Last year, according to the United Nations Population Division**, on April 14, 2023 local time, India's population reached 1424775850 billion people, thus surpassing China to become the world's most populous country.
India, which is less than one-third of China's land area, can feed such a large number of people?
A huge landmass
Although India's land area is less than one-third of China's, it is close to 3 million square kilometers, which is the seventh largest in the world, and behind Australia, it is also among the mega-countries. What's more, the whole territory of India is in the middle and low latitudes, and it is also on the windward slope of the warm and humid air flow of the Indian Ocean, which is very suitable for crop growth at the same time of rain and heat, and can be three or even four crops a year. India's terrain is flat, with the Ganges Plain in the north, and even the Deccan Plateau in the south, which is only 1,000 meters above sea level.
The world's largest arable land.
If land size doesn't tell the question, India's arable land area may change your mind, according to the World Fact Sheet of Land Use, which puts the total area of arable land in the world at about 1,723580,000 square kilometres, and India's arable land area alone has reached a staggering 189170,000 square kilometers, ranking first in the world.
Distribution of the world's main arable land (yellow dots).India's arable land accounts for more than 50% of the country's land area, and the land utilization rate is very high. Moreover, although India has a population similar to that of China, unlike China's aging demographic structure, India's population is relatively young overall, with more than 26% of the population under the age of 15. Therefore, India's population may reach its peak in the future, and the size of this neighbor should not be underestimated!
Demographics of India in 2019.
References: Demographics of India, World Fact Sheet of Land UseEnd of this issue. Part of the source network, invaded and deleted.
