India is a union consisting of 28 states and 8 union territories. As of 2022, with an estimated population of 1.4 billion, India is the world's most populous country. India occupies 2.4% of the world's area and is home to 17.5% of the world's population. The Indo-Gangetic Plain has one of the world's biggest stretches of fertile not-deep alluvium and are among the most densely populated areas of the world. The eastern and western coastal regions of Deccan Plateau are also densely populated regions of India. The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. The northern and north-eastern states along the Himalayas contain cold arid deserts with fertile valleys. These states have relatively low population density due to indomitable physical barriers.

Census of India

The first population census in British India was conducted in 1872. Since India's independence in 1947, a census has been conducted every 10 years, the first occurring in 1951. The census in India is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and is one of the largest administrative tasks conducted by a federal government.

The latest population figures are based on data from the 2011 census of India. During the decade of 2001–2011, India's annual population growth rate has slowed down from 2.15 percent to 1.76 percent. Based on decennial census data, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu has the fastest growth rate of 55.1 percent, followed by Meghalaya (27.8 percent) and Arunachal Pradesh (25.9 percent). Nagaland recorded the lowest growth rate of -0.5 percent.

India has 641,000 inhabited villages and 72.2 percent of the total population reside in these rural areas. Of them 145,000 villages have population size of 500–999 persons; 130,000 villages have population size of 1000–1999 and 128,000 villages have population size of 200–499. There are 3,961 villages that have a population of 10,000 persons or more. India's 27.8 percent urban population lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban agglomerations. In the decade of 1991–2001, migration to major cities caused rapid increase in urban population. On the basis of net migrants by last residence during the past decade, Maharashtra had most immigration with 2.3 million, followed by National Capital Territory of Delhi (1.7 million), Gujarat (0.68 million) and Haryana (0.67 million). Uttar Pradesh (−2.6 million) and Bihar (−1.7 million) topped the list for interstate emigration. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh account for almost half (47.90 percent) of the total Indian population.

While the national average for the sex ratio shows an increase from 933 in 2001 to 940 in 2011, the 2011 census shows a sharp decline in the child sex ratio, the number of females per thousand males in a population between age group 0–6 years. States such as Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded an increase in India's child sex ratio. The national child sex ratio has declined from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011. Telangana census was separated from Andhra Pradesh state census figures, after Telangana was officially formed on 2 June 2014.

List

Data from Census 2011 as published by the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Government of Telangana, and then Planning Commission.

(Population density is rounded to the nearest integer)

List of states and union territories of India by population
(2011 Census of India)

