Average number of children

born/Indian woman

Percentage of Indian women

using contraceptives

Contraceptive use

1980198

5

(^199019952000200520102011)
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Number of
children
born
Ye a r
Based on data from World Bank World Development Indicators.

7

Human Population

Change and the

Environment

INDIA’S POPULATION PRESSURES

I

ndia is the world’s second most populous nation, with

a mid-2011 population of 1.24 billion. In the 1950s,

it became the first country to establish government-

sponsored family planning. India did not experience

immediate results from its efforts to control population

growth, in part because of the diverse cultures, religions,

and customs in different regions

of the country. Indians speak 15 main languages and more

than 700 dialects, which makes communicating

a program of family planning education difficult.

In recent years, India has attempted to integrate

economic development and family planning projects.

Adult literacy and population

education programs have

been combined. Multimedia

advertisements and education

promote voluntary birth

control, and contraceptives

are more available. India has

emphasized that improving

health services lowers infant

and child mortality rates. These

efforts have had an effect: The

average number of children

born per Indian woman

declined from 4.7 in 1980 to 2.6

in 2011 (see graph).

Despite these gains, population pressure has

contributed to the deterioration of India’s environment in

the past few decades, and 76 percent of Indians live below

the official poverty level (less than US $2 a day). India’s

large population exacerbates its poverty, environmental

degradation, and economic underdevelopment.

158

Interpreting Data Question

Between 1985 and 2008, what was

the change in contraceptive use?

the change in the birth rate? graphingactivity