Population Class 9 Notes CBSE Geography Chapter 6 (Free PDF Download)

Human beings are necessary for economic and social development. People use resources and also make them, in turn, themselves being resources. The human population is a reference point for the study and observation of all other elements. Resources, disasters, calamity are meaningful only when concerning a population. Human beings act as producers and consumers of the earth's resources. Hence it is extremely important to know the number of people in a country, their distribution, along with the characteristics. The census of a country provides us with information regarding its population.

Size and Distribution of Population

Size and Distribution of Population in Terms of Numbers

• According to records of 2001, the population of India was 1,028 million, which forms 16.7 per cent of the world's population.

• This population is distributed unevenly over 3.28 million square kilometres, which is only 2.4 per cent of the world's area. 

• Half of the Indian population is living in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh. 

• Uttar Pradesh has 16% of the country's population. The mountainous state of Sikkim has 0.5% population of the country. Lakshadweep has just 60 thousand people living here. Rajasthan is the largest state of India yet has only 5.5% of the population.

Size and Distribution of Population in Terms of Density.

• Population density is the number of persons per unit area. It is a term used to estimate the population of a place. India is an extremely densely populated country. 

• The population density of Assam and the peninsula states is moderate because the terrain is rocky, rainfall is moderate to low, and the soil is poor.

• In the northern plains and Kerala, there exist high population densities because of fertile soil, abundant rainfall, and flat land.

Growth and Change of Population

Numbers, composition, and distribution of a population are under constant change, making it a dynamic process. It is influenced by the interaction of births, deaths, and migrations.

Population Growth

• The growth of a population refers to a change in the number of people in a place over a time span. The population changes can be expressed in terms of either absolute numbers or percentage change per year.

• Absolute population change is calculated by subtracting the earlier year population from the latter one. This is referred to as an absolute increase. 

• The rate of population increase is referred to as the annual growth rate. 

• The Indian population has been steadily increasing. It had increased from 361 million in 1951 to 1028 million in 2001. 

• However, from 1981, the rate of growth rate saw a rapid decline.

• The current rate of Indian population increase is extremely large to neutralize resource conservation efforts.

Population Change

• Population changes are associated with a few processes like birth rate, death rate, and migration. 

• The birth rate is defined as the number of births per thousand persons in a year. In India, the birth rate is always higher than the death rate. 

• The death rate can be defined as the number of people dying per thousand people in a year. The Indian death rate has always been less. 

• Migration can also be defined as the movement of population from one place to another. Migration can be both internal that is within the country and internationally. Internal population changes do not affect population size but do affect the population distribution. 

• Indian population has been influenced by rural to urban migrations.

Population Characteristics

A few population characteristics are as follows:

1. Age Composition

• The age composition of a population can be defined as the number of individuals in different age groups in the country. 

• The age composition of a population determines its social and economic structure. 

• A population can be divided into three categories, namely the children, working-age population, and the aged population.

• The first group is that of children below 15 years of age. This group is economically and productive and needs to be provided with necessities like food, clothing, education, and medical care. 

• The working-age is between 15 years to 59 years. These people are economically productive and biologically capable of reproduction. They are considered the working population. 

• The aged group consists of individuals above 59 years of age. They may be economically reproductive despite being retired, as some may be working voluntarily. They are not eligible for employment throughout the documentation.

2. Sex Ratio

• Sex Ratio can be defined as the number of female individuals per 1000 males in the population.

• This acts as a social indicator to estimate the equality between males and females.

• In our country, the female sex ratio has remained unfavourable.

3. Literacy Rate

• Literacy rates determine the extent of economic development in the country.

• According to the Census data of 2001, if an individual of 7 years of age can read and write a specific language or more is considered literate. 

• Literate individuals are capable of taking part in research and development projects and make intelligent choices.

• Literacy rates in India have seen steady improvements.

4. Occupational Structure

• The active percentage of the economy forms an essential index in the estimation of development in the country. 

• The distribution of population depending on the different types of occupation is said to be the occupational structure of a country. 

• Occupations can be divided into three categories primary, secondary and tertiary. 

• Primary activities are agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, mining, quarrying, and forestry.

• Secondary occupational activities include building construction, manufacturing industries, etc.

• Tertiary occupational activities are communications, commerce, administration, transport, etc. 

• The proportion of people working in each category differs from country to country. In a developed country, there is a very high proportion of people in secondary and tertiary activities occupations. In contrast, in developing countries, a higher population proportion is engaged in primary activities.

• 64% of the Indian population is engaged in agriculture. People involved in secondary and tertiary services are 13 and 20% respectively in India.

• Later times, there has been a move to the auxiliary and tertiary segments due to industrialization and urbanization.

5. Health

• Health is another important component of a population that affects the process of development largely.

• There has been a decline in the death rate from 25 per thousand population in 1951 to 8.1 per thousand population in 2000. At the same time, life expectancy has increased highly. 

• Reasons for increasing life expectancy are improvement in public health, prevention of infectious diseases, use of modern medical practices for diagnosis and treatment. 

• Despite all these considerable achievements, the health conditions in India are a serious matter of concern. Malnutrition, availability of safe drinking water, and basic sanitization requirements are available to only one-third of the rural population. 

These problems are yet to be tackled with proper policies and programs.

National Population Policy

Individual health and welfare are highly associated with family planning. The Government of India came up with a program in 1952. It was a comprehensive family planning program. The program was to promote responsible and planned parenthood voluntarily. The National Population Policy of 2000 was set up to impart compulsory free school education up to 14 years of age, reduce infant mortality, facilitate universal immunization of children, delay marriage for girls and make family welfare a people-centric program.