Rank	State or Union Territory	Population	% India	Growth (2001-2012)	2023 Population estimate	Rural pop.		Urban pop.		Density	Sex ratio
						Nos.	%	Nos.	%
1 (S1)	Uttar Pradesh	199,812,341	16.51%	20.2%	235,687,000	155,317,278	77.73%	44,495,063	22.27%	828	912
2 (S2)	Maharashtra	112,374,333	9.28%	16%	126,385,000	61,556,074	54.78%	50,818,259	45.22%	365	929
3 (S3)	Bihar	104,099,452	8.6%	25.4%	126,756,000	92,341,436	88.71%	11,758,016	11.29%	1,102	918
4 (S4)	West Bengal	91,276,115	7.54%	13.8%	99,084,000	62,183,113	68.13%	29,093,002	31.87%	1,029	953
5 (S5)	Madhya Pradesh	72,626,809	6%	20.3%	86,579,000	52,557,404	72.37%	20,069,405	27.63%	236	931
6 (S6)	Tamil Nadu	72,147,030	5.96%	15.6%	76,860,000	37,229,590	51.6%	34,917,440	48.4%	555	996
7 (S7)	Rajasthan	68,548,437	5.66%	21.3%	81,025,000	51,500,352	75.13%	17,048,085	24.87%	201	928
8 (S8)	Karnataka	61,095,297	5.05%	15.6%	67,692,000	37,469,335	61.33%	23,625,962	38.67%	319	973
9 (S9)	Gujarat	60,439,692	4.99%	19.3%	71,507,000	34,694,609	57.4%	25,745,083	42.6%	308	919
10 (S10)	Andhra Pradesh	49,577,103	4.1%	11.0%	53,156,000	34,966,693	70.53%	14,610,410	29.47%	303	993
11 (S11)	Odisha	41,974,219	3.47%	14.0%	46,276,000	34,970,562	83.31%	7,003,656	16.69%	269	979
12 (S12)	Telangana	35,003,674	2.89%	13.58%	38,090,000	21,395,009	61.12%	13,608,665	38.88%	312	988
13 (S13)	Kerala	33,406,061	2.76%	4.9%	35,776,000	17,471,135	52.3%	15,934,926	47.7%	859	1,084
14 (S14)	Jharkhand	32,988,134	2.73%	22.4%	39,466,000	25,055,073	75.95%	7,933,061	24.05%	414	948
15 (S15)	Assam	31,205,576	2.58%	17.1%	35,713,000	26,807,034	85.9%	4,398,542	14.1%	398	958
16 (S16)	Punjab	27,743,338	2.29%	13.89%	30,730,000	17,344,192	62.52%	10,399,146	37.48%	551	895
17 (S17)	Chhattisgarh	25,545,198	2.11%	22.6%	30,180,000	19,607,961	76.76%	5,937,237	23.24%	189	991
18 (S18)	Haryana	25,351,462	2.09%	19.9%	30,209,000	16,509,359	65.12%	8,842,103	34.88%	573	879
19 (UT1)	NCT of Delhi	16,787,941	1.39%	21.2%	21,359,000	419,042	2.5%	16,368,899	97.5%	11,297	868
20 (UT2)	Jammu and Kashmir	12,267,032	1.01%	23.6%	13,603,000	9,064,220	73.89%	3,202,812	26.11%	297	890
21 (S19)	Uttarakhand	10,086,292	0.83%	18.8%	11,637,000	7,036,954	69.77%	3,049,338	30.23%	189	963
22 (S20)	Himachal Pradesh	6,864,602	0.57%	12.9%	7,468,000	6,176,050	89.97%	688,552	10.03%	123	972
23 (S21)	Tripura	3,673,917	0.3%	14.8%	4,147,000	2,712,464	73.83%	961,453	26.17%	350	960
24 (S22)	Meghalaya	2,966,889	0.25%	27.9%	3,349,000	2,371,439	79.93%	595,450	20.07%	132	989
25 (S23)	Manipur	2,570,390	0.21%	24.5%	3,223,000	1,793,875	69.79%	776,515	30.21%	122	992
26 (S24)	Nagaland	1,978,502	0.16%	−0.6%	2,233,000	1,407,536	71.14%	570,966	28.86%	119	931
27 (S25)	Goa	1,458,545	0.12%	8.2%	1,575,000	551,731	37.83%	906,814	62.17%	394	973
28 (S26)	Arunachal Pradesh	1,383,727	0.11%	26.0%	1,562,000	1,066,358	77.06%	317,369	22.94%	17	938
29 (UT3)	Puducherry	1,247,953	0.1%	28.1%	1,646,000	395,200	31.67%	852,753	68.33%	2,598	1,037
30 (S27)	Mizoram	1,097,206	0.09%	23.5%	1,238,000	525,435	47.89%	571,771	52.11%	52	976
31 (UT4)	Chandigarh	1,055,450	0.09%	17.2%	1,231,000	28,991	2.75%	1,026,459	97.25%	9,252	818
32 (S28)	Sikkim	610,577	0.05%	12.9%	689,000	456,999	74.85%	153,578	25.15%	86	890
33 (UT5)	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	585,764	0.05%	55.1%	1,263,000	243,510	41.57%	342,254	58.43%	970	711
34 (UT6)	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	380,581	0.03%	6.9%	403,000	237,093	62.3%	143,488	37.7%	46	876
35 (UT7)	Ladakh	274,000	0.02%	17.8%	300,000	43,840	16%	230,160	84%	2.8	853
36 (UT8)	Lakshadweep	64,473	0.01%	6.3%	69,000	14,141	21.93%	50,332	78.07%	2,013	946
Total	India	1,210,569,573	100%	17.7%	1,388,163,000	833,463,448	68.84%	377,106,125	31.16%	382	943

Notes

See also

• Geography of India
• List of city districts by population density
• List of metropolitan areas in India
• List of states and union territories of India by area