserts are sparsely populated due to shortage of water.

(viii) Agriculture. Productive areas can generally support dense population. In West Bengal, three crops a year are obtained in rice-cultivating areas. Therefore, West Bengal has high density of population in agricultural areas. Areas adopting modern high yielding crops have high density of population like Punjab.

(ix) Means of transportation. Means of transportation affect industries, agriculture and trade of region. Areas with developed and means of transportation attract population. Inaccessible areas like mountains are sparsely populated.

(x) Demographic factors. Fertility, mortality, migration and urbanisation also affect the distribution of population.

Question 4.
“The spatial distribution of population in India is highly uneven.” Discuss with the help of suitable examples.
Or
Describe the spatial patterns of density of population in India.
Answer:
The distribution of population in India is very unequal. According to 2001 census, the total population of India is 121.02 crores and the density of population is 324 persons per sq. kilometre. The density of population varies according to relief, climate and the agricultural productivity of the land. The density of population depends on the amount of rainfall. The areas of sufficient rainfall can support a large number of people.

Keeping in view, the national average density (382 persons per sq km), three types of population density areas are recognized: —
1. Densely populated areas: These areas have a density of more than 400 persons per sq kilometre. The high density areas make a girdle round the Deccan plateau. Right from Sutlej-Beas plain to Brahamputra valley, the density of population is very high. Three clusters of high density are found :

(а) West Coastal Plain. Kerala has 859 persons per sq. kilometre density of population.
(b) The East Coastal Plain. Tamil Nadu has a density of 555 persons per sq. kilometre. Mahanadi, Godawari and Krishna deltas are clusters of high density.
(c) The Northern Plain. It includes West Bengal (1029), Bihar (1102), Uttar Pradesh (828), Punjab (550), Haryana (573).

Factors favouring high density :

• Sufficient rainfall.
• Fertile river valleys and deltas.
• 2 to 3 crops of rice in a year.
• Irrigation facilities.
• Healthy climate.
• Rich in mineral and power resources.
• Rural economy.
• Urban and Industrial development in Kolkata and Delhi.

2. Moderately populated areas. These include the areas with a density between 250 to 500 persons per sq. kilometre. These areas are surrounded by Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats. Maharashtra (365), Andhra Pradesh (308), Karnataka (319), Gujarat (308), Odisha (269), Goa (399), Assam (397) have a moderate density.

Factors for moderate density:

• Agriculture is not developed due to thin and rocky soils, undulating topography.
• Rainfall is uncertain.
• Means of transporation are not developed.
• Some areas have high density of population due to irrigation and Green Revolution, lava soils, mineral resources and Industrial development.

3. Sparsely populated areas. These areas have a density less than 250 persons per sq. kilometre. The mountainous, arid and forest areas are not attractive to human habitation. An extensive tract of low density extends from the Aravallis to Odisha.

(a) North Eastern India. This region includes Meghalaya (132), Manipur (122), Nagaland (119), Sikkim (86) and Arunachal Pradesh (17).

(b) Rajasthan Desert. Rajasthan has a density of 128 persons per sq. kilometre.

(c) Western Himalayas. It includes Jammu and Kashmir (124), Himachal Pradesh (123).

Factors for low density:

• The hilly nature of the land.
• Dense forests.
• Low rainfall.
• Poor economic development.
• Absence of minerals.
• Lack of irrigation and agriculture.
• Cold climate.

