Punjab is home to 2.3% of India's population; with a density of 551 persons per km². According to the provisional results of the 2011 national census, Punjab has a population of 27,743,338, making it the 16th most populated state in India. Of which male and female are 14,639,465 and 13,103,873 respectively. 32% of Punjab's population consists of

Dalits Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for Untouchability, untouchables and Outcast (person), outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called ...

. In the state, the rate of population growth is 13.9% (2011), lower than national average. Out of total population, 37.5% people live in urban regions. The total figure of population living in urban areas is 10,399,146 of which 5,545,989 are males and while remaining 4,853,157 are females. The urban population in the last 10 years has increased by 37.5%. According to the 2011 Census of India,

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

has a population of around 27.7 million.

Population density

The table below gives the population density (persons per square kilometre) of Punjab through the years. The table below shows the population density by district in Punjab, according to the 2011 census.

Gender

The table below shows the

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of Punjab through the years.

Fertility rate

The table below shows the

birth rate Birth rate, also known as natality, is the total number of live childbirth, human births per 1,000 population for a given period divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registr ...

per 1000 persons in Punjab through the years.

According to the National Family Health Survey of 2015–16, the percentage of women age 15-19 who have begun childbearing (

teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20. Worldwide, pregnancy complications are the leading cause of death for women and girls 15 to 19 years old. The definition of teenage pregnancy i ...

) was 2.6%. The table below shows the variation in fertility rate (children per woman) according to the education of a woman in Punjab, as of 2019–21.

Family planning

According to the National Family Health Survey 2020–21, the unmet need for family planning increased from 6.2% in 2015–16 to 9.9% in 2020–21. In the same time period, the unmet need for child spacing increased from 2.4 to 3.7 percent.https://main.mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/NFHS-5_Phase-II_0.pdf

Mortality

Infant mortality

The list below shows the

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...

rate per 1000 in Punjab, through the years.

Maternal mortality

The table below shows the maternal mortality rate per one lakh (1,00,000) per year, through the years.

Literacy rate

According to the 2011 census, the

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of Punjab was 75.84%. The male literacy was 80.44% and the female literacy was 70.72%. The median number of years of schooling completed in the state was 6.5 for females and 7.8 for males, as of 2011.

District-wise

Below is a combined table showing the total, rural, and urban literacy rates for each district of Punjab according to the 2011 Census of India.

Religion

The table below shows the literacy rate by religion in Punjab, according to 2001 census.

Caste

The table below gives the literacy rate of Scheduled castes by district, according to the 2011 census.

Human Development Index

The table below shows the district wise

human development index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...

of Punjab through the years.

Caste population

As of September 2020, the

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

population data foreach

Forward caste Forward caste (or General caste) is a term used in India to denote castes which are not listed in SC, ST or OBC reservation lists. They are on average considered ahead of other castes economically and educationally. They account for about 30.8% ...

citizen in Punjab collected in ''

Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 Sosyo is an Indian carbonated drink, produced and marketed mainly in the western and northern states of India; Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Sosyo is a mixture of grape and apple cider with some ingredients i ...

'' has not been released to public by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes form 63.2% of the total population of Punjab. Below is the list of districts according to the percentage of their SC population, according to 2011 census. Scheduled caste (SC) population among different religions in Punjab - Census 2011

Crimes against SC/STs

The table below shows the number of recorded crimes against scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people from 2010 to 2018.

Urbanization

The table below shows the percentage of rural population in each district of Punjab in ascending order, according to the 2011 census.

Languages spoken

The

Punjabi language Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native sp ...

written in the

Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). Commonly regarded as a Sikh script, Gurmukhi is used in Punjab, India as the official scrip ...

script is the official language of the state.

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

form a slight majority in the

Malerkotla Malerkotla is a city and the district headquarters of Malerkotla district in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It served as the seat of the eponymous princely state during the British Raj. The state acceded to the Dominion of India, un ...

town and use

Shahmukhi Shahmukhi (, , , ) is the right-to-left abjad-based script developed from the Perso-Arabic alphabet used for the Punjabi language varieties, predominantly in Punjab, Pakistan. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq calligraphic hand, whic ...

for communication.

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

is the sole official language of Punjab and is spoken by the majority of the population numbering around 24,919,067 constituting (89.82%) of the population as of 2011 census report.

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

is the second largest language, spoken by 2,177,853 constituting 7.85% of the population. And the remaining 646,418 spoke other Indian languages, comprising 2.83% in the Others category.

Religion in Punjab

2001 and 2011 census

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

is the most common faith in Punjab, numbering over 16 million people representing 57.69% of the population, making it the only Sikh-majority state in India. Around 38.49% of the population (10.68 million) follow

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, while

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

is followed by 1.93% of the population (535,000) and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

1.26% (350,000). Other faiths include

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

which are followed in smaller numbers. There were also nearly 90,000 people that did not state their religion.

