Census of India 2011

Census of India 2011 — Complete Notes & State-wise Data

This post summarises key results from the **Census of India 2011** — population totals, literacy, sex ratio, population density, state/UT-wise tables, language & religion distributions, and quick revision cards for students. Data below is taken primarily from the official 2011 census releases; for later updates (2021/2022/2023) consult the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.

Quick National Summary — 2011

Population (2011)

Males: 623,724,568
Females: 586,469,294
Total: 1,210,854,977

Literacy & Density

Effective Literacy Rate: 74.04% (Male: 82.10%, Female: 65.46%)
Population density: 382 persons/km² (national average)

Sex Ratio

Overall sex ratio (2011): 940 females / 1000 males
Child sex ratio (0–6 yrs): 914 /1000

Other Highlights

2011 was India’s 15th census; first to include biometric data collection on a large scale. Census operations are carried out by the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Sex Ratio — Additional Notes

As of 2020 estimates quoted in some sources, India had more males than females in most age groups up to old ages. (Note: 2011 census baseline sex ratio = 940 females / 1000 males.) Rural areas: ~949 females /1000 males; Urban areas: ~929 females /1000 males. Kerala had the highest sex ratio among states (1,084 females / 1000 males), while Haryana had one of the lowest (879 /1000) in 2011 data.

State & Union Territory — Population (2011)

S.No	State/Union Territory	Males	Females	Total
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	202,330	177,614	379,944
2	Andhra Pradesh	42,509,881	42,155,652	84,665,533
3	Arunachal Pradesh	720,232	662,379	1,382,611
4	Assam	15,954,927	15,214,345	31,169,272
5	Bihar	54,185,347	49,619,290	103,804,637
6	Chandigarh	580,282	474,404	1,054,686
7	Chhattisgarh	12,827,915	12,712,281	25,540,196
8	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	193,178	149,675	342,853
9	Daman & Diu	150,100	92,811	242,911
10	Goa	740,711	717,012	1,457,723
11	Gujarat	31,482,282	28,901,346	60,383,628
12	Haryana	13,505,130	11,847,951	25,353,081
13	Himachal Pradesh	3,473,892	3,382,617	6,856,509
14	Jammu & Kashmir	6,666,561	5,883,365	12,548,926
15	Jharkhand	16,931,688	16,034,550	32,966,238
16	Karnataka	31,057,742	30,072,962	61,130,704
17	Kerala	16,021,290	17,366,387	33,387,677
18	Lakshadweep	33,106	31,323	64,429
19	Madhya Pradesh	37,612,920	34,984,645	72,597,565
20	Maharashtra	58,361,397	54,011,575	112,372,972
21	Manipur	1,369,764	1,351,992	2,721,756
22	Meghalaya	1,492,668	1,471,339	2,964,007
23	Mizoram	552,339	538,675	1,091,014
24	Nagaland	1,025,707	954,895	1,980,602
25	NCT of Delhi	8,976,410	7,776,825	16,753,235
26	Odisha	21,201,678	20,745,680	41,947,358
27	Puducherry	610,485	633,979	1,244,464
28	Punjab	14,634,819	13,069,417	27,704,236
29	Rajasthan	35,620,086	33,000,926	68,621,012
30	Sikkim	321,661	286,027	607,688
31	Tamil Nadu	36,158,871	35,980,087	72,138,958
32	Tripura	1,871,867	1,799,165	3,671,032
33	Uttar Pradesh	104,596,415	94,985,062	199,581,477
34	Uttarakhand	5,154,178	4,962,574	10,116,752
35	West Bengal	46,927,389	44,420,347	91,347,736

Population Density — People per sq. km (Selected)

State / UT	Density (per km²)
Andhra Pradesh	277
Arunachal Pradesh	13
Assam	340
Bihar	881
Chhattisgarh	154
Goa	364
Gujarat	258
Haryana	478
Himachal Pradesh	109
Jammu & Kashmir	100
Jharkhand	338
Karnataka	276
Kerala	819
Madhya Pradesh	196
Maharashtra	315
Manipur	97
Meghalaya	103
Mizoram	42
Nagaland	120
Odisha	236
Punjab	484
Rajasthan	165
Sikkim	76
Tamil Nadu	480
Tripura	305
Uttar Pradesh	690
Uttarakhand	159
West Bengal	903
Andaman & Nicobar Islands	43
Chandigarh (UT)	7,900
Dadra & Nagar Haveli	449
Daman & Diu	1,413
Delhi (NCT)	9,340
Lakshadweep	1,895
Puducherry	2,034

