Destination Odisha
According to 2001 census Odisha’s population is 36.7 million, which is almost 3.57 per cent of India’s population. The population density of the state is 236 persons per sq. km. (in 2001).There are 18,612,340 Males and females are 18,094,580 in the state.
Nearly 85% of the population lives in rural area.
Scheduled Castes population in the state, as per 2001 census were 60.82 lakh and it is 81.45 lakh for and Scheduled Tribes. As per the 2001 census, the sex ratio among SC & ST is 979 and 1003 respectively.
The decennial growth of ST population has been 15.8 per cent, which is 0.5 per cent lower than the growth of population (16.3 per cent). The State has a total of sixty two (62) Scheduled Tribes, and all have been enumerated at 2001 census.
The Scheduled Tribe population in the State is overwhelmingly rural, with 94.5 per cent residing in villages. District wise distribution of ST population shows that Malkangiri district has the highest proportion of STs (57.4 per cent) followed by Mayurbhanj (56.6 per cent), Rayagada (55.8 per cent) and Nabarangapur (55 per cent). Puri district has the lowest by proportion of STs (0.3 per cent).
Out of sixty two (62) STs, Khond is the most populous tribe with a population of 1,395,643 constituting 17.1 percent of the total ST population. Gond is the second largest tribe, having a number of 782,104. having 9.6 per cent share in the total ST population.
Six other tribes namely, Santal, Kolha, Munda, Saora, Shabar and Bhottada along with Khond and Gond constitute 64.2 per cent of the total ST population of the State. Bhumij, Bhuiya, Oraon, Paroja and Kisan having a population ranging from 248,144 to 321,592. Together, they form 18.1 per cent.
The Scheduled Caste (SC) population of the State of Orissa, as per 2001 census is 6,082,063. This constitute 16.5 percent of the total population of the State.