Population and Growth Rate

Distribution of Population and Growth Rate

At 00.00 hours of 1st March, 2001, the state of Bihar, with an area of 94,163 sq kms approximately, had a population of 8,28,78,796 persons. Till 1991 Census, the composite state of Bihar was the second most populous state in the country (containing slightly more than 10% of the country’s population), next only to Uttar Pradesh. However, after bifurcation of the state of Bihar and creation of the new state of Jharkhand, the rank of Bihar among the states of India has slipped down to third, the states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra occupying the first and the second position respectively.

The following statement shows the relative position of Bihar among the 28 States and 7 Union Territories of the country:

PROVISIONAL POPULATION TOTALS 2001

FIGURES AT A GLANCE

Population Distribution, Percentage Decadal Growth, Sex Ratio, Population Density and Literacy Rate

SL	India/States/ Union Territories*	Population 2001			Percentage Decadal Growth		Sex ratio(F/1000M)		Population Density		Literacy Rate 2001
		Persons	Males	Females	1981-91	1991-01	1991	2001	1991	2001	Persons	Males	Females
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	India	1027015247	531277078	495738169	23.86	21.34	927	933	267	324	65.38	75.85	54.16
1.	Jammu & Kashmir	10069917	5300574	4769343	30.34	29.04	896	900	77	99	54.46	65.75	41.82
2.	Himachal Pradesh	6077248	3085256	2991992	20.79	17.53	976	970	93	109	77.13	86.02	68.08
3.	Punjab	24289296	12963362	11325934	20.81	19.76	882	874	403	482	69.95	75.63	63.55
4.	Chandigarh *	900914	508224	392690	42.16	40.33	790	773	5632	7903	81.76	85.65	76.65
5.	Uttaranchal	8479562	4316401	4163161	24.23	19.20	936	964	133	159	72.28	84.01	60.26
6.	Haryana	21082989	11327658	9755331	27.41	28.06	865	861	372	477	68.59	79.25	56.31
7.	Delhi *	13782976	7570890	6212086	51.45	46.31	827	821	6352	9294	81.82	87.37	75.00
8.	Rajasthan	56473122	29381657	27091465	28.44	28.33	910	922	129	165	61.03	76.46	44.34
9.	Uttar Pradesh	166052859	87466301	78586558	25.55	25.80	876	898	548	689	57.36	70.23	42.98
10.	Bihar	82878796	43153964	39724832	23.38	28.43	907	921	685	880	47.53	60.32	33.57
11.	Sikkim	540493	288217	252276	28.47	32.98	878	875	57	76	69.68	76.73	61.46
12.	Arunachal Pradesh	1091117	573951	517166	36.83	26.21	859	901	10	13	54.74	64.07	44.24
13.	Nagaland	1988636	1041686	946950	56.08	64.41	886	909	73	120	67.11	71.77	61.92
14.	Manipur	2388634	1207338	1181296	29.29	30.02	958	978	82	107	68.87	77.87	59.70
15.	Mizoram	891058	459783	431275	39.70	29.18	921	938	33	42	88.49	90.69	86.13
16.	Tripura	3191168	1636138	1555030	34.30	15.74	945	950	263	304	73.66	81.47	65.41
17.	Meghalaya	2306069	1167840	1138229	32.86	29.94	955	975	79	103	63.31	66.14	60.41
18.	Assam	26638407	13787799	12850608	24.24	18.85	923	932	286	340	64.28	71.93	56.03
19.	West Bengal	80221171	41487694	38733477	24.73	17.84	917	934	767	904	69.22	77.58	60.22
20.	Jharkhand	26909428	13861277	13048151	24.03	23.19	922	941	274	338	54.13	67.94	39.38
21.	Orissa	36706920	18612340	18094580	20.06	15.94	971	972	203	236	63.61	75.95	50.97
22.	Chhatisgarh	20795956	10452426	10343530	25.73	18.06	985	990	130	154	65.18	77.86	52.40
23.	Madhya Pradesh	60385118	31456873	28928245	27.24	24.34	912	920	158	196	64.11	76.80	50.28
24.	Gujarat	50596992	26344053	24252939	21.19	22.48	934	921	211	258	69.97	80.50	58.60
25.	Daman & Diu *	158059	92478	65581	28.62	55.59	969	709	907	1411	81.09	88.40	70.37
26.	Dadar & Nagar Haveli *	220451	121731	98720	33.57	59.20	952	811	282	449	60.03	73.32	42.99
27.	Maharashtra	96752247	50334270	46417977	25.73	22.57	934	922	257	314	77.27	86.27	67.51
28.	Andhra Pradesh	75727541	38286811	37440730	24.20	13.86	972	978	242	275	61.11	70.85	51.17
29.	Karnataka	52733958	26856343	25877615	21.12	17.25	960	964	235	275	67.04	76.29	57.45
30.	Goa	1343998	685617	658381	16.08	14.89	967	960	316	363	82.32	88.88	75.51
31.	Laksadweep *	60595	31118	29477	28.47	17.19	943	947	1616	1894	87.52	93.15	81.56
32.	Kerala	31838619	15468664	16369955	14.32	9.42	1036	1058	749	819	90.92	94.20	87.86
33.	Tamil Nadu	62110839	31268654	30842185	15.39	11.19	974	986	429	478	73.47	82.33	64.55
34.	Pondicherry *	973829	486705	487124	33.64	20.56	979	1001	1683	2029	81.49	88.89	74.13
35.	Andman Nicobar Island *	356265	192985	163280	48.70	26.94	818	846	34	43	81.18	86.07	75.29

