ABSTRACT
India is the second biggest country in the world in terms of population. This is true of the female population also. In 1971 the female population of India was 264 million – much more than the total population of the USSR or the USA. The 1971 Census asked a direct question on age at marriage of all married women for the first time in the history of census operations in India. In rural areas the mean age at marriage for males is higher than that of females by 4.9 years. The difference is even higher in the urban areas, 5.1 years, though the rural urban differences are small. The great majority of Indian women are illiterate or semi-literate and only an insignificant fraction is educated. The image of the Indian woman created by a few women holding high positions or academic qualifications is only that of a small elite group and does not, in any way, reflect the actual position.