Urban and rural areas

The table given below shows the religion in the

urban areas An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

of Punjab, according to 2011 census. The table below shows the population of different religions in absolute numbers in the urban and rural areas of Punjab.

1971 census

Following the

Punjab Reorganisation Act The Punjab Reorganisation Act was passed by the Indian Parliament on 18 September 1966, separating territory from the state of Punjab, India, Punjab, most of which formed the new state of Haryana. Some was transferred to Himachal Pradesh, then a ...

of 1966, the borders of the East Punjab region were finalized and delineated. The states that form this region at present include

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The religious demography according to the 1971 census for the contemporary state of Punjab, India is shown below, broken down by district with an overall total.

1961 census

The 1961 Census data reflects the post-reorganization administrative boundaries. By this time, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) had been fully merged into Punjab on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act. Additionally, the former princely state of Bilaspur, a Part-C state, was merged into Himachal Pradesh in 1954. Therefore, the 1961 census tables include populations from the territories of both Punjab (including the former PEPSU regions) and Himachal Pradesh (including Bilaspur), as per their reorganized state boundaries. The religious demography of the East Punjab region including the contemporary subdivisions of

, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh is broken down below by district with an overall total as per the

1961 census of India The 1961 census of India was the tenth in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1872. The population of India was counted as 438,936,918 people. Population by state Language data The 1961 census recognized 1,652 ''mother tong ...

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1961 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district with an overall total.

1951 census

After Partition, East Punjab underwent significant restructuring, particularly in its

Punjab States Agency The Punjab States Agency was an agency of the British Raj. The agency was created in 1921, on the model of the Central India Agency and Rajputana Agency, and dealt with forty princely states in northwest India formerly dealt with by the Prov ...

. Several princely states in the region were merged in 1948 to form the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), while a number of hill states in the north were integrated to form Himachal Pradesh. Bilaspur Princely state remained a separate entity as

Bilaspur State Bilaspur State or Kahlur State, sometimes Kahloor Riyasat, was a kingdom (697–1849) and later princely state (1849–1948) in the Punjab Province ruled by a separate branch of Chandravanshi Chandel rajput dynasty. Raja Bir Chand 697–73 ...

. In the 1951 census, these regions — Punjab, PEPSU, Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur, and Delhi — were grouped together in a single volume titled ''Census of India, 1951: Punjab, Pepsu, Himachal Pradesh, Bilaspur & Delhi''. Although Delhi was included in this volume, it had become a separate province in 1911 and is not considered part of East Punjab for statistical purposes. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

with an overall total as per the

1951 census of India The 1951 census of India was the ninth in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1872. It was also the first census after independence and Partition of India. 1951 census was also the first census to be conducted under 1948 Census ...

. In the following tables, 268,602 people from the Jullundur Division were not classified by religion due to missing records caused by a fire in the Jullundur Census Tabulation Office. As a result, their religious affiliation could not be included at the district level. These unclassified populations were distributed across Amritsar district (96,720 persons), Gurdaspur district (89,512 persons), Jullundur district (46,834 persons), Ferozepur district (18,283 persons), Kangra district (9,565 persons), Hoshiarpur district (6,362 persons), and Ludhiana district (1,326 persons). While their district level religious details were omitted, the number was included on the overall provincial tabulation. According to consolidated data, out of the 268,602 individuals, 149,758 persons were

Sikhs Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

, 1,658 persons were

and 117,186 persons were

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and others, Therefore, the actual total population of the province/state was not 16,975,754 as shown in the tables below, but 17,244,356 after including these 268,602 individuals.

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1951 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district with an overall total.

1941 census

East Punjab region

Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the

Radcliffe Line The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated by the two boundary commissions for the provinces of Punjab Province (British India), Punjab and Bengal Presidency, Bengal during the Partition of India. It is named after Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Visco ...

was made into a new province –

East Punjab East Punjab was a state of Dominion of India from 1947 until 1950. It consisted parts of the Punjab Province of British India that remained in India following the partition of the state between the new dominions of Pakistan and India by the ...

. The area includes the contemporary states of

, and

. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by

and princely state with an overall total as per the 1941 Indian census.

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1941 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district and princely state with an overall total.

1931 census

East Punjab region

Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the

was made into a new province –

. The area includes the contemporary states of

, and

. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by

and princely state with an overall total as per the 1931 Indian census.

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1931 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district and princely state with an overall total.

1921 census

East Punjab region

Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the

was made into a new province –

. The area includes the contemporary states of

, and

. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by

and princely state with an overall total as per the

1921 Indian census Census in British India refers to the census of India prior to independence which was conducted periodically from 1865 to 1941. The censuses were primarily concerned with administration and faced numerous problems in their design and conduct ran ...

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1921 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district and princely state with an overall total.

1911 census

East Punjab region

Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the

was made into a new province –

. The area includes the contemporary states of

, and

. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by

and princely state with an overall total as per the 1911 Indian census.

