The 1951 Census of India was the ninth in a series of
censuses held in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
every decade since
1872
Events
January–March
* January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years.
* February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...
.
It is also the first census after independence and
Partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
.
1951 census was also the first census to be conducted under 1948 Census of India Act. The first census of the Indian Republic began on February 10, 1951.
The population of India was counted as 361,088,090 (1000:946 male:female) Total population increased by 42,427,510, 13.31% more than the 318,660,580 people counted during the 1941 census. No census was done for
Jammu and Kashmir in 1951 and its figures were interpolated from 1941 and 1961 state census.
National Register of Citizens for Assam
The National Register of Citizens for Assam is a registry (NRC) meant to be maintained by the Government of India for the state of Assam. It is expected to contain the names and certain relevant information for the identification of genuine I ...
(NRC) was prepared soon after the census. In 1951, at the time of the first population Census, just 18% of Indians were literate while life expectancy was 32 years. Based on 1951 census of displaced persons, 7,226,000 Muslims went to Pakistan (both
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
and
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
Pakistan
) from India, while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan (both
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
and
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
Pakistan).
Language demographics
Separate figures for Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi were not issued, due to the fact the returns were intentionally recorded incorrect in states such as
East Punjab
East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province between ...
,
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
PEPSU, and
Bilaspur.
Religious demographics
Hindus comprised 305 million (84.1%), Sikhs were 6.86 million (1.9%) and Muslims were 35.4 million (9.8%) in the 1951 census.
[
][More citations:
*
*
*
]
1951 Indian census showed that there were 8.3 million Christians.
Hindus comprised about 73 per cent of the population of
India before partition and just after independence, Independent India in (1947) have roughly around 85 per cent Hindus.
See also
*
Census of India prior to independence
The Census of India prior to independence was conducted periodically from 1865 to 1941. The censuses were primarily concerned with administration and faced numerous problems in their design and conduct ranging from the absence of house numbering ...
*
1891 Census of India
The 1891 Census of India was conducted by the British Raj and covered the lands now part of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma. The Census Commissioner was Jervoise Athelstane Baines, who was later knighted for his work in India. Baines change ...
*
Demographics of India
India is the second most populated country in the world with a sixth of the world's population. According to official estimates, India's population stood at 1.38 billion.
Between 1975 and 2010, the population doubled to 1.2 billio ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
Census Reports – 1951 South Asia Open Archives, JSTOR.
Census of India, 1951, Volume 1, Part 1-A – Report Registrar General, India and ex-officio Census Commissioner for India, via archive.org.
{{Census of India
Political history of India
Censuses in India
1951 in India
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...