SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 16 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 12 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Uttar Pradesh accounted for approximately what percent of India’s total population in 2011?

(a)10%
(b)12%
(c)16%
(d)18%

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Census 2011 counted 199,812,341 people in Uttar Pradesh out of India's 1,210,854,977.

Share = 199.8 million ÷ 1,210.9 million
= 0.165 = 16.5%
Nearest option: 16% → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
10% — 10% of India's 2011 population is about 121 million, far short of Uttar Pradesh's 199.8 million. Maharashtra, the second most populous state, held about 9.3%.
(b)
12% — 12% would be about 145 million people. Uttar Pradesh's 199.8 million is well above that, at 16.5% of the national total.
(d)
18% — 18% would be about 218 million, more than Uttar Pradesh's 199.8 million. Its true share, 16.5%, sits nearer 16% than 18%.

Concept

Uttar Pradesh was India's most populous state in the 2011 Census, with about 199.8 million people, roughly one Indian in six.

A state's share is its count divided by the national total of 1,210.9 million. By that measure Maharashtra, second, held about 9.3% and Bihar, third, about 8.6%.

Key facts

Census 2011: Uttar Pradesh had 199,812,341 people, the most of any state.
Census 2011: India's population was 1,210,854,977.
Uttar Pradesh's share was 16.5% of India's population.
Maharashtra (112,374,333, about 9.3%) was second and Bihar (104,099,452, about 8.6%) third.

Study next

Census 2011 state rankings by population, density and sex ratioThe largest states by area: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

Common traps

Guessing 18% from UP's reputation as the biggest state. Divide: 199.8 ÷ 1,210.9 ≈ 0.165.
Confusing population with area. By area, Rajasthan is the largest state, not Uttar Pradesh.

Here a Census 2011 figure is asked as an approximate percentage, so the two headline counts are enough to work it out.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Geography — all 179 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.