Population of Karnataka
Karnataka (originally Mysore) formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of state reorganization act 1956. Karnataka is southern state of India surrounded by Maharastra and Goa in North, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in south, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in east and Arabian sea in west. The state covers an area of 191,976 square kilometres, or 5.83 percent of the total geographical area of India and is 7th largest by area among states.
Total Population of Karnataka is 61,130,704 in the 2011 census of which (50.7%) were male and about (49.3%) were female.. Karnataka is 8th largest state by population, comprising 30 districts. Theanalysis of Population Census 2011 published by Govt. of India for Karnataka state reveal that population of Karnataka has increased by 15.60% in this decade compared (2001-2011) to past decade (1991-2001). The density of Karnataka state in the current decade is 825 per sqmile(or 319 per sq km).
Ten largest district in terms of population in Karnataaka:-
| # | District | Population | Sex Ratio | Literacy | Density |
| 1 | BANGALORE | 9,621,551 | 916 | 87.67 % | 4381 |
| 2 | BELGAUM | 4,779,661 | 973 | 73.48 % | 356 |
| 3 | MYSORE | 3,001,127 | 985 | 72.79 % | 476 |
| 4 | TUMKUR | 2,678,980 | 984 | 75.14 % | 253 |
| 5 | GULBURGA | 2,566,326 | 971 | 64.85 % | 234 |
| 6 | BELLARY | 2,452,595 | 983 | 67.43 % | 290 |
| 7 | BIJAPUR | 2,177,331 | 960 | 67.15 % | 207 |
| 8 | DAKSHINA KANNADA | 2,089,649 | 1020 | 88.57 % | 430 |
| 9 | DAVANAGARE | 1,945,497 | 972 | 75.74 % | 328 |
| 10 | RAICHUR | 1,928,812 | 1000 | 59.56 % | 228 |
KODAGU district has lowest population (554,519) 
in Karnataka according to 2011 census.
Districts with highest population growth growth during 2001-2011 in state are:-
| # | District | Growth Rate |
| 1 | BANGALORE | 47.18 % |
| 2 | YADGIR | 22.81 % |
| 3 | BELLARY | 20.99 % |
| 4 | BIJAPUR | 20.50 % |
| 5 | GULBERGA | 18.01 % |
Population growth was 15.60% during last decade. Estimated population of state in 2017 is :-
- 2012 – 621 Million
- 2013 – 62.80 Million
- 2014 – 64.064 Million
- 2015 – 65.82 Million
- 2016 – 66.01 Million
Hence, there has been an increase of 4 Million in the past 5 years in the state.Thus population in 2017 is expected to be 66.82 million.
DEMOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA:
Out of total population of Karnataka 84.00% of its occupantswere Hindu, 12.92% Muslim, 1.87% Christian, 0.16% Buddhist and 0.05% were Sikhs. Additionally, 0.27% of the population did not express their religion (Atheist).
| Description | Population | Percentage |
| Hindu | 51,317,472 | 84.00 % |
| Muslim | 7,893,065 | 12.92 % |
| Christian | 1,142,647 | 1.87 % |
| Jain | 440,280 | 0.72 % |
| Not Available | 166,087 | 0.27 % |
| Buddhist | 95,710 | 0.16 % |
| Sikh | 28,773 | 0.05 % |
In 2011, the central government initiated the Socio-Economic Caste Survey(SECS) that covered the entire country. The biggest revelations of the census is that Scheduled Castes(SC) together form the single biggest caste group in the state, which if true, would disprove the taken for granted caste logic that Lingayats are the numerically biggest community in the state(Which is the belief till now), followed by Vokkaligas. These are the figures reported:-
| CASTE / COMMUNITY | SUB-CASTES | POPULATION | PERCENTAGE |
| Scheduled Castes | 180 | 108 lakh | 18 |
| Muslims | 84 | 75 lakh | 12.5 |
| Lingayats | 90 | 59 lakh | 9.8 |
| Vokkaligas | 10 | 49 lakh | 8.16 |
| Kurubas | – | 43 lakh | 7.1 |
| ST | 105 | 42 lakh | 7 |
(The percentage has been calculated taking Karnataka’s population as six crore in 2011).
LANGUAGE STATUS OF POPULATION:
Kannada is the official dialect of the state and spoken as a local dialect by around 66.26% of the general population. Other minorities in the state are Urdu (10.54%), Tamil (7.03%), Telegu (3.57%), Hindi (2.56%), Konkani (1.46%) and Malayalam (1.33%).The total fertility rate of the state was 2.2 in 2007.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION IN STATE:
The total population of Karnataka is 6.1crores(as per the 2011 census). The total figure of population living in urban areas is 23,625,962 of which 12,037,303 are males and while remaining 11,588,659 are females. The urban population in the last 10 years has increased by 38.67 percent. While around 61.33 percent of population live in the villages of rural areas. In actual numbers, males and females were 18,929,354 and 18,539,981 respectively. Total population of rural areas of Karnataka state was 37,469,335. The population growth rate recorded for this decade (2001-2011) was 61.33%
Sex ratio in Karnataka according to 2011 census is 973. Sex Ratio in urban regions of Karnataka was 963 females per 1000 males. For child (0-6) sex ratio the figure for urban region stood at 946 girls per 1000 boys. Total children (0-6 age) living in urban areas of Karnataka were 2,643,388. Of total population in urban region, 11.19 % were children (0-6). While In rural regions of Karnataka state, female sex ratio per 1000 males was 979 while same for the child (0-6 age) was 950 girls per 1000 boys. In Karnataka, 4,517,645 children (0-6) live in rural areas. Child population forms 12.06 percent of total rural population.
The literacy rate in Karnataka is 75.4% (as per the 2011 census). Average Literacy rate in Karnataka forUrban regions was 85.78 % in which males were 90.04% literate while female literacy stood at 77.97%. Total literates in urban region of Karnataka were 17,998,146. While In rural areas of state, literacy rate for males and female stood at 77.61 % and 58.32 %. Average literacy rate in Karnataka for rural areas was 68.73percent. Total literates in rural areas were 22,649,176.
SUMMERY OF DEMOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA
| Description | 2011 | 2001 |
| Population | 61,095,297 | 52,850,562 |
| Male | 30,966,657 | 26,898,918 |
| Female | 30,128,640 | 25,951,644 |
| Population Growth | 15.60% | 17.25% |
| Percantage of total Population | 5.05% | 5.14% |
| Sex Ratio | 973 | 965 |
| Child Sex Ratio | 948 | 946 |
| Density/km2 | 319 | 276 |
| Total Child Population (0-6 Age) | 7,161,033 | 7,182,100 |
| Male Population (0-6 Age) | 3,675,291 | 3,690,958 |
| Female Population (0-6 Age) | 3,485,742 | 3,491,142 |
| Literacy | 75.36 % | 66.64 % |
| Male Literacy | 82.47 % | 76.10 % |
| Female Literacy | 68.08 % | 56.87 % |
| Total Literate | 40,647,322 | 30,434,962 |
| Male Literate | 22,508,471 | 17,661,211 |
| Female Literate | 18,138,851 | 12,773,751 |
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