* Area figure of the state on the basis of which the population density has been worked out is provisional. Population Density is in terms of people per square kilometer.

Notes:

1. The Population of India includes the estimated population of entire Kachchh district, Morvi, Maliya-Miyana and Wankaner talukas of Rajkot district, Jodiya taluka of Jamnagar district of Gujarat state and entire Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh where population enumeration of Census of India 2001 could not be conducted due to natural calamities.

2. For working out the population density of India and Jammu & Kashmir the entire area and population of those areas of Jammu and Kashmir which are under illegal occuption of Pakistan and China have not been taken into account.

3. The Literacy rates for India have been worked out by excluding the population and number of literates of areas affected by natural calamities of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as per details given in Note 1 above.

4. While working out the percentage decadal growth of population of Jammu and Kashmir the population Figures for 1991 have been worked out by interpolation as 1991 Census could not be held there owing to disturbed conditions.

5. Figures shown against Himachal Pradesh have been arrived at after including the estimated figures of entire Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh where the population enumeration of Census of India, 2001 could not be conducted due to natural calamity.

6. Figures shown against Gujarat have been arrived at after including the estimated figures of entire Kachchh district, Morvi, Maliya-Miyana and Wankaner talukas of Rajkot district, Jodiya taluka of Jamnagar district of Gujarat state where the population enumeration of Census of India, 2001 could not be conducted due to natural calamity.

7. Literacy rates shown against Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat do not include areas affected by natural calamities, the details of which are given in Note-1 above.

The following statement shows the population distribution, percentage decadal growth rate, sex-ratio and density of population for Bihar and India.

FIGURES AT A GLANCE FOR INDIA AND BIHAR Population distribution, Percentage decadal growth rate, Sex-ratio and Population density
SL	India/State	Population 2001			Percentage Decadal Growth Rate		Sex-Ratio (Females/1000 Males)		Population Density per sq. km.
		Persons	Males	Females	1981-91	1991-01	1991	2001	1991	2001*
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1.	INDIA	1,02,70,15,247	53,12,77,078	49,57,38,169	23.86	21.34	927	933	267	324
2.	BIHAR	8,28,78,796	4,31,53,964	3,97,24,832	23.38	28.43	907	921	685	880

* Area figure of the state on the basis of which the population density has been worked out is provisional.

It can be viewed that the growth of population in the composite state of Bihar had been slightly lower than that of India during 1981-1991. However, in the last decade (1991-2001), the growth of population in Bihar has increased roughly by 5 percentage points, being 28.43 percent as against 21.34 percent in India. The state of Bihar now contains 8.07 percent of the country’s population according to the provisional population results.

The distribution of population in relation to the districts, which are the main units of administration in the state as well as the country, can be seen from Table-1 placed at Annexure-1. It is a common phenomenon that there are wide variations in almost every state in respect of area and population among the districts. In Statement-1 below, all the districts in the state have been ranked in order of their population:

