Population Composition

According to 1981 census, the male population in Kech district outnumbers the female population throughout the population pyramid, except for the age group 35-40 years. One probable reason may be that young girls are often not reported at the time of census as people consider it against the code of honour to tell the names of or details about their young female family members to strangers or enumerators. In this way women become less visible in the population. It is evinced by a significant gap between number of males and females of young age group (5-19 years). Another reason could be malnourishment and neglect of girls. However, final conclusions can only be drawn after availability of age and gender specific birth and death rates at the district level.

In 1981, about one third (34.2%) of the total population was eligible to vote (21 years of age and above) while adult population (18 years of age and above) was 40.3 percent. Women of the child bearing age (15-49 years) were 38.4 percent of the female population. Married population constituted 63.1 percent of the population of 15 years and above while 30.4 percent of this population was never married. Divorcees and widowers constituted 1.0 and 5.6 percent respectively. Mean age at marriage for females in Kech district was 21.3 years.

Household Size

The average household size in the district, according to 1980 housing census, is 8.2 which shows an increasing trend in retrospect of the previous censuses. One reason for this trend may be the high total fertility rate (9.6 in 1981) which surely can result in a larger household size. The employment of male family members in Gulf states has also necessitated the joint family system which in turn results in a large household.

Dependent Population

According to the 1981 census, the majority (55.9%) of the population in the district is dependent, either below the age of 15 or 65 years of age and above. The youth dependency ratio is 121.8 percent while the old age dependency ratio is 4.7 percent. An overall dependency ratio of 126.5 percent is a significant burden on the earning population. This situation increases the economic pressure for the families which may result in child labour and malnutrition of both women and children; the most neglected strata of the society.

Rural-Urban Dimensions

The definition of "urban area" has been changing in different censuses. In 1972, urban areas included municipal corporations, municipal committees, cantonment boards, and town committees. Other places having a concentration of population of at least 5,000 persons in continuous collection of houses, where the community sense was well developed and the community maintained public utilities, such as roads, street lighting, water supply, sanitary arrangements, etc., were also treated as urban areas. These places were generally centres of trade and commerce with a population mostly non-agricultural and had a comparatively higher literacy rate. As a special case, a few areas having the above urban characteristics but with a population less than 5,000 persons were also treated as urban. The 1981 census defined the urban locality on the basis of type of local government institutions. All the localities which were either metropolitan corporation, municipal corporation, municipal committee, town committee or cantonment at the time of census, were treated as urban. The definition of urban areas in 1961 census is not given in the census reports. This variation and unavailability of the definition of urban area has made comparative analysis difficult.

According to 1981 census, only 13.8 percent of the population is urban. Only the municipal area of Turbat is designated as urban. The highest of the urban population ratio can be observed at the time of 1972 census (18.7%), a sudden rise from 6.5 percent in 1961. In 1981, percentage of urban population decreased to 13.8 percent. This unprecedented change in proportion of urban population can only be defined in terms of change of definition.