The term demography was first used by Guillad in 1855, while the beginning of demography traced from John Graunt, who is the father of “Demography”. He wrote an essay on the natural and political observations made upon the bills of mortality in 1662. He presented what is known as analysis-approach while malt us presented, what is known as problem approach. The development of demography may be seen in the last century while its history may be traced since about three centuries back. Today, demography is considered as an independent branch of knowledge. In the beginning, the demography was considered only with the enumeration of population but later on it began to study population from empirical, statistical and mathematical aspects.
Today it studies the size, composition and distribution of population. The size includes the population of a place in different periods. The composition of population includes measurable characteristics of population like age, sex, marital status, education, religion, caste and health etc.
The characteristics of population are always changing. Distribution of population may be studied according to communities, societies, religious groups or fields of population. Demography studies the patterns and causes of the changes in size, composition and distribution of population. It studies the influence of these changes upon different aspects of society. It studies the birth, mortality, marriage, migration and urbanization etc.
