Demographics
| Religions in Kochi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percentage | |||
| Hindu | 47% | |||
| Christian | 35% | |||
| Muslim | 17% | |||
| Others | 1% | |||
With a population of 601,574 As of 2011, the city of Kochi has Kerala's highest population density parameter with 6340 people per km2. As of 2011, Kochi had a metropolitan area population of 2,117,990. Scheduled castes and tribes comprise 14% of the city's population. The female-to-male ratio is 1,028:1,000, significantly higher than the all-India average of 933:1,000. Kochi's literacy rate is 97.5%. The female literacy rate lags that of males by 1.1%, amongst the lowest such gaps in India.
Kochi's major religions are Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism and Buddhism, with smaller followings, are also practised in Kochi. Though 47% practise Hinduism, Christianity's large following (35%) makes Kochi a city with one of the largest Christian populations in India. Kochi is one of the few cities in India without a Hindu majority. The majority of the city's residents are Malayalis. However, there are significant ethnic minority communities including Tamils, Gujaratis, Jews, Anglo-Indians, Sikhs, Konkanis and Tulus. Malayalam is the main language of communication and medium of instruction for primary education, although a number of schools do offer English medium education. The higher education is invariably in English medium, and it is the preferred language in business circles. Tamil and Hindi are widely understood—albeit rarely spoken.
Like other fast-growing cities in the developing world, Kochi suffers from major urbanisation problems, poor sanitation, vector problem, heavy pollution and unemployment. The city was ranked 10th among Indian cities in terms of house-cost and availability, urban household crowding and household incomes.
Shortage of potable water is a major concern in the city. The situation is aggravated by the threat posed by pollution in industrial areas. Water pollution in Kochi is very high with about 80% of the open wells are polluted. Kochi is also one among the 50 most polluted cities in India, which was ranked 24th by Central Pollution Control Board.
The region of the district where the city belongs registered an unemployment rate of 21.6% in 2003, which is roughly 6% more than the rate in 1998. The city also has a growing slum-dwelling population. The government has plans to make the city slum-free by 2016. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the city holds the fourth position in the number of recorded crimes in India. In 2009, the city recorded an average crime rate of 646.3 against the national average of 181.4.
According to the 2011 CII/Institute of Competitiveness report on Liveability, Kochi stands first in the state, and 6th in the country. Kochi is ranked seventh in the list of the top ten most affluent cities in India by 2009 study by Nielsen Company.
Read more about this topic: Kochi