Demographics

Demographics refer to certain characteristics of population that are used in government, marketing or opinion researches. Demographics of West Bengal show that the total population of the state as per 1991 census is 68 million. The male to female ratio was 1000:917.

The literacy rate of the state was 57.7% in 1991. About seventy-two percent of the total population of West Bengal resides in villages. Majority of the population of West Bengal are Bengalis that is 80,221,171. Bihari, Punjabi, Marwari, Muslims are among the minorities who are scattered all over the state. Various tribal communities and Sherpas and ethnic Tibetans can be traced in the bordering areas of Sikkim. In the Darjeeling district Nepalese origin people can be found who are commonly called Gurkha. In the western districts of the state tribal Adivasis namely Santals and Kol live.

According to Demographics of West Bengal 31.85% of people lived below the poverty line in 1999–2000. 28.6% and 5.8% of the population are Scheduled Castes and Tribes respectively. Demographics show that nearly 40 tribal communities namely Munas, Santals, Oraons, Bhutias, and Lepchas stay in the state; these tribal communities form one-tenth of the total population. West Bengal is primarily dependant on agriculture. As per demographics, the state is one of the most populated states of India. 7.8% of total Indian population lives in West Bengal but the state occupies 2.7% of India’s total land area. The official language of West Bengal is Bengali. Other languages like Hindi and English are also used widely. Apart from these languages Nepali is spoken mainly in the Darjeeling district by the Gorkhas of the region.