1. Choose the right answers of the followings from the given options.

(i) India’s population as per 2001 census is :

(a) 1028 million (b) 3182 million (c) 3287 million (d) 20 million

(ii) Which one of the following states has the highest density of population in India?

(a) West Bengal (b) Kerala (c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Punjab

(iii) Which one of the following states has the highest proportion of urban population in India according to 2001 Census?

(i) Tamil Nadu (b) Maharashtra (c) Kerala (d) Gujarat

(iv) Which one of the following is the largest linguistic group of India?

(a) Sino – Tibetan (b)Indo-Aryan  (c)Austric  (d)Dravidian

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Very hot and dry and very cold and wet regions of India have low density of population. In this light, explain the role of climate on the distribution of population.

Ans. Temperature and climate plays an important role and largely determines the pattern of the population distribution. North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have higher proportion of population due to availability of water and moderate climate. Similarly places that have extreme climate such as- extreme cold climate in the Himalayan region and few Northeastern states, then extreme hot and dry climate in the western region of Thar desert attracts less people due to harsh climatic condition.

(ii) Which states have large rural population in India? Give one reason for such large rural population.

Ans. Distribution of rural population is not uniform throughout the country. Bihar and Sikkim have very high percentage of rural population. And both the states are highly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.

(iii) Why do some states of India have higher rates of work participation than others?

Ans. In India, the work participation rate tends to be higher in the areas of lower levels of economic development since number of manual workers are needed to perform the subsistence or near subsistence economic activities. The states with larger percentages of workers are Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya.

(iv) ‘The agricultural sector has the largest share of Indian workers.’ – Explain.

Ans. India is an agrarian country and about 58.2 per cent of total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers. Whereas only 4.2% of workers are engaged in household industries and 37.6 % are other workers including nonhousehold industries, trade, commerce, construction and repair and other services.

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

1. Discuss the spatial pattern of density of population in India.

Ans. The density of population in India (2001) is 313 persons per sq km. There has been a steady increase of about 200 persons per sq km over the last 50 years as the density of population increased from 117 persons/ sq km in 1951 to 313 persons/sq km in 2001.

States like –West Bengal (903), Bihar (880), Uttar Pradesh (690), Kerala (819) and Tamil Nadu (480) have higher densities. While states like Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Orissa have moderate densities. Arunanchal pradesh is the state with the least density of 13 persons per sq km.

Union Territories like – Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry have high population density. Infact all the UTs excluding Andaman & Nicobar islands have very high densities of population.

2. Give an account of the occupational structure of India’s population.

Ans. The occupational structure of a country refers to the division of its work force engaged in different economic activities. India has a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors.

About 54.6% of total working population are cultivators and agricultural laborers, whereas only 3.8% of workers are engaged in household industries and 41.6 % are other workers including non-household industries, trade, commerce, construction and repair and other services.

As far as the occupation of country’s male and female population is concerned, male workers outnumber female workers in all the three sectors.

The number of female workers is relatively high in primary sector, though in recent years there has been some improvement in work participation of women in secondary and tertiary sectors.

The proportion of workers in agricultural sector in India has shown a decline over the last few decades (58.2% in 2001 to 54.6% in 2011).

Consequently, the participation rate in secondary and tertiary sector has registered an increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farm based occupations to non-farm based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country.

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