Demographics
As of the 2011 census, Junagadh municipality had a population of 320,250. The municipality had a sex ratio of 952 females per 1,000 males and 8.5% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 88.63%; male literacy was 93.23% and female literacy was 83.83%.
Junagadh became the seventh largest Municipal Corporation of Gujarat state in 2003 and the corporation jurisdiction was enlarged in 2004 by including adjacent areas.
People of Junagadh are also called Kathiyawadi in other parts of Gujarat as Junagadh is part of the Kathiyawad region which is also called Saurastra. Gujarati is the official language as Junagadh is part of Gujarat. Hindi, English and Sindhi are also spoken by some specific groups. Gujarati is spoken here in form of Sorathi Kathiyawadi dialect. Kathiyawadi dialect is Gujarati only but with some different words.
Junagadh is has relatively low to medium housing and land costs in comparison to cities like Rajkot. The city is rapidly expanding and available land inside the limits of Municipal Corporation are now limited. Total area under slums is 19.5 km2 (14.5% of total municipal area) and total slum population accounts for around 25% of total population.
Number of migrants from other states in Junagadh city is limited around as industrial growth is limited. However migration from other districts in Junagadh and around the city is large as agriculture field is much developed. Total migrants are around 2.5% of total population. Tibetan migrants are notable among the migrants. Nepali community is also present in numbers. They are mainly Nepali Gurkha.
The religions represented in Junagadh includes Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Christians, Buddhists. Among these Hindus are majority and Muslims are the largest minority group. Jains and Christians are also in considerable numbers. Sikhs and Parsis are very few in numbers. There are Tibetan migrants who practice Buddhism. Main linguistic group is Gujarati. Other groups are Hindi, Sindhi. Small community of African origins known as siddis are also resides in and around Gir Sanctuary but some of them migrated to Junagadh city. There are around 8816 Siddi in the state and 65% of them resides in Junagadh. Swaminarayan Faith is also widely followed in the city. There are two Swaminarayan temples in the city managed by different organizations.
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