Ranking of States and Union Territories by Population : 2011

Rank in 2011	Indian States/Union Territories	Population 2011	Percent to total population of INDIA	Density of Population
1	2	1,21,01,93,422 3	100.00 4	382 5
	INDIA	1,21,01,93,422	100.00	382
1.	Uttar Pradesh	19,95,81,477	16.49	828
z.	Maharashtra	11,23,72,9/2	9.29	365
3.	Bihar	10,38,04,637	8.58	1,102
4.	West Bengal	9,13,47,736	7.55	1,029
5.	Andhra Pradesh	4,93,86,799	4 00	308
6.	Madhya Pradesh	7,25,97,565	6.00	236
7.	Tamil Nadu	7,21,38,958	5.96	555
8.	Rajasthan	6,86,21,012	5.67	201
9.	Karnataka	6,11,30,704	5.05	319
10.	Gujarat	6,03,83,628	4.99	308
11.	Odisha	4,19,47,358	3.47	269
12.	Kerala	3,33,87,677	2.76	859
13.	Jharkhand	3,29,66,238	2.72	414
14.	Assam	3,11,69,272	2.58	397
15.	Punjab	2,77,04,236	2.29	550
16.	Chhattisgarh	2,55,40,196	2.11	189
17.	Haryana	2,53,53,081	2.09	573
18.	NCT of Delhi*	1,67,53,235	1.38	11,297
19.	Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh*	1,25,48,926	1.04	124
20.	Uttarakhand	1,01,16,752	0.84	189
21.	Himachal Pradesh	68,56,509	0.57	123
22.	Tripura	36,71,032	0.30	350
23.	Meghalaya	29,64,007	0.24	132
24.	Manipur	27,21,756	0.22	122
25.	Nagaland	19,80,602	0.16	119
26.	Goa	14,57,723	0.12	394
27.	Arunachal Pradesh	13,82,611	0.11	17
28.	Puducherry*	12,44,464	0.10	2,598
29.	Mizoram	10,91,014	0.09	52
30.	Chandigarh*	10,54,686	0.09	9,252
31.	Sikkim	6,07,688	0.05	86
32.	Andaman & Nicobar Islands*	3,79,944	0.03	46
33.	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu*	585,764	0.05	970
34.	Lakshadweep*	64,429	0.01	2,013
35.	Telangana *Union Territories	3,52,86,757	3.00	307

# Note: The erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir reorganised into two Union Territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. As per Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union territories) Act, 2019, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have been merged.

Question 5.
Describe the geographical distribution of different language families in India.
Answer:
The people of India display a high degree of diversity in their languages. The languages spoken by the people can be classified into four language families.

1. Austric Family. The Austric languages are spoken by 6.2 million people in India. These include languages spoken by tribal people.

• Munda language is spoken by tribal groups of Santhals, Mayurbhanj, Ranchi, Betul and Baudh Khondmahals (Jharkhand).
• The Mon Khmer Khasi language is spoken in Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya.
• Nicobari language is spoken in Nicobar Island.

2. Sino-Tibetan Family. These languages are spoken by tribal groups of Himalayan Region.

• Tibeto-Himalayan group includes Tibetan, Balthi, Ladakhi, Lahauli and Bhutia : Lahauli, Kanauri and Lepcha. Ladakhi has the largest number of speakers.
• North-Assam group includes Aka, Drafla, Abor, Miri and Mishmi Mishing mostly spoken in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The Assam-Burmese group includes Bodo, Naga, Kochin and Kukichin.

3. Dravidian Family. These languages are spoken in Deccan plateau region. It includes Tamil (Tamil Nadu), Malayalam (Kerala), Kannada (Karnataka) and Telugu (Andhra Pradesh). There is less diversity in this group of languages. It also includes Kin, Parji, Khond, Tulu, Kurgi, etc.

4. Aryan Family. It has two main branches :
(i) Dardic
(ii) Aryan

The majority of people speak these languages. Hindi is the principal language spoken by the majority of people. Hindi is the main language in Northern plains. Urdu, Sindhi, Marathi, Konkani, Oriya, Bangla, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Marwari are other important languages in different regions. Hindi occupies the fourth place in the World. Urdu is very akin to Hindi and is widely spoken in this belt.

Question 6.
Discuss the religious composition of Indian population and its spatial distribution.
Answer:
Religious Composition : Important aspect of India’s population is the multiplicity of religious faiths. It is commonly known that the religion of the land is Hinduism. India witnessed successive penetration by other religions (Christianity, Judaism, Zorastrianism, Islam) and sections of Indian population embraced these faiths from time to time.

(1) The earliest to appear was Christianity. Historical records show that the Syrian Christians appeared on the west coast of India in the very first century of the Christian era.

