India’s population reached 1.21 billion in 2011, according to the latest population census cited by the BBC.
The country’s population has grown by 181 million in the last decade, with India’s total population larger than the combined population of the US, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In the 2010 census, some 2.5 million officials visited households in 7,000 towns and 600,000 villages.
The population was classified by gender, religion, education and occupation.
The action, which takes place every ten years, is difficult because of the country’s vast size and cultural diversity.
According to the BBC, censors have faced high levels of illiteracy and millions of homeless people, as well as Maoist insurgents and other rebels.
