The Population Geography of the Indian Subcontinent During an Era of Change

Abstract

The inclusion of the article by Arthur Geddes (‘The Social and Psychological Significance of Variability in Population Change, with Examples from India 1871–1941’), with its partial updating by Andrew Learmonth, serves several purposes. First, it counters the widespread view of the ‘oneness’ of the problem. Geddes, for instance, was able to show that India had well-marked demographic regions, and even though in recent decades, as Lear-month points out, a ‘more blurred picture’ has emerged, nevertheless the distinctions may well continue to have the social and psychological effects which Geddes noted and which need, therefore, to be borne in mind when trying to implement policies such as birth control. The article also demonstrates the value of one of the geographer’s basic techniques — cartography.