The Strength and Weakness of India: Population Growth

As India emerges in the 21st century as a world power, there is considerable analysis and observation regarding whether it will be aided by its strengths or deferred by its weakness'. Among India's factors, I believe that the most significant sign of progress and a potential sign of limitation for India is the country's inflating population.

India Population Pyramid

Last year, as of July 2010, the total population of India was estimated to be 1,173,108,018. This makes India the second most populated country in the world, second only to another rising power, China. The population of India makes up about 17% of the global population. India's massive growth could be beneficial to the future of India's progressive rise. More people born means more added manpower to the country's workforce, spurring the growth of the number of jobs, and therefore a growth of the national economy. A rising economy in turn raises the standard of living in India and cause the creation of a middle class in India equivalent to the United States.

The downside to India's rising populace is the strain that such a growth will have on Indian society. Rising population will mean the increase of the number of impovershied in the country, a problem India has always struggled to deal with. Currently, about 25% of the population lives below the poverty line. In case of economic depression, high unemployment would result, putting a potential and severe strain on the Indian government. Harvesting natural resources would also have to increase in order to support such a large population. Therefore a great strain would be put onto the environment of India and possibly could upset the the country's natural ecosystem.

Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html
http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/indiapopulation.htm