Tamil Nadu Population: An Overview
In terms of density of population, the state of Tamil Nadu ranks seventh in the country. As of the year 2011, the density of population of the state is 555 persons/sq km, which has shown a significant rise from 429/sq km in 1991. The density of population is considerably greater than the countrywide mean of 382 persons/sq km.
The population of the state rose by 15.6% between the duration of 2001-2011. It is the sixth lowest rate for that phase among the most densely inhabited states in India or states where the number of inhabitants surpassed 20 million in the year 2011.
Despite the fact that over the last 10 years or so, the rate of increase in population in the state has dropped from 1971, the number of inhabitants has gone up significantly over the last 10 years (from 2001-2011).
During 2005–06, it recorded the lowest fertility rate together with Goa and Andhra Pradesh in the country. For every female, 1.8 children take birth, which is less than necessary for the maintenance or conservation of population.
Religious ethnicities
Most of the people living in the state of Tamil Nadu believe in Hinduism. The table given below will give you a better idea about the distribution of population among different religions:
| Religion | Percentage |
| Hinduism | 88.34% |
| Islam | 5.57% |
| Christianity | 6.08% |
| Others | 0.26% |
Hinduism is the major faith in the state and almost 88% of the inhabitants of the state follow that faith, which is quite high in comparison to other states and territories in India.
Despite the fact that Christians form a small part of the population of Tamil Nadu, it has the highest number of Christians in comparison to other provinces and states. Scheduled tribes and scheduled castes make up 1% and 19% of the population respectively. The formal and major spoken language of the state is Tamil. As per data provided by the 2001 Census, about 89% of the people of the state communicate in Tamil. Other languages used in the state include Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, English, and Urdu.
As per temporary data provided by 2011 census, the number of people in the state rose by 9.7 million (97 lakhs) during 2001-2011 and reached 7.21 crores from 62.4 million or 6.24 crores. The death rate was 7.6/1000, birth rate was 15.3/1000, and the natural rise was 8.6/1000. The natural rise in population is calculated at 53 lakhs, the rest 44 lakhs were net immigration (inward relocation less departing movement) from bordering states and principally from Jharkhand and Bihar that are states with high population growth rates.
Last Updated on 1/17/2011
