Jharkhand - Demographics

Demographics

Jharkhand has a population of 32.96 million, consisting of 16.93 million males and 16.03 million females. The sex ratio is 947 females to 1000 males. The population consists of 28% tribal peoples, 12% Scheduled Castes and 60% others. The population density of the state is 413 persons per square kilometre of land; it varies from as low as 148 per square kilometre in Gumla district to as high as 1167 per square kilometre in Dhanbad district.

Census data since 1881 has shown a gradual decline of tribal population in Jharkhand as against the gradual increase of non-tribal population in the region. The reasons given for this are low birth rate and high death rate among the tribes; immigration of non-tribal peoples in the region; emigration of tribal peoples in the other places; and the adverse effects of industrialisation and urbanisation in the region. Tribal leaders assert, however, that their numbers are not as low as recorded by the census that they are still in the majority and that they remain a demographic force to reckon with.

The censuses show that 50% of the non-tribal immigrants to Hazaribagh and Palamu districts came from north Bihar. Ranchi received more than 60% of migrants from north Bihar initially in 1891, but later the number declined to 27% in subsequent censuses. Singhbhum also registered a gradual decline. But there was a spectacular increase in the percentage share of migrants from north Bihar in Manbhum districts from 10% in 1881 to 40% in 1951. In the same way as many as 60% of immigrants from Orissa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh came to Manbhum in 1891 when coal production started there in earnest. Other immigrants came from Bombay, Punjab, Rajputana and other northwestern provinces increasing their numbers from 5% in 1881 to 16% in 1951.