India has kicked off a mammoth exercise to count its entire population – all 1.4 billion of them, give or take a few, in a census initially delayed by the pandemic then administrative issues. During the last official census in 2011, India counted just over 1.2 billion people. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs now estimates it’s overtaken China to become the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion people. How will India count its residents? The issue of casteFor the first time since 1931, India will count caste in its census – a 1,000 year-old social hierarchy system.

Source: Egypt Independent April 07, 2026 16:20 UTC