made up 18.86% and 20.21% of the population respectively. In 2001, the population of the district was 1,609,172. The rural population was 1,088,740 and urban population was 520,432. Total males were 830,644 and females were 778,528. The density of population was 511 per km2. The decennial population growth rate (1991–2001) was 23.79%. The hills have a population of 624,061 which is nearly 40% of the population. The original inhabitants of the Darjeeling Hills were the Lepchas or Rongpa (the ravine people, as they prefer themselves to be known as). Other communities with a long history in the district include the Limbu, Rai, Tamang, Gurung, Magar, Newar, Thami, Chettri, Bahun, Kami, and Damai. There is also a sizeable population of Tibetans who arrived from Tibet since the 1950s. Over time, the ethnic distinctions between the hill people have blurred and today most identify as Gorkha and speak Nepali only as mother tongue. In the plains, the Bengalis are in majority while there are large numbers of Gorkhas and Adivasis, the latter of which migrated from Chotanagpur and Santhal Parganas during British rule as tea garden workers. Both in the hills and plains are various migrants from other regions including Biharis, Marwaris and Punjabis. Languages At the time of the 2011 census, 39.88% of the population spoke Nepali, 26.51% Bengali, 10.95% Hindi, 6.17% Rajbongshi, 5.38% Sadri, 2.52% Kurukh, 1.50% Bhojpuri and 1.15% Santali as their first language. According to 1951 Census, about 26% of the population in the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling district (including Kalimpong) spoke Nepali as mother language. Other languages formerly spoken in the hills included Rai, Limbu, Tamang, Magar, Gurung, and Newar. Bengali is the official language of the district population with Nepali declared as co-official only in Darjeeling and Kurseong subdivisions. Nepali is the dominant language in the hill divisions, spoken by more than 90% of the people in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Mirik subdivisions, although most hill inhabitants are not from Khas communities. Several hundred of the original hill inhabitants still speak their original languages although the vast majority now speak only Nepali. The main language of the Siliguri subdivision is Bengali. It is followed by a sizable number of Kamatpuri or Rajbongshi speakers. Among the Adivasis, Sadri is the main language although some still speak their original languages like Kurukh, Mundari and Santali. Religion Hinduism is the majority religion in both the hills and plains. Buddhism