1951 Census of India


The 1951 Census of India was the 9th in a series of censuses held in India every decade since 1871. It is also the first census after independence and Partition of India. 1951 census was also the first census to be conducted under 1948 Census of India Act.
The population of India was counted as 361,088,090 Total population increased by 42,427,510, 13.31% more than the 318,660,580 people counted during the 1941 census. No census was done for Jammu and Kashmir in 1951 and its figures were interpolated from 1941 and 1961 state census. National Register of Citizens for Assam was prepared soon after the census. In 1951, at the time of the first population Census, just 18% of Indians were literate while life expectancy was 32 years. Based on 1951 census of displaced persons, 7,226,000 Muslims went to Pakistan from India, while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan.

Language demographics

Separate figures for Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi were not issued, due to the fact the returns were intentionally recorded incorrect in states such as East Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, PEPSU, and Bilaspur.

Religious demographics

Hindus comprised 303.5 million, Sikhs were 6.86 million and Muslims were 35.4 million in the 1951 census.
1951 Indian census showed that there were 8.3 million Christians. Hindus comprised about 73 per cent of the population of India before partition.
;Population trends for major religious groups in India
Religious groupPopulation % 1951
Hindu84.1%
Muslim9.8% Note:
Christian2.3%
Sikh1.89%
Buddhist0.74%
Animist, others0.43%
Jain0.46%