STATEMENT – 1 Ranking of Districts by Population Size in 1991 and 2001
Rank in 2001	District	Population 2001	Percent to total Population of the State in 2001	Population 1991	Percent to total population of the State in 1991	Rank in 1991
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1.	Patna	47,09,851	5.68	36,18,211	5.61	1
2.	East Champaran	39,33,636	4.75	30,43,061	4.72	2
3.	Muzaffarpur	37,43,836	4.52	29,53,903	4.58	3
4.	Madhubani	35,70,651	4.31	28,32,024	4.39	4
5.	Gaya	34,64,983	4.18	26,64,803	4.13	6
6.	Samastipur	34,13,413	4.12	27,16,929	4.21	5
7.	Darbhanga	32,85,473	3.96	25,10,959	3.89	8
8.	Saran	32,51,474	3.92	25,72,980	3.99	7
9.	West Champaran	30,43,044	3.67	23,33,666	3.62	9
10.	Vaishali	27,12,389	3.27	21,46,065	3.33	11
11.	Siwan	27,08,840	3.27	21,70,971	3.36	10
12.	Sitamarhi	26,69,887	3.22	20,13,796	3.12	12
13.	Purnia	25,40,788	3.07	18,78,885	2.91	16
14.	Rohtas	24,48,762	2.95	19,17,416	2.97	14
15.	Bhagalpur	24,30,331	2.93	19,09,967	2.96	15
16.	Katihar	23,89,533	2.88	18,25,380	2.83	17
17.	Nalanda	23,68,327	2.86	19,96,257	3.09	13
18.	Begusarai	23,42,989	2.83	18,14,773	2.81	18
19.	Bhojpur	22,33,415	2.69	17,92,771	2.78	19
20.	Gopalganj	21,49,343	2.59	17,04,310	2.64	20
21.	Araria	21,24,831	2.56	16,11,638	2.50	21
22.	Aurangabad	20,04,960	2.42	15,39,988	2.39	22
23.	Nawada	18,09,425	2.18	13,59,694	2.11	23
24.	Supaul	17,45,069	2.11	13,42,841	2.08	24
25.	Banka	16,08,778	1.94	12,92,504	2.00	25
26.	Madhepura	15,24,596	1.84	11,77,706	1.83	26
27.	Jehanabad	15,11,406	1.82	11,74,900	1.82	27
28.	Saharsa	15,06,418	1.82	11,32,413	1.75	28
29.	Buxar	14,03,462	1.69	10,87,676	1.69	29
30.	Jamui	13,97,474	1.69	10,51,527	1.63	30
31.	Kishanganj	12,94,063	1.56	9,84,107	1.53	32
32.	Kaimur	12,84,575	1.55	9,83,269	1.52	33
33.	Khagaria	12,76,677	1.54	9,87,227	1.53	31
34.	Munger	11,35,499	1.37	9,43,583	1.46	34
35.	Lakhisarai	8,01,173	0.97	6,46,395	1.00	35
36.	Sheikhpura	5,25,137	0.63	4,20,260	0.65	36
37.	Sheohar	5,14,288	0.62	3,77,699	0.59	37

From the point of population distribution, the three top districts in Bihar are Patna (5.68%), East Champaran (4.75%) and Muzaffarpur (4.52%). These three districts have retained their rank and position vis-à-vis 1991 Census. Patna is the most populous district of the State. The three districts at the bottom are Sheohar (0.62%), Sheikhpura (0.63%) and Lakhisarai (0.97%). All these three districts are newly created districts, carved out of the old districts of Sitamarhi (Sheohar) and Munger (Sheikhpura and Lakhisarai) after 1991 Census. Sheohar is now the least populous district of the state. The average population of a district in Bihar works out to be 2239967. It is noteworthy that 11 out of the top 13 districts in order of population are from the North Bihar region, Patna and Gaya being the two exceptions which belong to the Bihar Central region.

The comparative distribution of population among the districts has been depicted in the diagram presented in this paper.

GROWTH RATE OF POPULATION IN DISTRICTS

The population of a country or its constituent states keep changing over a period of time. The excess of incidence of births over that of deaths causes an increase in the population of the country or the state and this is termed as natural increase. Migration is another important factor for population variation, though, normally it does not have a substantial effect on the population growth of any country or state. Hence, it is mainly the interaction of births and deaths that alters the population status of any country or state.

Table–2 placed at Annexure–2 shows the district-wise decadal variation in population since 1901. The diagram depicting the decennial growth rate (1901-2001) of Bihar is presented in this paper. It is observed from Table–2 that the growth rate has shown very wide fluctuations in the districts over the decades. During 1901-11, while the state and most of its districts have shown an increase in growth rate of their population, the districts of Patna, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur, Rohtas, Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj have shown a decrease in their population size although the decrease has been very nominal in case of Patna and Nalanda. During 1911-21, when the population of the state and most of the districts decreased, there was an increase in population in Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj, West Champaran, East Champaran, Purnia, Katihar, Araria and Kishanganj districts of north Bihar. From the decade 1921-31 onwards, no district in the state registered a negative growth rate, i.e. decline in population, although fluctuations were noticed in the population growth rate among the districts in all the succeeding decades. From the decade 1951-61, almost all the districts had started showing substantial increase in the growth rate of population. In the decade 1991-2001, as many as 22 districts have recorded population growth rate higher than the state average (28.43%) among which the newly created district of Sheohar ranks first (36.16%). The district with lowest population growth rate during the decade is Nalanda (18.64%) which, in fact, has shown a decline in the population growth rate vis-à-vis 1981-91 (21.73%).