Chapter Overview

Chhattisgarh (छत्तीसगढ़) counted 2,55,45,198 people in Census 2011. That is about 2.11% of India’s population living on about 4.1% of its area. It is a thinly settled, mostly rural, strongly tribal state with one of the most female-favourable sex ratios in India (991). Those few numbers explain a great deal about the state, from its reserved seats and Fifth Schedule areas to its welfare priorities.

Population questions are a steady source of marks in Prelims Paper I Part 2. They are pure recall: one exact number, one “highest/lowest district”, one comparison with the all-India figure. In Mains GS-III (Paper V, geography of India and Chhattisgarh), the same data supports answers on the distribution of population, urbanisation and human development.

Which census? (as of October 2026)

Census 2011 is still the latest published census. Census 2027 is under way: in Chhattisgarh, self-enumeration ran from 16 to 30 April 2026 and the houselisting phase from 1 to 30 May 2026. Population enumeration has a reference date of 1 March 2027. Until its results are released, every exam figure on population comes from Census 2011.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this chapter, you’ll be able to:

Quote Chhattisgarh’s Census 2011 headline figures (population, growth, density, urbanisation, sex ratio, literacy) and compare each with India
Explain why population is dense in the central plains and sparse in the northern hills and Bastar plateau
Name the extreme districts the exam asks about (most and least populous, densest and sparsest, highest and lowest literacy)
State the Scheduled Tribe (30.62%) and Scheduled Caste (12.82%) shares and what follows from them constitutionally
Use the census definitions of literacy and sex ratio correctly, and analyse the gender gap in literacy and the fall in the child sex ratio
Summarise how Census 2027 differs from earlier censuses

Prerequisites

Physical Geography of Chhattisgarh: the plains, plateaus and hills that shape where people live
Formation of the State and Administrative Structure: divisions, districts and reserved seats
Population and Settlement: all-India census concepts and figures to compare against

Learning Path

Follow these topics in order:

graph TD
    A["1. What a census is: Census 2011 and Census 2027"] --> B["2. Chhattisgarh's headline numbers"]
    B --> C["3. Distribution, density and urbanisation"]
    C --> D["4. Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes"]
    D --> E["5. Literacy"]
    E --> F["6. Sex ratio and child sex ratio"]
    F --> G["Quick Revision"]

Topics in This Chapter

#	Topic	What it covers	Read time
1	Census 2011 at a Glance	How the census works, Census 2011 and Census 2027, Chhattisgarh’s headline numbers versus India and versus 2001	12 min
2	Distribution and Density of Population	Density of 189, region-wise distribution, extreme districts, rural–urban split and urban centres	12 min
3	Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Population	ST 30.62% and SC 12.82%, where they live, constitutional consequences	12 min
4	Literacy and Sex Ratio	Literacy 70.28% and the gender gap, sex ratio 991, child sex ratio 969, district patterns	14 min
—	Quick Revision	Every number of this chapter on one page	4 min

Where It Is Asked

Exam Focus

Prelims P-I (Chhattisgarh part): one-liners on population, density, sex ratio, literacy and the ST/SC shares, and “which district has the highest/lowest …”. Expect options that swap the state figure with the all-India figure (991 vs 943, 189 vs 382), or the provisional figure with the final one (71.04% vs 70.28%).
Mains P-V GS-III: distribution and density of population in Chhattisgarh, urbanisation, and the human-resource profile of the state; often as a 60-word or 150-word answer.
Linked papers: tribal demography feeds Mains GS-IV (social aspects of Chhattisgarh) and GS-V (welfare of ST/SC, education, women and children).

Quick Reference

All figures are Census 2011 (final) unless stated otherwise.

Indicator	Chhattisgarh	India
Population	2,55,45,198 (males 1,28,32,895; females 1,27,12,303)	121.09 crore
Share of India	2.11%; 16th in population among states (2011 boundaries)	—
Decadal growth 2001–2011	22.61%	17.7%
Density	189 per sq km (154 in 2001)	382
Urban population	23.24%	31.2%
Sex ratio	991 (4th among states)	943
Child sex ratio (0–6)	969 (975 in 2001)	918
Literacy	70.28% (male 80.27%, female 60.24%)	72.98%
Scheduled Tribes	30.62% (78.23 lakh)	8.6%
Scheduled Castes	12.82% (32.74 lakh)	16.6%
Districts at Census 2011	18 (27 from 2012; 33 as of 2026)	—

Start Learning

Ready to begin? Start with the first topic:

→ Census 2011 at a Glance