Karnataka retains 9th rank in terms of population

Bangalore district is the most populated district, while Kodagu is the least populated

Karnataka continues to retain the ninth rank in terms of population in the country, with a population of 6,10,95,297 as per the 2011 Census.

In 2001, the state had ninth position in population size among all the states and union territories.

As per the 2011 Census, Karnataka accounts for 5.05% of Country's population of 1,21,05,69,573. Of the 6,10,95,297 persons enumerated in the State, 3,09,66,657 are Males and 3,01,28,640 are Females, T K Anil Kumar, Director of Census Operations Karnataka, said here today.

Talking to reporters after releasing the first set of final data from the population exercise held in February 2011, he said among the districts within the State, Bangalore district is the most populated district with 96,21,551 persons and accounts for 15.75% of the State’s total population. Kodagu district with a population share of 0.91% is the least populated district. Except, Bangalore Rural (9,90,923) and Kodagu (5,54,519) districts, all the remaining 28 districts have population higher than one million.

Of the 6,10,95,297 persons enumerated in the State, 3,74,69,335 persons reside in the Rural areas and 2,36,25,962 persons reside in Urban areas. In terms of percentage, 61.33% are Rural residents and 38.67% are Urban residents.

In terms of urbanization, the State has witnessed an increase of 4.68% in the proportion of Urban population in the last decade.

Among the districts, Bangalore is the most urbanised district with 90.94% of its population residing in Urban areas followed by Dharwad district (56.82%), Dakshina Kannada District (47.67%), Mysore District (41.50%) and Bellary District (37.52%).

The least urbanised District in the State is Kodagu with 14.61%, preceded by Koppal District (16.81%), Mandya District (17.08%), Chamarajanagar District (17.14%) and Yadgir District (18.79%).

Growth of Population

During the decade 2001-11, the State population witnessed a net addition of 82,44,735 persons to its 2001 population of 5,28,50,562. The Male population increased by 40,67,739 and the Female population increased by 41,76,996.

Continuing the population growth trends, the State registered a growth rate of 15.60%, recording a decline of -1.91% in comparison to the growth of 17.51% registered during the 2001 Census.

While the Rural population grew at the rate of 7.40%, substantially less than the growth rate of 12.29% registered during the decade 1991-2001, the Urban population registered a growth rate of 31.54%, slightly higher than the growth rate of 29.15% recorded in 2001 Census.

Among the districts, Bangalore District, has witnessed the highest decennial growth rate of 47.18% followed by Yadgir, the newly created District, with 22.81%. The gap in the growth rate between the first and second ranked district is a whopping 24.37%.

Chikmagalur District, a predominantly plantation area in the Malnad region, is the only District in the State which has registered a negative growth rate of -0.26%. Kodagu District, another plantation area in the Malnad region with a growth rate of 1.09%, ranks 29, just above Chikmagalur District.

Only 7 districts have registered decennial growth rates higher than the State average of 15.60%. Of the remaining 23 districts as many as 14 districts have registered a growth rate of below 10%.

Sex Ratio

Sex Ratio is defined as the number of females per 1,000 males. It is one of the basic demographic characteristics, which is vital for any demographic analysis. The Sex Ratio in Karnataka has increased from 965 in 2001 to 973 in 2011.

The Sex Ratio for Rural population has increased from 977 in 2001 to 979 in 2011. For the Urban population, the Sex Ratio has registered a spectacular increase of 21 points, from 942 to 963 in the last decade.