World Population Day is observed every year on July 11. The main purpose of this day is to draw attention towards the issues arising out of rising population across the globe. India has the world’s second-largest populace after China.
The United Nations has sent up a population fund (UNFPA) and a population division to plan programmes and coordinate with other agencies in order to highlight and disseminate information about population control measures.
History of World Population Day
The World Population Day was established by the United Nations in 1989, buoyed by the interest the Five Billion Day celebrated in 1987. A resolution to the effect was passed, and the dayw as first marked on July 11, 1990. In December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided to continue observing World Population Day to enhance awareness about population issues, including their relations to the environment.
Significance of World Population Day
The World Population Day is observed with the goal of highlighting the difficulties created by overpopulation and raising awareness about how overpopulation may harm the ecosystem and progress of humanity.
Theme of World Population Day 2021
This year, the theme of World Population Day 2021 is 'the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on fertility'. It will be observed to shed more light on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive behaviour globally. It is organised by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
United Nations Population Award
Each year,
the Committee for the United Nations Population Award honours an individual
and/or institution in recognition of outstanding contributions to population
and reproductive health questions and to their solutions. The Award was
established by the General Assembly in 1981, in resolution 36/201, and was
first presented in 1983. It consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a monetary
prize.
Some Population Facts of India
|
General Points |
|
As per Census 2011,
India's population stood at 1,21,05,69,573. |
|
The census moment,
the referral time at which the snapshot of the population is taken was 00.00 hours of 1 March 2001. Until the 1991
Census, the sunrise of 1 March was taken to be the census moment. |
|
India’s population
as on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,028 million (532.1 million males and 496.4 million
females). |
|
India's population
grew by 18,14,55,986 (17.64%) at the rate of 1.64% per annum in the decade
2001-11. |
|
India accounts for a
meagre 2.4 per cent of the world surface area of 135.79 million sq km. Yet,
it supports and sustains a whopping 17.5 per cent of the world population. |
|
India in relation to other countries |
|
The growth in
India's population during the decade 2001-11 is slightly lower than the
population of Brazil,
the fifth most populated country in the world. |
|
China's decadal
growth is 0.53% against India's 1.64%. At the present rates India is likely
to overtake China as the most populous country of world by 2030. |
|
Three most populous
countries of the world viz. China (1.34 billion), India (1.21 billion)
and USA (308.7 million) account
for 40% population
of the world. |
|
The population of
India is almost equal to the combined population of U.S.A., Indonesia,
Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan. |
|
Population Growth - 1901-2011 |
|
The population of
India in 1901 was 23,83,96,327. It increased more than four times by 2011. |
|
The population of
India in grew by just one and half times in the first half of twentieth
century, while it recorded a three fold growth in the latter half of the century. |
|
The population of
India saw a negative growth during 1911-1921 when its population decreased from 25,20,93,390 to
25,13,21,213. |
|
The population of
India in 1951, just four years after independence was 36,10,88,090. |
|
Density of Population |
|
The population
density of India is 382 persons per square kilometre while it was 325 persons
in 2001. |
|
India had a
population density of just 77 persons per sq. km in 1901. |
|
Gender Composition |
|
Out of the total
population, the number of males in India is 62,37,34,248 and number of females is 58,64,69,174. |
|
The above figures
give a sex ratio of 943 females per
1000 males which is an improvement of 10 points over the 2001 sex ratio
of 933. |
|
India had the
highest sex ratio in 1901 when it was 972 and worst in 1991 when it was 927. |
|
India has poorer sex
ratio when compared to its neighbours - Pakistan (943), Sri Lanka (1034),
Nepal (1014), Myanmar (1048) and Bangladesh (978) while it is better than
China (926), Afghanistan (931) and Bhutan (897). |
|
Literacy |
|
For the purposes of
Census, a person aged 7 and above who can both read and write with understanding
in any language is treated as literate. A person who can only read but cannot
write is not literate. In the census prior to 1991, children below five years
of age were necessarily treated as illiterates. |
|
The overall literacy
rate as per 2011 census is 74.04%. The literacy rate in 2001 was 65%. |
|
The literacy rate
is 82.14% for
males and 65.46% for
females. |
