Demographics of Gujarat

Owing to its location, rich cultural heritage and well-preserved traditions, Gujarat has always attracted the attention of explorers and tourists ever since the ancient ages. Having being the birthplace of civilisation and a top-notch trading centre due to its 1600 km long coastline, it has always been the place where people went to experience a different face of India. From the forests of gir, char dham temple of dwarkadheesh and the hills of saputara to the islands of Daman and Diu, holy Jyotirlinga of Somnath and the glorious salt desert of Rann of Kutch this place is a colourful mosaic of art, culture and history which makes it one of a kind. Before planning a trip to this wonderful place of quirk and magic with your family and loved ones then here are some important demographics of Gujarat that will tell you more about this destination.

Religion

As per the census Gujarat consists of the following percentage of people following given religions: 88.6% of Hindu; 9.7% of Muslim; 1.0% of Jain; 0.5% of Christians; 0.1% of Sikhs; 0.05% of Buddhists and the remaining 0.03% of others. This clearly shows that the state has a majority of Hindu population whereas the Muslim population is the largest minority. The calculations also shows that after Maharashtra and Rajasthan it has the largest Jain population in India.

The population of Gujarat also consists of Parsis and Iranis who are referred to as Zoroastrians. They are believed to have migrated to these parts of India in order to get away from the worsening situations in Persia since they wanted to conserve their age-old traditions with dignity. Over a period of time they emerged to be a valuable asset in the economic development of India. Among other religions followed by the people here also consists of a very tiny community of Jewish people around the area of the Magen Abraham Synagogue.

Cities of Gujarat

The entire state of Gujarat is divided into 3 distinct parts namely: Gujarat, Kutch and Saurashtra regions. The 3 largest cities within the state are Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara which are also the prime regions for tourism, trade and IT. As a matter of fact, the Saurashtra region was never included with the British India and until the time of independence it had managed to survive with over 200 princely states.

Ahmedabad is not only the largest city of Gujarat but was also the former capital of the state and boasts of a population of around 5.8 million where the people residing within the metropolitan region is almost 6.3 million. All this has also included it to be the 7^th largest metro and the 5^th largest city in India along with being one of the most rapidly developing cities in the past 10 years.

Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat which is located at a comfortable distance of just 23 kms from its one of the largest cities of Ahmedabad. as the name suggests this place is dedicated to the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, whose birthplace is in Gujarat. The population according to the census here is 200,000.

With a population of almost 4.8 million Surat has earned the 2^nd position in the list of being the most populous city of Gujarat. It is also the 9^th largest metropolitan and the 8^th largest city in the subcontinent. Preceding Ahmedabad and Surat is the 3^rd largest city of Gujarat, Vadodara or Baroda. With a population of around 2.06 million it has also earned the position of being the 20^th largest city in India.

Languages in Gujarat

The official language of Gujarat is Gujarati which is also its main and native language. Spoken by around 49 million people locally Gujarati has earned the position for being the 26^th most – spoken native language in the entire world. as per the report of ministry of minority affairs around 85% of the state speaks Gujarati which is followed by 4,75% of Bhili speakers; 4.71% of Hindi speakers; 2% of Sindhi speakers; 1.51% of Marathi speakers and 1.09% of Urdu speakers in all.

The languages that are taught in school functions under the 3 languages formula which are: 1^st language – Gujarati / Hindi / Marathi / English / Urdu; 2^nd language – Gujarati / English and 3^rd language – Hindi. Formerly Sindhi was also included in the 1^st language criteria but ever since then it has changed.

Gujarat Facts

Here are a few facts that you may not have known before:

• Gujarat has 14 working airports which caters a large number of airlines and also makes it one of the states with the most number of airports in India.
• Gujarat’s coastline is the largest in India and runs for as long as 1215 kms and gives you the perfect opportunity for migratory birds and animals to thrive.
• Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat has earned the position of being the greenest city of Ahmedabad.
• Surat is the richest city in the entire Indian subcontinent. It has left behind places like Chennai and Bangalore in this aspect.