NCERT Solutions Class 12 Geography Chapter 1 Population Distribution Density Growth and Composition

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

(i) India’s population as per 2011 census is :
(a) 1028 million
(b) 3182 million 
(c) 3287 million
(d) 1210 million

Answer : A

(ii) Which one of the following states has the highest density of population in India?
(a) West Bengal
(b) Kerala
(c) Uttar Pradesh
(d) Punjab

Answer : A

(iii) Which one of the following states has the highest proportion of urban population in India according to 2011 Census?
(a) Tamil Nadu
(b) Maharashtra
(c) Kerala
(d) Goa

Answer : B

(iv) Which one of the following is the largest linguistic group of India?
(a) Sino – Tibetan
(b) Indo – Aryan
(c) Austric
(d) Dravidian

Answer : B

124. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Very hot and dry, very cold and wet regions of India have low density of population. In this light, explain the role of climate on the distribution of population.
Answer : As a physical factor, climate largely determines the pattern of the population distribution in India:
1. Extremely high temperature, rainfall and humidity limit concentration of population.
2. Extreme cold conditions prevent human habitation.
3. North Indian Plains, deltas and Coastal Plains have higher proportion of population.
4. Lack of basic facilities, irrigation and economic development.

(ii) Which states have large rural population in India? Give one reason for such large rural population.
Answer : States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim and Rajasthan are the states having large rural population.
These states are largely engaged in primary sector and its allied activity and have low levels of economic and social development, hence a slower infrastructural development process which further inhibits urbanisation.

(iii) Why do some states of India have higher rates of work participation than others?
Answer : The work participation rate means, the number of people engaged in economic activity. Some of state in India such as Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra etc., tend to have higher work participation rates.
The work participation rates tends to be higher in these area of lower level of economic development and technological advancement therefore the number of manual workers is needed to perform the subsistence or near subsistence economic activities in the absence of other opportunities.

(iv) ‘The agricultural sector has the largest share of Indian workers.’ Explain.
Answer : The agricultural sector has the largest share of Indian workers:
1. About 58.2% of the total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers.
2. Hence, it show that large population engaged in agricultural sector rather than secondary sector and tertiary sector.
3. Primary sector has potential to absorbed maximum number of the working population.

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) Discuss the spatial pattern of density of population in India.
Answer : Density of population, is expressed as number of persons per unit area. It helps in getting a better understanding of the spatial distribution of population in relation to land. The density of population in India is 382 persons per sq km.
• The spatial variation of population densities in the country ranges from as low as 17 persons per sq km in Arunachal Pradesh to 11,320 persons in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• Among the northern Indian States, Bihar (1106), West Bengal (1028) and and Uttar Pradesh (829) have higher densities, while Kerala (860) and Tamil Nadu (555) have higher densities among the peninsular Indian states. 
• States like Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha have moderate densities. 
• The hill states of the Himalayan region and North eastern states of India (excluding Assam) have relatively low densities while the Union Territories (excluding Andaman and Nicobar islands) have very high densities of population.

(ii) Give an account of the occupational structure of India’s population.
Answer : The occupational structure of a country refers to the division of its work force engaged in different economic activities.
• India have  a large proportion of primary sector workers compared to secondary and tertiary sectors.
• About 54.6 percent of total working population are cultivators and agricultural labourers, whereas only 3.8% of workers are engaged in household industries and 41.6 % are other workers including nonhousehold industries, trade, commerce, construction and repair and other services.
• As far as the occupation of country’s male and female population is concerned, male workers outnumber female workers in all the three sectors.
• The number of female workers is relatively high in primary sector, though in recent years there has been some improvement in work participation of women in secondary and tertiary sectors.
• The proportion of workers in agricultural sector in India has shown a decline over the last few decades (58.2% in 2001 to 54.6% in 2011).
• Consequently, the participation rate in secondary and tertiary sector has registered an increase. This indicates a shift of dependence of workers from farmbased occupations to non-farm based ones, indicating a sectoral shift in the economy of the country.