Demographics of Himachal Pradesh

Traditional home, Manali

Himachal Pradesh has a total population of 6,856,509 including 3,473,892 males and 3,382,617 females as per the provisional results of the Census of India 2011. This is only 0.57 per cent of India's total population, recording a growth of 12.81 per cent. Total fertility rate (TFR) per woman is 1.8 which is one of lowest in India.

Himachal Pradesh has a literacy rate of 83.78 per cent and gender ratio at 974/1000, according to the 2011 Census figures.

Census-wise, the state is placed 21st on the population chart followed by Tripura at 22nd place. Kangra district was top ranked with a population strength of 1,507,223 (21.98%), Mandi district 999,518 (14.58%), Shimla district 813,384 (11.86%), Solan district 576,670 (8.41%), Sirmaur district 530,164 (7.73%), Una district 521,057 (7.60%), Chamba district 518,844 (7.57%), Hamirpur district 454,293 (6.63%), Kullu district 437,474 (6.38%), Bilaspur district 382,056 (5.57%), Kinnaur district 84,298 (1.23%) and Lahaul Spiti 31,528 (0.46%).

The main communities are Rajputs, Rathis, Brahmins and Ghirth. The Ghirth (choudhary) community is found mainly in Kangra District. Himachal has a sizeable population of Tibetans. Himachal Pradesh has the one of the highest proportion of Hindu population in India (95.45%). Other religions that form a small percentage are Buddhism and Sikhism. The Lahaulis of Lahaul and Spiti region are mainly Buddhists. Sikhs mostly live in towns and cities and constitute 1.21% of the state population. For example they form 10% of the population in Una District adjoining the state of Punjab and 17% in Shimla, the state capital. The Buddhists are mainly natives and tribals from Lahaul and Spiti, where they form majority of 60% and Kinnaur where they form 40%, however the bulk are refugees from Tibet. The Muslims constitute slightly 1.94% of the population of Himachal Pradesh.

 The life expectancy at birth in Himachal Pradesh is 62.8 years (higher than the national average of 57.7 years) for 1986–1990. The infant mortality rate stood at 40 in 2010 and crude birth rate has declined from 37.3 in 1971 to 16.9 in 2010, below the national average of 26.5 in 1998. The crude death rate was 6.9 in 2010. Himachal Pradesh's literacy rate almost doubled between 1981 and 2011 (see table to right).
  
Languages
Hindi is both the official language and the lingua franca of Himachal Pradesh. However, most of the population speaks Pahari in everyday conversation, which includes nearly all Western Pahari dialects. There are total 32 languages in HP