| 1951 census of India | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Country | India |
| Results | |
| Total population | 361,088,090 (13.32%) |
| Most populous | Uttar Pradesh (60,274,800) |
| Least populous | Sikkim (138,093) |
The 1951census of India was the ninth in a series ofcensuses held inIndia every decade since1872.[1] It was also the first census after independence andPartition of India.[2] 1951 census was also the first census to be conducted under 1948 Census of India Act. The first census of the Indian Republic began on February 10, 1951.[3]
The population of India was counted as 361,088,090 (1000:946 male:female)[4] Total population increased by 42,427,510, 13.31% more than the 318,660,580 people counted during the 1941 census.[5] No census was done forJammu and Kashmir in 1951 and its figures were interpolated from 1941 and 1961 state census.[6]National Register of Citizens for Assam (NRC) was prepared soon after the census.[7][8] In 1951, at the time of the first population census, just 18% of Indians were literate while life expectancy was 32 years.[9] Based on 1951 census of displaced persons, 7,226,000 Muslims went to Pakistan (bothWest andEast Pakistan) from India, while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan (bothWest andEast Pakistan).[10]
Separate figures for Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi were not issued, due to the partition 1947 and fact that returns were intentionally recorded incorrectly in states such asEast Punjab,Himachal Pradesh,Delhi,PEPSU, andBilaspur.[11]
In 1951, India had 305 million Hindus (84.1% of the population), 35.4 million Muslims (9.8%), 8.3 million Christians, (2.3%), and 6.86 million Sikhs, (1.9%).1951 Indian census showed that there were 8.3 million Christians.[12] Hindus had made up about 73% of the population ofBritish India. Just after independence and thepartition of India, the proportion of Hindus rose to around 85%.