Language — Major Scheduled Languages (2011 highlights)

According to the 2011 language tables (released 2018), the broad results show:

• Hindi (broad definition): 57.1% of population can speak/know Hindi (43.63% declared Hindi as mother tongue).
• Bengali: 8.90% (major language in West Bengal and parts of northeast).
• Marathi: 8.20%.
• Telugu: 7.80%.
• English (reported as known language): many people list English as a second language; data table summaries often report English knowledge ~10.6% as a 'language known'.
• Other scheduled languages: Tamil (6.30%), Gujarati (5.00%), Urdu (5.20%), Kannada (4.94%), Malayalam (3.28%), Odia (3.56%), Punjabi (3.56%).

Note: The census differentiates between 'mother tongue' and 'language known'. The 2011 detailed language tables were published separately (June 2018) and show many unscheduled languages (eg. Bhili ~10.4M, Gondi ~2.9M).

Religion — 2011 Distribution (National)

Religion	Percentage (2011)
Hinduism	79.80%
Islam	14.23%
Christianity	2.30%
Sikhism	1.72%
Buddhism	0.70%
Jainism	0.37%
Other / Adivasi & Tribal (including unspecified)	~0.9% and other categories

Literacy — 2011 Overview

National Literacy Rates

Effective literacy (age 7+): 74.04% (Male: 82.14%; Female: 65.46%).
Gender gap: ~16.6 percentage points.

Definition

Crude literacy rate = literacy for whole population; Effective literacy rate = literacy for population aged 7 and above.

State/UT — Literacy Rates (Selected, 2011)

S.No	State / UT	Overall (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
1	Kerala	94.0	96.1	92.1
2	Lakshadweep	91.8	95.6	87.9
3	Mizoram	91.3	93.3	89.3
4	Goa	88.7	92.6	84.7
5	Tripura	87.2	91.5	82.7
6	Daman & Diu	87.1	91.5	79.5
7	Andaman & Nicobar	86.6	90.3	82.4
8	Delhi (NCT)	86.2	90.9	80.8
9	Chandigarh	86.0	90.0	81.2
10	Puducherry	85.8	91.3	80.7
11	Himachal Pradesh	82.8	89.5	75.9
12	Maharashtra	82.3	88.4	75.9
13	Sikkim	81.4	86.6	75.6
14	Tamil Nadu	80.1	86.8	73.4
15	Nagaland	79.6	82.8	76.1
16	Manipur	79.2	86.1	72.4
17	Uttarakhand	78.8	87.4	70.0
18	Gujarat	78.0	85.8	69.7
19	West Bengal	76.3	81.7	70.5
20	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	76.2	85.2	64.3
21	Punjab	75.8	80.4	70.7
22	Haryana	75.6	84.1	65.9
23	Karnataka	75.4	82.5	68.1
24	Meghalaya	74.4	76.0	72.9
25	Odisha	72.9	81.6	64.0
26	Assam	72.2	77.8	66.3
27	Chhattisgarh	70.3	80.3	60.2
28	Madhya Pradesh	69.3	78.7	59.2
29	Uttar Pradesh	67.7	77.3	57.2
30	Jammu & Kashmir	67.2	76.8	56.4
31	Andhra Pradesh	67.0	74.9	59.1
32	Jharkhand	66.4	76.8	55.4
33	Rajasthan	66.1	79.2	52.1
34	Arunachal Pradesh	65.4	72.6	57.7
35	Bihar	61.8	71.2	51.6

Quick Revision Cards — Census 2011

Total Population

1,210,854,977 (2011)

Effective Literacy

74.04% (Male 82.10%; Female 65.46%)

Sex Ratio

940 females per 1000 males (Child sex ratio 914)

Density

National average ~382 persons / km² (2011)

Related: Physical Features of India • Drainage System of India • Demography & Population Topics

Note: All figures are taken from the official Census of India 2011 releases and associated publications. Some derived percentages and later year estimates cited in summaries (e.g., 2020 sex ratio comments) come from subsequent analyses and should be cross-checked with up-to-date government releases for policy or publication use.