Demographics

People of Uttarakhand are generally called either Garhwali or Kumaoni depending on their place of origin in either the Garhwal or Kumaon region. Colloquially they are also referred to as Pahari meaning "hill person". Many Punjabis, who migrated to India after partition, along with migrants from the adjoining plains, make up the majority of the Terai population. Nepalis, Bengalis, and Tibetans of Eastern Tibet region (Khampa) have also settled in the state. Another well known category is Gujjar, cattle herders in the southwestern Terai.

Kumaoni and Garhwali dialects of Central Pahari are spoken in Kumaon and Garhwal region respectively. Jaunsari and Bhotiya dialects are also spoken by tribal communities in the west and north respectively. The urban population however converses mostly in Hindi.

A majority of peoples in the state are Rajput.

Hindus form the majority of the population at 85.0%, Muslims form 12.0%, Sikhs 2.5% and Christians, Buddhists, Jains and others about 0.5% .

According to the Population Projection Report based on 2001 Census by Censusindia, table 8 page 57, Uttarakhand's estimated population in 2007 is 9,365,000 with 4,774,000 males and 4,591,000 females.
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