Demographics & Census

Read Gujarat's census numbers as a story of prosperity with two blind spots. The prosperity side: high urbanisation (well above the national average), high literacy, low share of population in agriculture. The blind spots: a sex ratio below the national average and a child sex ratio worse still, and tribal and remote districts that lag on literacy and health. So for every indicator, ask 'is this one where Gujarat beats India or trails it?' — Gujarat leads on urbanisation and literacy, and trails on sex ratio. Density and growth then follow the same map as industry: crowded, fast-growing central and south Gujarat; thin, slow-growing Kachchh.

• Four numbers: literacy, sex ratio, density, urban share.

  Almost every census question about a state asks one of these four. Learn Gujarat's 2011 value for each alongside the all-India value, because comparison questions ('higher or lower than the national average?') are common.

• Gujarat is urban and literate, but its sex ratio lags.

  The state's literacy and urbanisation are above the national average, but its sex ratio is below it. That contrast is itself an exam favourite, because it resists the assumption that a richer state scores better on every indicator.

• 1The 2011 census is the latest completed full census of India; figures quoted for Gujarat's population, density and ratios are 2011 figures unless stated otherwise.
• 2Gujarat's 2011 literacy rate was around 78 per cent, above the national average.
• 3Gujarat's 2011 sex ratio was around 919 females per 1,000 males, below the national figure of 943.
• 4Gujarat's urban share of population in 2011 was above 42 per cent, well above the national average of about 31 per cent.
• 5Ahmedabad was the most populous district in 2011; the Dangs was the least populous.
• 6Gujarat's population density in 2011 was lower than the national average, because Kachchh and the Rann are very sparsely settled.

• The Census of India is conducted every ten years; the last completed census was in 2011, so all standard census figures quoted for Gujarat refer to 2011 unless stated otherwise.
• By the 2011 Census Gujarat's population was about 6.04 crore, roughly 5 per cent of India's population, placing it among the ten most populous states.
• Gujarat's sex ratio in the 2011 Census, about 919 females per 1000 males, was below the national figure of 943 — a persistent weak spot, and the child sex ratio was lower still.
• Gujarat is more urbanised than India as a whole: roughly 43 per cent of its people lived in towns and cities in 2011 against about 31 per cent nationally, and Ahmedabad is by far its largest city and district by population.
• Within the state the contrast is sharp: Kachchh is the largest district by area but thinly peopled, while Surat and Ahmedabad grew fastest through in-migration for industrial work; the Dangs is the smallest district and has a high scheduled tribe share.

• Do not quote 2011 census figures as today's numbers. If a question asks about the 'latest census', the honest answer remains 2011.
• Gujarat's literacy is above the national average but its sex ratio is below it — options that make both above or both below are wrong.

• Census of India 2011 reports for Gujarat, published by the Registrar General of India
• Gujarat Socio-Economic Review, published annually by the state government
• NCERT Class XII — India: People and Economy

• NCERT textbooks (free PDFs)
• Census of India
• Narmada / Sardar Sarovar (Gujarat Govt)