VI. DEMOGRAPHY

A. Number of Speakers

The number of Kumauni speakers in India according to 2001 census is 2,003,783.

1. Main Habitat

The main habitats of Kumauni speakers in India is in Uttaranchal and Delhi.

a. Male/Female

The following table shows the Male-Female distribution of Kumauni speakers in the states and union territories of India according to 2001 census.

b. Rural/Urban

The following table shows the Rural-Urban distribution of Kumauni speakers in India according to 2001 census

2. Decennial Growth

The following table shows the deccenial growth of Kumanni speakers in India in 2 consecutive census.

B. Settlement Pattern

The state of Uttaranchal is broadly divided into two regions namely the Kumaun and the Garhwal region. Kumaun region lies between 28 43 ‘55’ and 30 49’ north latitude and 78 44’ 33’’ and 81 5’ 15’’ east by the neighboring countries of Tibet and Nepal respectively. It is surrounded by the districts of Moradabad Rampur, Bareilly and Pilibhit in the South and Pauli and Chamoli districts of Garhwal in the West. Kumauni comprises of three districts, namely Almora, Pithoragarh and Nainital.

Besides the scheduled language such as Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi , the non-scheduled languages like Kumauni (with the maximum number of speakers), Raji, Bhotiya, Buksa, Tharu are spoken in the region. The Bhotiyas are grouped into Eastern and Western group and they speak Darma, Chaudangsi and Byangsi languages. While Bhotiya, Buksa and Tharu belong to the Tibeto Himalayan language family, Raji is grouped under the Austro Asiatic family.

However, there is some disagreement among scholars of Tibcto-Himalayan languages with regards to classifying Raji as a truly Austro-Asiatic language.

These languages are spoken in the Nainital and pithoragarh districts whereas Almora remains the only district of Kumauni region where 98% of the population speaks Kumauni.

Kumauni has been classified into two groups: Eastern Kumauni and Western Kumauni. Kumaiya, Soryali, Sirali and Askoti comes under Eastern Kumauni. On the other hand, Khasparaja, Chaugarkhiya, Gangoli, Danpuria, Pacchai and Rau Chaubengsi come under Western Kumauni.

The following table shows the male-female and rural-urban distribution of Kumauni speakers in India according to 2001 census