- a.the ratio between the total population and the actual utilization of land in a country.
- b.the ratio between total land and total population of a country.
- c.the ratio between the total plain land and mature population of a country.
- d.the ratio between total agricultural land and total male population.
Answer: (A) the ratio between the total population and the actual utilization of land in a country.
The man–land ratio relates a country's total population to its effective land, meaning the land actually usable and productive along with its resources. It is thus a qualitative measure of the pressure of population on resources. Population density, by contrast, is simply the number of people divided by total area, a purely quantitative measure; option (B), comparing total land with total population, describes density, not the man–land ratio. Options (C) and (D) restrict the comparison to adults or males and are meaningless. Census 2011 figures: India's density 382 per sq km; Bihar highest among States (1,106), West Bengal second (1,028) and Arunachal Pradesh lowest (17).