Census -- UP, State most populous

Census -- UP, State most populous
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Patna, March 28: Bihar, the second populous state in India till the 1991 census, has now become third populous state in the country after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, even after the creation of Jharkhand state. However, Kerala registered a minor rise in population growth. Significantly, Mizoram has been declared the second most literate state

@body:According to a 67-page provisional census report, Bihar with 37 districts and an area of 94,163 square km, has the population of 8,28,78,796 in which 4,31,53,964 are males and 3,97,24,832 are females on March 1, 2001.

Bihar now accounts for 8.07 per cent of the country's population, the 2001 report reveal.

It says there have been altogether 3,16,75,607 literates in Bihar in which 2,09,78,955 are males and 1,06,96,652 are females. The literacy rate of the state is 47.53 per cent.

Three top districts in terms of population are Patna (5.68 per cent), East Champaran (4.75 per cent) and Muzaffarpur (4.5 per cent) and these three districts have retained their rank vis-a-vis the 1991 census.

Three districts at the bottom are Sheohar (0.62 per cent), Sheikhpura (0.63 per cent) and Lakhisarai (0.97 per cent). All these districts are newly-created ones.

Patna was found to be the most densely populated district at 1471 persons per square kilometre.

However, the population of Kerala has been put at 3,18,38,619, an increase of 9.42 per cent from the 1991 census, according to provisional figures of 2001 census.

Announcing the provisional figures today, director of census operations Sheela Thomas said male population was 1,54,68,664 while female was 1,62,69,955.

The absolute increase of population in figures is 27,40,101, while the population density is 810 persons per sq km. The male-female sex ratio is 1000:1058.

Kottayam district maintains the highest literacy rate at 95.90 per cent while Palakkad is the lowest at 84.31 per cent.

Female literacy rate is 87.86 per cent while male literacy rate is 94.20 per cent. The overall state literacy rate as per the latest census was 90.92 per cent, Thomas said.

Meanwhile, the sex ratio in Sikkim has come down to 875 women per 1,000 men in 2001 from 878 in 1991 as the state's overall population increased by 32.98 per cent in the last decade, the new census report indicated.

In the latest population enumeration which was conducted in Sikkim from February 9 to 28 last, the state registered a total populace of 5,40,493 in 2001 with 2,88,217 male and 2,52,276 female.

The state's population was 4,06,407 in 1991.

The provisional Census report of Sikkim released to the media here today said the population growth during the period 1981-91 was 28.47 per cent in the state while it rose by 32.98 per cent in the next 10 years.