Historic Map: India

This collection consists of eight polygon shapefile layers representing decadal changes in district boundaries of India from 1951 to 2011, produced by ML InfoMap. Each layer includes district-level socio-demographic Census attribute data such as total population, population by sex, literacy rates, sex ratio, and rural/urban populations. The data is sourced from secondary government sources including the Survey of India, Census of India, and the Election Commission. Together, the datasets document India's evolving administrative geography over seven census decades—from 316 districts across 34 states in 1951, to 341 districts in 1961, 357 districts in 1971, 466 districts in 1991, and beyond—supporting research on India's demographic change, administrative reorganization, and regional development. A supplementary 2011 layer (nyu_2451_60210) includes an expanded set of employment variables. This dataset is intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for district-level demographic analysis within basic applications to support graphical overlays and analysis with other spatial data.