Auroville population on the increase

The latest annual population figures have been released by the Residents Service, giving us a window through which to notice some interesting trends and tidbits about the community’s make-up, including countries of origin, age and length of stay. 

The community’s growth continues with an increase of 167 new residents since last year’s break through the 3000 barrier. Our gender divide is almost exactly 50:50; 1200 women to 1192 men. 57 nations are represented in Auroville, down one from last year. Whilst it’s not a united nations, it’s still a very diverse community with India and Europe being the predominant countries of origin. 

Notable changes include France growing by 23 people from last year’s number of 426. Our Indian population has grown an extraordinary 79 people in one year, from 1336 to 1415. Despite their disparate size, the Americans and Dutch are in a dead heat of 105 people each at No 5 in our population chart.

There are noticeable quirks; we have 29 Swedes, but from their Nordic siblings we have only 7 Danes, 2 Norwegians and 2 Finns. From Africa there are 11 South Africans, but only 3 Ethiopians, 2 Rwandese, 1 Algerian and 1 Egyptian. From our direct neighbours there are just a few folk; 3 Sri Lankans, 3 Tibetans, 8 Nepalis. Likewise with South East Asia, just 1 Indonesian and 2 Filipinos. Some smaller nations are very well represented; 55 Koreans, 52 Israelis, 44 Swiss, 45 Belgians and over a hundred folk from the former Soviet Union – Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan. There are untold stories of TV shows, Aurobindo centres and translated books that must have met a reciprocity in those lands. 

I have a – perhaps self-evident – hypothesis about communities; that those who commit their lives to the ideals and vision of the place are the foundations that help that place survive and grow into the long term. The fascinating chart of the year of arrival shows one of Auroville’s strong points, that of the longevity and commitment of its early residents. Including the intriguing person from 1964 there are 114 Aurovilians who came here before 1974 and presumably had Mother’s Darshan, who are still living here. 18 had come by 1968 and could have been at the inauguration. Their first hand knowledge of the founding of Auroville, Mother’s guidance and the sweat and commitment of the early years is still here.

The other noticeable fact is the length of stay: the graph of arrivals who are still here is fairly consistent over all these years. There are 1125 people who have lived over twenty years here. That is a lot of accumulated knowledge, stability and presence in Auroville. Auroville is evidently a place people come to live, not to try out community for a while. Unlike other communities founded in the 1960s, which flared in numbers and then reduced or even ended in the more conservative 1980s era, there is a consistent intake and growth in Auroville, testifying to Mother’s vision still being active in attracting people to this place of evolution. There has been a steady annual population growth until 2016 when the growth rate doubled to an average of 176 newcomers joining per year, which is roughly one new Aurovilian every two days. 

In terms of age we range from 0 all the way to 99. The most popular year of birth is 1975. Whilst we now have two needed old age homes, the average age is still just under 40, or if you take out the children, 47 years, so we have not quite reached peak old age in the way that Japan has. There are 8 people in their 90s here and 53 over 80.

In the hard analysis of statistics, nuances are, of course, lost. The number of dual nationals for instance is not covered. Neither – unlike the German and Indian passports – is the option to be a third sex included in Auroville’s statistics. There are increasing amounts of OCIs – those of Indian origin born in the diaspora, who return to India. I wonder if in time an Aurovilian status will emerge, reflecting Mother’s dream for ‘a place that no nation could claim as its sole property’; and from the Charter belonging to ‘humanity as a whole’ and ‘free from moral and social conventions’ . Until that time, our population stats are an intriguing indicator of our origins that we left behind to create this dream.