Study this in the app →

English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

Human geography of India

Human geography of India for UPSC Prelims and Mains, taught in 4 parts. Each part has tables, exam traps, a recap and practice questions, and every paragraph is explained in Telugu.

Quick recap: Quick recap: India's people on one page

All four parts condensed for quick revision: the Census, size, density and growth; composition by sex, age, literacy, work and language; migration, settlements and urbanisation; and the Scheduled Tribes and their regions.

Parts of this chapter

Part 1

Census, size, distribution, density and growth

How the Census counts India's people and its history from 1872 to the 2027 round; the population of 2011 and India as the most populous country; why people are spread unevenly; arithmetic, physiological and agricultural density; how growth is measured and its four phases since 1901; the demographic transition and fertility (NFHS-5); and population policy from 1952 to the National Population Policy, 2000.
Part 2

Population composition

What India's population is made of: the sex ratio and child sex ratio (Census 2011, NFHS-5) and the laws and schemes on them; age structure, the dependency ratio and the demographic dividend; Census literacy; rural and urban shares; main and marginal workers and the four worker categories; language families and the Eighth Schedule; religious composition; and the Human Development Index.
Part 3

Migration, settlements and urbanisation

How the Census records migration and its four streams; push and pull factors, the main sending and receiving states and international migration; the effects of migration; rural settlement types and functional classes of towns; statutory towns, census towns and urban agglomerations; urbanisation from 1901 to 2011 and the largest cities; slums and the urban missions launched in 2015.
Part 4

Scheduled Tribes and their regions

Who is a Scheduled Tribe under Articles 366(25) and 342; the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, PESA and other safeguards; the Scheduled Tribe population in 2011 and its state pattern; the five tribal belts and the major tribes in each; Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups and PM JANMAN; shifting cultivation, land alienation, displacement and the Forest Rights Act.

Study this in the Upscore app to keep notes, save it for revision, track your practice scores and follow a plan to the exam date. It's free.

Study this in the app →