Most Populous States in India

As per the latest Census of India-2011, India is the second-most populous country in the world after China. It is not that easy to believe that 17.5% of the world’s total population resides in approximately 2.4 % of world total land area. Post-Independence, Census of India has been conducted every 10 years. The last one was conducted almost a decade ago in 2011 and next one is scheduled in the year 2021. Being a federal union, India consists of 28 states and 9 Union Territories. From the viewpoint of population, Dashamlav has prepared a list of top 10 most populous states of India.

1. UTTAR PRADESH

With a very high population growth rate, Uttar Pradesh leads the list of being the most populous state of India. Nearly 16.16% of India’s population resides in the state making it densely populated. The total population of Uttar Pradesh as mentioned under the Census of India-2011 is 199,581,477.

SEE ALSO: Least populous states in India

2. MAHARASHTRA

As per the Census of India-2011, Maharashtra accommodates approximately 9.28% of India’s total population and holds the title of being the second most populous state of India. Total population of Maharashtra as per the last census was 112,374,333. While the population of Maharashtra remains very high, the actual population growth rate of Maharashtra was lower than the national average of the last census.

3. BIHAR

This twelfth largest state of India has the third largest population. As per the Census of India-2011, total population of Bihar was 104,099,452 which constitutes 8.6 % of India’s total population. It is the most densely populated state of India.

4. WEST BENGAL

This state is a bottleneck of India from the eastern side with a population of 91, 276, 115 people. It is the fourth most populated and second most densely populated state of India consisting of approximately 7.55% of India’s total population.

5. MADHYA PRADESH

Originally the 6^th most populous state of India as 2011 census, Madhya Pradesh has jumped one position up due to reorganization of Andhra Pradesh and formation of the new state of Telangana. As per 2011 census date, Madhya Pradesh shares 6 % of total population of India which comes around 72.626,809.

6. TAMIL NADU

It is the southernmost state of India with the total population of 72,147,030 as per 2011 census. While it is the 6^th most populous state in India, it is not very densely populated like other states mentioned above in the list. The real reason for such a huge population figure is attributed to its large geographical area size.

7. RAJASTHAN

It is the largest state of India in terms of area and one of the least densely populated. The total population of Rajasthan was 68,548,437 which was approximately 5.66% of India’s total population.

8. KARNATAKA

As per the Census of India-2011, the total population of Karnataka was 61,095,297 which constitutes nearly 5.05% of the total world’s population.

9. GUJARAT

The Westernmost state of Gujarat had a population of 60,439,692 which was nearly 4.99% of India’s total population.

10. ANDHRA PRADESH

As per Actual 2011 census, Andhra Pradesh was ranked as 5^th most populous state in India with a population of 84580777 which was approximately 10.9 % of the total Indian population. However, with the formation of Telangana through Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 the population got bifurcated and Andhra Pradesh jumped to 10^th position with a population of approximately 49,386,799 people.