NPP 2000 and Adolescence

According to NPP, adolescence is a major part of the population. Adolescence forms a vital and vulnerable section. They, besides the emphasis on nutritional requirements, need protection from unwanted pregnancies, STDs, etc. There was a need for programs that aimed at delaying marriage and child-bearing, making contraceptives cheaply and easily available, strengthening the laws related to child marriage, educating individuals about risks of unprotected sex, and accessibility to nutritional requirements.

Important Questions and Answers 

1. Differentiate between population growth and population change.
Ans: The differences between population growth and population change are tabulated below

Population Growth: It is the distinction between birth rate and development rate also the movement in a year. It is expressed in terms of percentage.

Population Change: It is the change in the number of people in a population in a certain year. It is expressed in numbers.

2. How does migration affect the population?
Ans: Movement alludes to the development of the populace from one put to another. Migration is of two types internal migration, which occurs inside the country, and international migration, which arises from one country to another. In internal migration, the population density remains unaffected while the population distribution is changed. International migration affects both population density and distribution. The majority of migrations in India have taken place from rural to urban areas in India.

3. What is Census?
Ans: Census is an official national enumeration of the population done at regular intervals. The first Census in India was held in the year 1872. The first complete census was noted in the year 1881. Every ten years, the Census of India is calculated. It acts as a comprehensive demographic, economic, and social data.

4. How is occupational structure and development related?
Ans: The occupational structure of a country determines its development status to a large extent. In a developed country, the majority of the population is engaged in secondary and tertiary occupational services, while in a developing country, the majority of the workforce is engaged with primary occupational services. In a country like India, 64% of the population is engaged in agriculture, a very primary occupation. 13 and 20 per cent of the population is engaged in secondary and tertiary occupational activities in India.

5. How is a healthy population important for a country?
Ans: A healthy population is more productive and efficient as compared to an unhealthy population. Good health helps an individual to understand their population better. Absenteeism is low in a healthy population as compared to an unhealthy population. A healthy population makes up a better workforce in the country. The non-productive health group of the country also needs to be healthy as that reduces the burden from the healthcare sector of the country.

6. Why has population growth been declining from 1981?
Ans: Population growth has been declining since 1981 because of the increased use of birth control measures. There was a rising rate of literacy in the country. People were more aware of complications related to population growth. Government policies were made to control the growing population. These policies educated people on the importance of delayed marriage and childbearing, risks of unprotected sex, etc.

7. Write briefly on the adolescent population in the country.
Ans: The adolescent population in the country is a section that requires extra attention and care. They are a vulnerable section, and besides proper nutritional care and requirement, they are to be safeguarded from several other things. These include unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The National Population Policy aims to safeguard this section of the population. This policy aims at encouraging delayed marriage and childbearing, educating the population about risks of unprotected sex, providing nutritional requirements, and strengthening legal rights against the prevention of child marriage.

Distribution of Population by Density

Population Density is estimated as the number of persons per unit area. In the year 2011, the population density of India was 382 persons per sq km. That’s why India is regarded as one of the most densely populated nations in the world. In India, Assam and most of the Peninsular states have balanced population densities. Dissected, hilly and rocky nature of the territory, medium to low rainfall, less fertile and depthless soils have affected population densities in these regions.

Population Growth and Methods of Population Change

The population is a powerful phenomenon. The distribution, numbers and combination of the population are invariably altering. This is the impact of the interplay of the three processes:

• Birth

• Death

• Migration

Population Growth

Population growth leads to the variation in the number of occupants of a country or a territory during a particular period. This transformation can be denoted in 2 steps:

1. In Terms of Absolute Numbers: The final numbers are taken by subtracting the earlier population, for example, 2011 from the succeeding population, for instance, 2019.

2. In Terms of Percentage Change Per Year: It is analysed in percentage per annum, for example, a rate of inflation of 2 percent per annum indicates that in a given year, there was an addition of two persons for every 100 persons in the base population. This is revealed as the annual growth rate.

Processes of Population Growth/Change

The three main methods of population change/growth are:

• Birth Rates: The number of live births per thousand persons in a year is known as Birth rates. In India, birth rates have been continuously higher than death rates.

• Death Rates: The number of deaths per thousand persons in a year is the Death rate. The leading cause of the percentage of growth of the Indian population has been the rapid deterioration in death rates.

• Migration: Migration is the flow of people across regions and territories. Migration can be domestic or global. It controls the number of the population within the nation. In India, the rural-urban migration has emerged in a constant increase in the percentage of the population in towns and cities.

Age Composition

The age composition of a population is determined by the number of people in different age groups in a country. The nation's population is classified into three broad sections:

• Children: They range generally below 15 years. They are economically unproductive and should be presented with clothing, food, education and medical care.

• Working Age: The age of this population ranges from 15–59 years. They are economically productive and biologically reproductive. They comprise the working population.

• Aged: Their age ranges above 59 years. They might work willingly, but they are not open to hiring through recruitment.

Sex Ratio

Sex Ratio is an essential social pointer to estimate the extent of equality between males and females in a community at a given time. It is defined as the total number of females per 1000 males in the population.

Literacy Rates

According to the 2011 census, a person who is seven years old or above, who can read and write with knowledge in any language, is treated as literate. The literacy rate of India as per the 2011 census is 73%.

National Population Policy

The National Population Policy (NPP) 2000 presents a policy structure for allowing free and mandatory school education up to 14 years of age. It also benefits in:

• Decreasing infant mortality rate.

• Elevating deferred marriage for girls.

Class 9 Geography Chapter 6 Notes

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