POPULATION

Leh with an area of 45110 Sq. Km; which probably makes it largest district in the country in terms of area is one of the coldest and most elevated inhabited region of the world having 112 inhabited and 1 uninhabited villages. As per census of 1981 the population of the district is 0.684 lacs, which is estimated to have risen to 0.895 lacs during 1991. Population growth rate of 31.08% has been recorded during the decade 1971-81 in the district. As per 1981 census 87.25% population is residing in the rural area. The biggest ethnic group is Buddhist having 81.18% of population followed by Muslims with 15.32% and Hindus with 2.99%. The main working force account for 43.55% to the total population where as marginal workers account for 6.84 % and non-workers 49.61%. The main occupation engaging the working force is cultivation (58.48%), agriculture labour (7.36%), household industry (0.34%) and other works (33.32%). Details of population by tehsils, blocks, rural and urban areas, religious groups etc are given in the chapter.

Total population of the district.

Census year	Rural/urban	Total population
		Persons	Male	females
1	2	3	4	5
1961	Total	43587	21686	21901
	Rural	39867	19837	20030
	Urban	3720	1849	1871
1971	Total	51891	25919	25972
	Rural	46372	23054	23318
	Urban	5519	2865	2654
1981	Total	68380	36248	32132
	Rural	59662	31216	28446
	Urban	8718	5032	3686
1991 (Estimated)	Total	89474	47421	42053
	Rural	79577	41982	37595
	Urban	9897	5239	4658

Source: Census Department

Growth of Population.

Decade	Decennial Growth of Population Percentage
	District	J & K State
1901-11	+212.45	+7.16
1911-21	+1.31	+5.75
1921-31	+4.78	+10.14
1931-41	+5.33	+10.36
1941-51	+8.30	+10.42
1951-61	+7.66	+9.44
1961-71	+19.05	+29.65
1971-81	+31.78	+29.69

Source: Census1981

Population by Religion and by Category.

Tehsil	Unit	Muslims	Hindus	Sikhs	Buddhists	Christians	Others	Total	SC
Leh	No.	10457	2046	184	55514	156	5	68380	228
	%age of Pop.	15.32	2.99	0.27	81.18	0.23	0.01	100	0.33

Source: Census1981

Population by Rural-Urban Composition

Type	Number Enumerated
	1971			1981
	Persons	Male	Female	Persons	Male	Female
Urban	5519	2865	2654	8718	5032	3686
Rural	46372	23054	23318	59662	31216	28446
Total	51891	25919	25972	68380	36248	32132

Source: Census Department

Population by Blocks

Block	Number Enumerated
	Population	Male	Female
Leh	27423	14532	12891
Kharu	6150	3260	2890
Nyoma	7320	3820	3500
Durbuk	3533	2003	1530
Nobra	10667	5828	4839
Khaltsi	13287	6805	6482
Total	68380	36248	32132

Source: Census1981

Population by Age Groups

Age Group	Male	Female	Total
All Ages	36248	32132	68380
0-4	3922	3893	7815
5-9	4330	5225	9555
10-14	3674	3488	7162
15-19	2977	2785	5762
20-24	2771	2703	5474
25-29	3046	2751	5797
30-34	2697	2149	4846
35-39	2835	1983	4818
40-44	2306	1636	3942
45-49	1890	1582	3472
50-54	1600	1416	3016
55-59	1201	1000	2201
60-64	1222	1066	2288
65-69	716	608	1324
70-74	548	434	982
75-79	273	242	515
80-84	152	121	273
85-89	48	32	80
90-94	13	4	17
95-99	9	8	17
100&Above	6	3	9
Age not stated	12	3	15

Source: Census 1981

Estimated Population

Year	Population
1982	70122
1983	72068
1984	74068
1985	76124
1986	78236
1987	80407
1988	82638
1989	84932
1990	87288
1991	89474
1992	92319
1993	95254
1994	98111
1995	101250
1996	101170
1997	107792
1998	111220
1999	114757
2000

Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics

Scheduled Caste Population

Year	Number Enumerated
	Rural			Urban			Total
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
1971	13	0	13	1	0	1	14	0	14
1981	146	1	147	73	8	81	219	9	228

Source: Census Department

Working Force

S. No.	Category	Workers
		1971		1981
		Number	%age	Number	%age
1	Cultivators	14305	65.48	17415	58.49
2	Agricultural Labourers	805	3.68	2191	7.36
3	Livestock, Hunting & Forestry etc.	1731	7.92	1442	4.85
4	Mining & Quarrying	21	0.10	3	0.01
5	Manufacturing & Processing other than Household Industry	102	0.47	451	1.51
6	Household Industry	773	3.54	250	0.84
7	Construction	564	2.58	546	1.83
8	Trade & Commerce	297	1.36	735	2.47
9	Transport, Storage & Communication	279	1.28	305	1.03
10	Others	2970	13.59	6439	21.62
Total		21847	100.00	29777	100.00

Source: Census Department

Number of Villages

Census	Number of Villages
	Inhabited	Un-inhabited	Total
1971	108	1	109
1981	112	1	113

Source: Census Department.

Number of Villages by Blocks

Block	Number of Villages
	Inhabited	Uninhabited	Total
Leh	23	0	23
Kharu	15	0	15
Nyoma	17	1	18
Durbuk	5	0	5
Nobra	28	0	28
Khaltsi	24	0	24
Total	112	1	113

Source: Census Department.