The Situation of the Adivasis of Chotanagpur and Santal Parganas, Bihar, India

Although Bihar has one of the largest industrial complexes of India and is rich in mineral resources, one of the poorest and most backward populations of India reside there. The total population of Bihar is
46 455 600. The "Tribal Belt" of Bihar, Chotanagpur Division and Santal Parganas District, is inhabited by more than 11 million. The Tribals there number about 3 million. The most predominant tribes are the San­tals (1 255 000), Mundas (614 000), 0raons (554 000) and Hos (434 000) (1). They are characterized as "Scheduled Tribes" by the government.