NDA (I) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 144 of 149

Correct — C, the order 3 – 4 – 2 – 1. Take the Census 2011 populations against India's total of about 1.21 billion. Jammu and Kashmir had 12,267,032 people, about 1.0 per cent of the country; Haryana 25,351,462, about 2.1 per cent; Rajasthan 68,548,437, about 5.7 per cent; and Bihar 104,099,452, about 8.6 per cent. Ascending order of share is therefore Jammu and Kashmir, then Haryana, then Rajasthan, then Bihar — items 3, 4, 2, 1.

• (a)3 – 4 – 1 – 2 — It starts correctly with Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana but then puts Bihar below Rajasthan. Bihar's 10.4 crore people are half as many again as Rajasthan's 6.9 crore, so Bihar must come last in an ascending list.
• (b)4 – 2 – 1 – 3 — This makes Jammu and Kashmir the largest of the four, which reverses the true picture — at about 1.2 crore it is by far the smallest of these States by population.
• (d)2 – 3 – 4 – 1 — It starts with Rajasthan, which is third of the four by population share. Rajasthan is India's largest State by area, and that is exactly the confusion this option is built to catch.

A State's share of the national population is simply its population divided by India's total. Census 2011 counted 1,210,854,977 people in India, and the shares of individual States range from Uttar Pradesh's roughly 16.5 per cent down to fractions of a per cent for the smallest. Because the denominator is the same for every State, ranking by share is identical to ranking by population.

The trap here is area against population. Rajasthan is the largest State in India by area and Haryana one of the smaller ones, so a student ranking by mental map will put Rajasthan near the top and be surprised by Bihar, which is compact but very densely settled. Anchor a few numbers instead: Uttar Pradesh about 20 crore, Maharashtra about 11 crore, Bihar about 10 crore, and everything else in this question follows. As of the 2017 examination the 2011 Census was the latest count, and it still is, since the next census was postponed.

• India's Census 2011 population was 1,210,854,977.
• Bihar had 104,099,452 people, about 8.6 per cent of India, and was the third most populous State.
• Rajasthan had 68,548,437, about 5.7 per cent, while being India's largest State by area.
• Haryana had 25,351,462, about 2.1 per cent.
• Jammu and Kashmir had 12,267,032, about 1.0 per cent — the smallest of the four.

• Ranking by area when the question asks for population share.
• Reading 'ascending' as 'descending' — half the options in such items are the reverse order.
• Forgetting that Jammu and Kashmir, though large in area, has a small population.

Census items come as ascending or descending sequences, as 'which State has the highest or lowest' of some indicator, or as a match between States and their figures.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to Census 2011, which of these States had the largest population?

  • (a)Rajasthan
  • (b)Bihar
  • (c)Haryana
  • (d)Jammu and Kashmir

  Answer(b) Bihar — about 10.4 crore, against Rajasthan's 6.9 crore.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India's total population as counted in Census 2011 was closest to

  • (a)102 crore
  • (b)121 crore
  • (c)135 crore
  • (d)145 crore

  Answer(b) 121 crore — 1,210,854,977 people.