Population Pyramid

An interesting way of studying the population composition of a country is by looking at the population pyramid, also called an age-sex pyramid.

A Population Pyramid Shows

1. The shape of the population pyramid tells the story of the people living in that particular country. The numbers of chiidren (below 15 years) are shown at the bottom and reflect the level of births. The size of the top shows the numbers of aged people (above 65 years) and reflects the number of deaths. The population pyramid also tells us how many dependents are there in a country,
2. The population pyramid of a country in which birth and death rates both are high is broad at the base and rapidly narrows towards the top. This is because although, many children are born, a large percentage of them die in their infancy, relatively few became adults and there are very few old people. This type of situation is found in Kenya.
3. In countries where death rates (especially amongst the very young) are decreasing, the pyramid is broad in the younger age groups, because more infants survive to adulthood. Such populations contain a relatively large number of young people and which means a strong and expanding labour force. This type of situation is found in India.
4. In countries like Japan, low birth rates make the pyramid narrow at the base. Decreased death rates allow numbers of people to reach ofd age.Skilled, spirited and hopeful young people endowed with a positive outlook are the future of any nation. We in India are fortunate to have such a resource. They must be educated and provided skills and opportunities to become able and productive.

Population Pyramid of India

• India Population Pyramid for 2010

• India Population Pyramid for 2020