Why the study of the population composition in India by the places of residence, i.e. rural and urban composition is important?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → It is an important indicator of social and economic characteristics.
Option (1) The population living in the villages depends mainly on agriculture. — Incorrect. A fact about village work, not the reason the study of rural and urban composition matters.
Option (2) It is an important indicator of political characteristics. — Incorrect. Place of residence shows people’s work and way of life, not political features.
Option (3) It is an important indicator of social and economic characteristics. — Correct. Village people mostly depend on agriculture, while town people work in industries and services, and the two live differently. So knowing how many people live in villages and how many in towns tells us how a population earns and lives: composition by place of residence is an important indicator of social and economic characteristics. It matters even more in India, where about 68.8 per cent of the people lived in villages in 2011.
Option (4) It shows social media coverage. — Incorrect. The reach of social media is not a part of population composition.
NCERT (2025-26): “Population Composition … Population composition is a distinct field of study within population geography with a vast coverage of analysis of age and sex, place of residence, ethnic characteristics, tribes, language, religion, marital status, literacy and education, occupational characteristics, etc. In this section, the composition of Indian population with respect to their rural-urban characteristics, language, religion and pattern of occupation will be discussed.…” “Rural – Urban Composition … Composition of population by their respective places of residence is an important indicator of social and economic characteristics. This becomes even more significant for a country where about 68.8 per cent of its total population lives in village (2011).” |