Course Name: Population and Settlement Geography with Special Reference to

India

Course Code: RD 505

DISTRICT POPULATION PROFILE

Submitted by: Lipika Ghosh

Jawaharlal Nehru University

School of Social Science
Centre for the Study of Regional Development
Introduction:
Human being or population is the most important character in Geography. The socio-
economic characteristics of a region is determined by the population composition of the region.
The age-sex ratio, fertility rate, mortality rate, migration, growth rate, sex ratio, literacy rate,
rural-urban composition, dependency etc. are some demographic indicators which are
represents the socio-economic condition of a country.

The population or demographic profile of Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu is represented

below-

Coimbatore is western most district of Tamil Nadu which bounded by hill in its western and southern
part by the Western Ghats. The natural beauty of this district is very charming and because of the
proximity of sea the climatic condition is very pleasant. Coimbatore is well known for its textile
industries. This region is rich in black soil which helps in cotton production and it became the textile hub
of south India. This is known as the Manchester of South India. The demographic profile of the
district is represented below-

Growth rate: Growth rate is the change in number of population from one time period to
another period. The time period varies on the basis of purpose of the study. The decadal
growth rate of population in Coimbatore district is-

Decadal
Total Growth
Year Population Rate
1991 2493715
2001 4271856 71.30
2011 3458045 -19.05
Figure: 1

Figure 1 showing that the decadal growth rate of 2001 was very high but it is showing negative
growth in 2011.

Sex Ratio: Sex ratio is the measure of the number of female per thousand male in a territory.
The sex ratio of the district is-

Sex
Year Ratio
2001 963.14
2011 999.68
Figure: 2
Figure 2 showing that the sex ratio of the district improved than the previous decade and
the number is very high. Which indicates female’s condition of the district is not so poor.

Child Sex ratio: Child sex ratio is the number of female child (0-6 years) per thousand male
child in a territory. In 2011 the child sex ratio of the district is 956 female child per thousand male
child. Therefore the child sex ratio is also high in the district.

Dependency Ratio: Dependency ratio is the ratio of the number of dependent population
(0-14 years old and more than 60 years old) per 100 working age population (15-49 years old).
There 2 types of dependency ratio Young Age Dependency Ratio and Old Age Dependency
Ratio. The dependency ratio of the district is-

Dependency Ratio OADR YADR

47.42 16.7 30.72
Figure: 3
From the figure 3 it is seen that the old age dependency is very less than the young age
dependency ratio of the district.

Age-Sex Pyramid: Age- Sex Pyramid is very important indicator of demography which
represents the socio- economic condition of the region. The age sex pyramid of the district is-

Age Sex Pyramid of Coimbatore District, 2011

0.55 80+ 0.69
0.57 75-79 0.60
1.02 70-74 1.06
1.34 65-69 1.43
2.08 60-64 2.00
2.47 55-59 2.35
3.01 50-54 2.77
3.67 45-49 3.55 Male
3.98 40-44 3.86
Female
4.26 35-39 4.49
4.27 30-34 4.27
4.41 25-29 4.75
3.92 20-24 4.29
3.82 15-19 3.70
3.86 10-14 3.69
3.42 5-9 3.27
3.37 0-4 3.23

Figure: 4

The pyramid representing that the percentage of child age and old age population is not
very high. The percentage of working age population is high than the dependency age group
which is a good indicator for a region. It is also seen that the variation in terms of sex is also
very gentle among all the age group which is seen earlier in the sex ratio. This pyramid
indicating a good socio-economic condition of the district because the economically productive
person’s number is high and the discrimination in terms of sex is also low which is very
productive for a society.

Literacy rate: Literacy rate is the ratio between the number of literate population in the 7+
age group to the total population of that age group. The literacy rate of the district is-

Literacy Female
Year Rate Literacy Rate
2011 83.98 47.08
Figure: 5
Religious Composition: Religious composition is the demography of population in terms of
religion. The religious composition of the district represented below-

Population in Coimbatore district in terms of religion, 2001 and 2011

100.00 90.08
88.03
90.00
80.00
70.00
Population (%)

60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
5.336.10 4.355.50
10.00 0.020.03 0.010.01 0.080.09 0.010.01 0.120.22
0.00
Hindu Muslim Christian Sikh Budhist Jain Other Religion
not stated
Religion

%_2001 %_2011

Figure: 6

Figure 6 is showing that the percentage of Hindu population is very in the district. The
percentage of Hindu population decreased in 2011 whereas the percentage of Muslim and
Christian population increased in 2011. Apart from these the number of Sikh, Buddhist, Jain
population are very minor.

Sex ratio and Child Sex ratio in terms of Religion:

Sex
Religion ratio Child sex ratio
Hindu 997.37 958.41
Muslim 996.70 939.34
Christian 1035.57 954.63
Sikh 796.45 941.18
Buddhist 899.56 1280.00
Jain 967.65 976.05
Other religions and persuasions 851.56 1363.64
Figure: 7
From the figure 7 it is found that the Sex ratio is very high among the Christian and it is very low
among the Sikh people. The Child Sex ratio is very high among Buddhist and it is also very low
among Sikh.

Disability: If a person’s some organ is not able to work then it is counted on the disability
population. There various types of disability of human being, the disable population profile of
the district is-

Percentage of Disable of population in terms of various

disability in Coimbatore district, 2011

7% 11% In seeing
In Hearing
22% In Speech

23% In Movement
Mental Retardation

3% Mental Illness
8% Any Other
6%
Multiple Disability
20%

Figure: 8

Marital Status:

Figure: 9
 From the figure 9 it is seeing that the percentage of never married people is high among
male than female. In general condition the unmarried female population is always less than the
male. The percentage of widow is greater among the female because in terms of health
condition male people are more vulnerable than female. If we remove male preference child
and give equal health facility to all then female will survive more than the male population.

Female Headed Household:

Female headed household (%)

Total 12.41
Rural 3.61
Urban 8.80
Figure: 10

Percentage of female headed household is not very high in Coimbatore district and it is lower in
rural area than urban area.

Labor Force Participation:

Distribution of Labour force in Coimbatrore

district, 2011
60.00

48.75
50.00
Labour Force Perticipation (%)

40.00 36.25

30.00 Male
25.04
Female
20.00 16.61
12.50
8.43
10.00

0.00
Total Rural Urban

Figure: 11
Among the total population 75.73 % are lived in urban area. The urban labor force participation
is very high than rural. The female labor force participation is very low in rural area as well as in
urban area.

Conclusion:
From the demographic profile of the district it is seen that the decadal population growth rate
is decreasing literacy rate is very high though the female literacy not very effective, sex ratio
mainly the age specific sex ratio is very high in this district. In terms of religion number of Hindu
population is very high. The percentage of female headed household is not very high and the
female labor force participation rate is also not very high. Overall the population composition of
the district is improving gradually.