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1911 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district and princely state with an overall total.

1901 census

East Punjab region

Prior to partition, the eastern portion of Punjab that was ultimately awarded to India following the demarcation of the

was made into a new province –

. The area includes the contemporary states of

, and

. Below is the religious demographics of this region broken down by

and princely state with an overall total as per the 1901 Indian census.

Contemporary Punjab state

The religious demography according to the 1901 census for the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India is also shown below, broken down by district and princely state with an overall total.

Sikhism in Punjab

Sikhism was born in the Punjab area of South Asia, which now falls into the present day states of India and Pakistan. The main religions of the area at the time were Hinduism and Islam.The Sikh faith began around 1500 CE, when Guru Nanak began teaching a faith that was quite distinct from Hinduism and Islam. Nine Gurus followed Nanak and developed the Sikh faith and community over the next centuries. After the 1947 Partition of Punjab, Sikhs became the majority religious group in Indian Punjab mainly due to the immigration of 2 million Sikhs from Pakistan into

Indian Punjab Punjab () is a state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, a ...

, which have ultimately resulted in an increase in Sikh percentage from 33.70% in 1941 to 60.62% in 1951. While population that adheres to Sikh faith has increased, the percentage of Sikhs has declined from 60.62% in 1951 to 57.69% (a decline of 2.93% in last 60 years). The Sikh population in India's Punjab have grown from 5.53 million in 1951 to 16 million in 2011 census (an increase of 10.47 million in last 60 years).

have the lowest fertility rate of 1.6 children per women as per census 2011.

Hinduism in Punjab

Hinduism is the second largest and fastest growing religion in the Indian state of Punjab with around 38.5% followers as of 2011 census. Hinduism is the 2nd largest religion of Punjabi peoples. It was the largest religion in Punjab before the advent of Islam from the West and birth of Sikhism in

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

from the east. The Hindu population has increased drastically in the Indian Punjab from 1941 to 1951 mainly due to the immigration of 1 million Punjabi Hindu refugees from Pakistan's Punjab. The Hindu percentage remained stable for decades. The Hindu percentage have increased from 37.66% in 1951 to 38.49% in 2011. The Hindu population have increased from 3.44 million in 1951 to 10.67 million in 2011 (a growth of 7.23 million in 6 decades). Hindus in Punjab have a fertility rate of 1.9 children per women as per as census 2011.

Islam in Punjab

Muslim shrine in Mashingan town of Patiala district Punjab 01

The Muslim population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, India reduced from approximately 38.4% according to the 1941 census to 0.5% in 1947 as a result of Partition of Punjab riots which were caused during 1947 mainly in the various parts of

. Prior to partition, according to the 1941 census, approximately 3.75 million Muslims resided in the region that forms the contemporary state of Punjab in India. At the time, Muslims formed the largest religious community in the region, comprising a narrow plurality at approximately 38.4 percent of the total population. Following the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, the vast majority departed the region ''en masse'', migrating westward to the Punjab region that fell on the western side of the Radcliffe Line, in the contemporary state of Punjab, Pakistan. Most native

Punjabi Muslims Punjabi Muslims are Punjabis who are adherents of Islam. With a population of more than 112 million, they are the third-largest predominantly Islam-adhering Muslims, Muslim ethnicity in the world, after Arab Muslims, Arabs and Bengali Muslims, ...

now live in

, and it is the only district where communal violence haven't occurred during partition because Guru

Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; born Gobind Das; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher. In 1675, at the age of nine he was formally installed as the leader of the Sikhs after ...

Ji have promised the Nawab of Malerkotla, Sher Mohammad Khan that the Muslim community in Malerkotla would never be harmed in the future times to come and as a result of Guru ji's blessing words, most of the Muslims were able to stayed back there. Apart from Malerkotla, most of the Muslims living in other parts of Punjab are non-native and have came from neighbouring states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, Jammu & Kashmir on temporary basis as immigrants workers (small scale) and students.

have a fertility rate of 2.4 children per women as per 2011 census. Islam is the fastest-growing religion in Punjab.

Religious population by districts

Notes

References

{{Punjab, India Punjab, India

Population density

Gender

Fertility rate

Family planning

Mortality

Infant mortality

Maternal mortality

Literacy rate

District-wise

Religion

Caste

Human Development Index

Caste population

Crimes against SC/STs

Urbanization

Languages spoken

Religion in Punjab

2001 and 2011 census

Urban and rural areas

1971 census

1961 census

Contemporary Punjab state

1951 census

Contemporary Punjab state

1941 census

East Punjab region

Contemporary Punjab state

1931 census

East Punjab region

Contemporary Punjab state

1921 census

East Punjab region

Contemporary Punjab state

1911 census

East Punjab region

Contemporary Punjab state

1901 census

East Punjab region

Contemporary Punjab state

Sikhism in Punjab

Hinduism in Punjab

Islam in Punjab

Religious population by districts

See also

Notes

References