Which year is termed as The Year of Great Divide in the history of Indian demography?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → 1921
For a long time India’s population grew slowly: many children were born, but deaths were also very high. After 1921 death rates began to fall while birth rates stayed high, and population started to grow fast. Because it splits India’s demographic history into these two stages, 1921 is called the year of the great divide:
Before 1921, India was in the first stage of demographic transition: both birth and death rates were high, and population grew slowly.
The second stage began after 1921, when the death rate started to fall while the birth rate stayed high, and population growth picked up.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| 15-05 S1 | – | – | 28-05 S3* | – |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2025-26): “1.6 Demographic Condition … Various details about the population of British India were first collected through a census in 1881. Though suffering from certain limitations, it revealed the unevenness in India… …Before 1921, India was in the first stage of demographic transition. The second stage of transition began after 1921. However, neither the total population of India nor the rate of population growth at this stage was very high.…” |