Draft Annual Plan 2008-09 Orissa Volume -1

Abstract

Orissa, located on the east coast, is flanked by West Bengal and Jharkhand in north, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh in west and Andhra Pradesh in south. It has more than 480 km long coastline. It is the 8th largest State with an area of 155,707 km2, stands 11th largest in terms of population (36.80 million as per 2001 census), and is 14th with regard to population density (236 persons per km2 in 2001). It contributes about 2% of the national income. Its decadal population growth rate (16.25% in 1991-01) is lower than the national average, though there are wide interdistrict variations. The 2001 census returned 16.53% population as Scheduled Castes and 22.13% as Scheduled Tribes. Its sex ratio has marginally improved from 971 in 1991 to 972 in 2001 and is better than the national average. It is. however, disturbing that sex ratio in 0-6 year age group has sharply declined to 953 during 2001.