Demographic view of Uttarakhand - As per Census 2011 :

Uttarakhand State, according to census 2011 with population of about 1 crore is India's the 10th least populous state. Total geographical area of Uttarakhand state is about 53 thousand km2 and it is the 11th smallest state by area in the country. Population density of the state is 189 persons per km2. There are 13 districts in the state, among them Hardwar is the most populous district with population of about 18.9 lakh and Rudraprayag is the least populous district with population of about 2.4 lakh. Chamoli is the biggest district in the state with an area of 8030 km2 and Champawat is the smallest with 1766 km2.

Demographics :

The state is home to about 1 crore people, among them about 51.4 lakh (51%) are male and about 49.5 lakh (49%) are female. 78% of the whole population are from general caste, 19% are from schedule caste and 3% are schedule tribes. Child (aged under 6 years) population of Uttarakhand state is 13%, among them 53% are boys and 47% are girls. There are about 20.6 lakh households in the state and an average 5 persons live in every family.

The majority of the population, nearly 70% (about 70.4 lakh) live in Uttarakhand rural part and 30% (about 30.5 lakh) population live in the Uttarakhand urban part. Rural population density of Uttarakhand state is 134 and urban population density is 3381 persons per km2.

 Religion wise distribution of population :

Hindus contribute 83% of the total population and are the largest religious community in the state followed by Muslims which contribute 14% of the total population and Sikhs are the third largest religious community here with 2% population.. Female Sex ratio per 1000 male in Hindus are 976 in Muslims are 901 and in Sikhs are 912.

Rural Population :

Uttarakhand is a predominantly rural state with 16,826 rural settlements, of which 12,699 or 81% have a population of less than 500. In most of the districts, more than 75-85 % of rural settlements have a population of less than 500. Only 17 % of the rural settlements have a population ranging between 500-1999 and the villages with population of 2000 or more are very rare (2.7 %). The small size of settlements and their widespread distribution is a formidable challenge for service delivery in the state of Uttarakhand with such a high percentage of small and scattered hamlets mainly in the tough geographic conditions.

Growth of population :

Population of the state has increased by 18.8% in last 10 years. In 2001 census total population here were about 84.9 lakh. Female population growth rate of the state is 18.9% which is 0.1% higher than male population growth rate of 18.8%. General caste population has increased by 17.7%; Schedule caste population has increased by 24.7%; Schedule Tribe population has increased by 14% and child population has decreased by -0.3% in the state since last census.

The population of the districts in Uttarakhand varies considerably. Four of the 13 districts, namely Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital account for 61.5 % of the state’s total population. On adding Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal and Almora, this accounts for nearly 81%. This clearly shows that the concentration of population is quite high in the mid and foothills as compared to the remaining six districts of high hills.

Sex Ratio - Females per 1000 Male :

As of 2011 census there are 963 females per 1000 male in the state. Sex ratio in general caste is 965, in schedule caste is 954 and in schedule tribe is 963. There are 890 girls under 6 years of age per 1000 boys of the same age in the state. Overall sex ratio in the state has increased by 1 females per 1000 male during the years from 2001 to 2011. Child sex ratio here has decreased by 18 girls per 1000 boys during the same time.

Literacy :

Total about 68.8 lakh people in the state are literate, among them about 38.6 lakh are male and about 30.2 lakh are female. Literacy rate (children under 6 are excluded) of Uttarakhand is 79%. 87% of male and 70% of female population are literate here. Overall literacy rate in the state has increased by 7%. Male literacy has gone up by 4% and female literacy rate has gone up by 10%.