(2) The Arab traders brought the message of Islam to the people of India living on the west coast much before the Muslim conquest of India.

(3) Buddhism which was once upon a time a major religion of the land is today confined to a few pockets only.
It is thus obvious that the religious composition of population has been changing with conversions from one faith to another, due to migration and partition of the country.

Different Religions. The religious groups of India include Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains, although other religious faiths such as Judaism and Zorastrianism are also represented. Several tribal communities adhere to animism and totemism. Hindus account for 82 per cent of the total population. They are distributed in all parts of India. However, in some districts they are less numerous than the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs or Buddhists.

The Muslims are the largest minority group and account for 12.12 per cent of the total population. The proportion of Christians is 2.34 per cent while Sikhs account for 1.93 per cent of the total population. Buddhists and Jains account for 0.76 and 0.39 per cent of the total population, respectively. It may be noted that while Hindus are found everywhere, other religious groups have their concentration in a few pockets only.

(1) Hindus : Hindus remain the most numerous groups everywhere.

(a) In many parts of the country such as a few districts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh the proportion of Hindus population goes up to 95 per cent or even above. It is lowest (5 %) in Mizoram.

(b) In the sub-Himalayan districts of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh the proportion of Hindu population is high above 95 per cent.

(c) The Hindu percentage remains well above 90 per cent in eastern Madhya Pradesh, eastern Gujarat, southern Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

(d) There are, however, certain districts on the west coast where the Hindu percentages fall below 70 per cent and even below 50 per cent. Hindus are in minority in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and North East Tribal areas.

(2) Muslims : According to the 1991 Census, Muslim population numbered 101.5 million which accounted for 12.12 per cent of the country’s total population. The major areas of Muslims concentration are situated in the Kashmir Valley, parts of the upper Ganga plain (Uttar Pradesh) and a number of districts in West Bengal where the Muslim proportion ranges between 20 and 40 per cent. In Murshidabad (West Bengal), the Muslim proportion goes as high as 61.40 per cent. In the upper Ganga Valley, Muslims are fairly predominant in several districts.

(3) Christians : Of the 19.64 million Christians of India, about 29 per cent live in the state of Kerala alone. Other areas of Christian concentration are in Goa and Tamil Nadu.

About 30 per cent of population of Goa consists of Christians. Several Tribal districts of Odisha and Bihar have significant proportion of Christian population. Likewise, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur have very high proportion of Christians. In Nagaland for example, their share in the total population is as high as 87.47 percent.

Mizoram with 85.73 per cent of its population consisting of Christians follows closely. Percentages remain very high in the districts of Meghalaya and some districts of Manipur (between 50 and 98 per cent). Several districts of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have small Christian population.

(4) Sikhs : The 1991 Census returns show that there are 16.25 million Sikhs in the country. While there is no part in India where the Sikhs are not found, their major concentration is seen in the states of Punjab and neighbouring districts of Haryana. This is obvious because Sikhism arose from the soil of Punjab.

Minor pockets of Sikh concentration are found in the Tarai region of Uttar Pradesh, Ganganagar, Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan. Sikhs account for 4.84 per cent of the total population of the Union Territory of Delhi. In the urban areas of other states, Sikhs live in small numbers.

(5) Buddhists, Jains and Parsis : India has about 6.38 million Buddhists, 3.55 million, Jains and about 72,000 Parsis. Of the total Buddhists of India, 79 per cent live in Maharashtra alone. These are Neo-Buddhists who embraced this religion after large scale conversion under the influence of the movement launched by Baba Saheb Ambedkar. The main pockets of traditional Buddhism, however, lie in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

Of the total population of India, 28.80 per cent live in Maharashtra, 16.78 per cent in Rajasthan and 14.65 per cent in Gujarat. These three states account for 60.23 per cent of the Jain population of the country. An interesting feature of the distribution of Jains is that their majority live in the urban areas. The Parsis are the smallest religious group. They are most concentrated in Western parts of India in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Question 7.
Discuss the trend of urbanisation in India with special reference to the post independence period.
Answer:
Urbanisation in India : According to census, the population is classified into two groups; rural and urban. People living in towns are included
in urban population. A town is an area which has a municipal committee, corporation etc. ; it has a population more than 5000 and 75% people are engaged in occupations other than agriculture.

