Chhattisgarh's population was at 2,55,45,198 as of March 1, 2011, as per the "Primary Census Abstract" of the 2011 national census released Thursday by the Census Directorate here.
The census contains statistics on Chhattisgarh's demography made available with significant data gathered at state, district, tehsil, city and village level, said Renu Pillai, director census, Chhattisgarh.
"There are 1,28,32,895 (more than 1.28 crore) males and 1, 27,120,303 (more than 1.27 crore) females in Chhattisgarh which is 2.11 per cent of the country's total population," Pillai told media persons.
The highest population was recorded in Raipur district with 40,63,872 people and Narayanpur with the least population at 1,39,8200 people.
As per Pillai, the decade of 2001-2011 has been a total increase of 47,11,395 people in state's population.
The state had population of 2,08,33,803 (more than 2.08 crore) after 2001 census. The rate of percentage rise in the decade, 2001-2011, in the state stood at 22.61 percent which is 4.34 percent higher than the previous census' 18.27 percent.
The population of backward class people in Chhattisgarh stood at 32,74,269 which is 12.82 percent of the state's entire population.