Religious composition of India
Topic: Population of India: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition"
Meaning
Religious composition means how a population is split by religion. Census 2011 figures:
- Hindus 79.8%;
- Muslims 14.2%;
- Christians 2.3%;
- Sikhs 1.7%;
- Buddhists 0.7%;
- Jains 0.4%.
Each group is spread unevenly across the map:
- Muslims are a majority in the Kashmir valley and Lakshadweep.
- Christians live mostly in rural areas: Goa, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chota Nagpur and the Manipur hills.
- Sikhs live mostly in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
- Most Buddhists live in Maharashtra, but they are a majority in Sikkim, Arunachal, Ladakh, Tripura and Lahul-Spiti.
- Jains live mostly in towns of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Example
In Lakshadweep, the coral islands off the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea, Muslims form the majority, unlike in most of India.