City Size Distributions and Hierarchy among Cities in India

Abstract

Abstract: The article examines the pattern of distribution of cities from the framework of the theory given by Zipf (rank size rule) and Jefferson (law of primate city). The idea of urban hierarchy is core to the concept of urban system. The urban places have different population sizes and functions where one urban place may dominate another. Study of the urban hierarchy of any country helps to understand the pattern exists in the distribution of cities. For this analysis the urban population data have been used for the year 1951-2001. The analysis confirms that India’s urban system  is not following the rank size distribution of cities, but Indian urban system have shown primacy at regional level.