Demography of India

The India account more than one billion inhabitants (2000). That made of India the second country in the world more populated, after the China.

However, whereas the latter is about parvenu to control her population growth, India always knows a fast increase in its population. The Indian population increases approximately 19 million inhabitants per annum (consequence of a total rate of fruitfulness of 2,7 children per woman - against 1,7 for China). One can thus expect that India becomes the country more populated world in the neighborhoods of 2035.

The demographers are thus alarmed less by the figures themselves (Indian fruitfulness crumbled in 50 years) that by the irregular and relatively slow tendency. That is allotted to an at the same time brutal and incoherent demographic policy (where China put on the policy - simplistic and brutal sometimes, but comprehensible and applicable - of the single child). India also more centered its policy on an individual responsibilisation (information centers on contraception). Moreover, India being a democracy, this policy had tops and bottoms, contrary to China, where the policy of the single child did not vary since its implementation (with only of softenings for the rural ones).

Thus in India the evolutions which seem to have had the most impact on the birthrate seem to be rather:

general improvement of the Standard of living,
elimination of illiteracy of the women in certain States (for example, with the Kerala)

Structure of the population

Miss women

Since the arrival of the echography, the cases of Avortement of the girls are very important, especially in the rich States where the people can treat to an echography. Thus currently (August 2005) the national average is of 933 women for 1 000 men, which means that approximately 40 million Indians will never find of partner. In certain rich States, like the Haryana, the average is even of 861 women for 1 000 men. The problem is so important that, since 1994, it is interdict to practice antenatal examinations to determine the sex of the fetus and even less of the abortions for this reason. But in the facts, this law is often ignored.

In a article published the January 9th 2006 in the medical check The Lancet , the teams of professors Prabhat Jha of the University of Toronto to the Canada and that of Rajesh KUMAR with Chandigarh in India evaluated the deficit of female births, that thanks to a census launched to India in 1998 near 1,1 million households. They noticed that in the families where the first child was of female sex, the proportions for the second births were of 759 girls for 1 000 boys, this rate passing even with 719 after two female births. If the deficit is stronger among educated women (perhaps due to their higher incomes, who would allow them to practice antenatal examinations to determine the sex of the child), it does not vary according to the religion.

Compared with the ratios of other countries, it was estimated that there was a lack of 590 000 and 740 000 additional girls in 1997, which makes suppose the abortion of at least 500 000 fetuses girls. On a 20 year old scale, they would be 10 million girls who would not have been born in India because of this male preference.

The reason of these abortions is that the Indians prefer to have a boy, because it is them which perpetuate the patronym, deal with the parents when they are old and, especially, inherit the grounds. On the other hand, for the Indians, the girls do not bring anything, quite to the contrary, because it is even necessary to pay them Dot with the family of their husband. An old man Proverbe summarizes even this situation: " To raise a girl, it is like sprinkling the garden of a neighbor ".

Whereas in India the arranged marriages are the standard, this lack of women pushed many families to seek a wife for their son in certain mountainous States and even abroad (as with the Nepal or the Bangladesh), where a matrimonial trade, sometimes criminal (removals), appeared. Moreover, the men whose families do not have any ground and little money have less chances to be a woman, because the families prefer to marry their daughter with a rich family, for thus being likely more to be able to benefit from it.

It even happened that cases of Polyandrie were discovered, where several brothers divide the same woman. However, this irrefutable fact brings some good sides. Thus the request of the dowry is in reduction (because the families of the women have the advantage), as well as the marriages inter Caste S.

A young country

In 2005, less than 20 years 45,3% of the Indian population represent, the most 60 years 5,9%. Even if the share of the young people decreases slowly (50,7% of the Indians had less than 20 years in 1950), the country must face the challenges to nourish, place and provide education for a big number of children.

Birthrate

Mortality

Migration and cultural composition

Other social indicators

Sources

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