India is primarily an agricultural country. Most of people live in villages. Villages have been the basis of Indian culture. India has a large urban population. According to census of 2011, the total urban population in India was 39 crores. It is almost equal to the urban population of U.S.A. (25,9 crore) India ranks the largest urbanised country in the world. But the degree of urbanisation in India is low as compared to other countries of the world.

Country	Urban population %
U.S.A.	82.6
Brazil	84.9
Egypt	43.7
Pakistan	36.7
India	31.7

Growth of urban population :

With the rapid increase in population, the urban population has also rapidly increased. During the last 110 years (1901-2011), the total population of India increased three times, but the urban population has increased eleven times during the same period.

Rural and Urban Population : 1901-2011

Census year	Population (million)		Percentage of total population
	Rural	Urban	Rural	Urban
1901	213	26	89.2	10.8
1911	226	26	89.7	10.3
1921	223	28	88.8	11.2
1931	246	33	88.0	12.0
1941	275	44	86.1	13.9
1951	299	62	82.7	17.3
1961	360	79	82.0	18.0
1971	439	109	80.1	19.9
1981	524	159	76.7	23.3
1991	629	218	74.3	25.7
2001	741	285	72.2	27.8
2011	833	377	68.8	31.7

The rate of growth of urbanisation has been slow during the period 1901.-61. But during the period of 20 years (1961-81) there has been a rapid growth of urbanisation in India. The urban population increased from 7.8 crores to 15.6.

The percentage of urban population increased from 17.9% to 23.3%. In 2001 the urban population has increased to 28.5 crores (27.8% of the total population). The growth of towns has helped rapid growth of urbanisation. Many industrial towns have been established. The Indian towns have been classified into 6 groups.

Class	Population
Class I Class II	More than 1 Lakh 50000 – 99999
Class III	20000 – 49999
Class IV	10000-19999
Class V	5000 – 9999
Class VI	Less than 5000

After independence, the number of big towns is increasing while the number of small towns is decreasing. In 1991, there were 299 class I towns out of 4689 towns. In 1981, there were 218 class I towns, but in 1901 there were only 24 class I towns. The number of million towns in India is 35.

These towns have a population of 10 crores which is about 1.3rd of total urban population of India. Kolkata, Mumbai, ‘Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Kanpur, Nagpur, Jaipur, Lucknow are million towns in India.

Question 8.
‘Dense population is found in states in Ganga and Sutlej plain.’ Explain.
Answer:
West Bengal (1029 persons per sq. km) and Bihar (1102 persons) are the two states with dense population in Northern plains, Uttar Pradesh (20 crores population) is the state with highest population of India with density of population of 828 persons per sq. km. Punjab has density of population of 550 persons per sq. km. while Haryana has a density of population of 573 persons per sq. km. All the states he in Ganga Sutlej Basin.

Question 9.
Identify the challenges of the adolescent population before the society. Enlist a few measures to overcome these problems.
Answer:
The share of adolescents is about 20.9% of the population. The adolescent population though regarded as the youthful population, having high potential is quite vulnerable if not quided properly. The National youth policy looks into the overall development of our large youth population. It stresses on an all round improvement of the youth and adolescent enabling them to shoulder responsibility towards constructive development of the country.

• It reinforces the qualities of patriotism and responsible citizenship.
• Special emphasis was given in empowering women and girl child to bring parity in the male and the female status.
• Efforts were made to look into health. Sports and recreation creativity and awareness about new innovations in the spheres of science and technologies.

Question 10.
Show the following on the outline map of India and label these.
Answer:
(1) Most populated state.
(2) Least populated state.
(3) State with highest density of population.
(4) State with lowest density of population.
(5) State with highest growth rate of population.
(6) State with lowest growth rate of population.
(7) State with highest percentage of rural population.
(8) Most urbanised state.
(9) State with highest sex ratio.
(10) State with lowest sex ratio.