According to Ethnologue, India is considered to be home to 461 languages, out of which 14 have been reported to be extinct.
But still there is not a single Indian language that is spoken across its length and breadth. Hindi is spoken by a majority of North Indians, but it is not a popular means of communication in the southern part of India. Similarly, South Indian languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are not understood by the people of North India.
For the convenience of people, the Constitution of India has recognised 22 languages in the eighth schedule. These are known as Scheduled Languages and constitute the major languages of the country. India Language Map provides detailed information about these languages listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution and spoken in different parts of the country.
The list of some of the Indian languages includes:
- Sanskrit
- Hindi
- English
- Gujarati - Language of Gujarat and Union Territories of Dadar and Nagar Haveli
- Punjabi - The official language of Punjab
- Bengali- The state language of West Bengal
- Assamese - Official language of Assam
- Dogri, Urdu - The language of Jammu and Kashmir
- Oriya - The state language of state of Odisha
- Marathi - Language of Maharashtra
- Kannada - The official language of Karnataka
- Tamil - The state language of Tamil Nadu
- Telugu - It is the official language of Andhra Pradesh.
- Malayalam - It is the official language of Kerala
- Sindhi
- Konkani - The state language of Goa
- Manipuri - The official language of Manipur
- Khasi - The official language of Meghalaya
- Mizo - The official language of Mizoram
- English - The official language of Nagaland
As per Articles 344(1) and 351 of theĀ Indian Constitution, the eighth schedule includes the recognition of the following 22 languages:
- Assamese
- Bengali
- Bodo
- Dogri
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Kannada
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Maithili
- Malayalam
- Manipuri
- Marathi
- Nepali
- Odia
- Punjabi
- Sanskrit
- Santali
- Sindhi
- Tamil
- Telugu
- Urdu
Urdu and Telugu are also the official languages of the newly formed state of Telangana.
Besides these, there are other languages, which are spoken by large masses but have still not acquired the status of Scheduled Languages of India. These languages spoken by regional people are known as regional languages of India. These include Rajasthani, Haryanvi, Bhili, Gondi and Tulu among others.
Some Indian languages are not widely spoken and have been given the status of minority languages. Mahl and Portuguese languages come under this category.
List by number of native speakers in India
The 2011 census recorded 31 individual languages as having more than 1 million native speakers
Rank | Language | 2011 Census | |
---|---|---|---|
Speakers | Percentage | ||
1 | Hindi | 52,83,47,193 | 43.63% |
2 | Bengali | 9,72,37,669 | 8.03% |
3 | Telugu | 8,11,27,740 | 6.70% |
4 | Marathi | 8,30,26,680 | 6.86% |
5 | Tamil | 6,90,26,881 | 5.70% |
6 | Urdu | 5,07,72,631 | 4.19% |
7 | Gujarati | 5,54,92,554 | 4.58% |
8 | Kannada | 4,37,06,512 | 3.61% |
9 | Malayalam | 3,48,38,819 | 2.88% |
10 | Oriya | 3,75,21,324 | 3.10% |
11 | Punjabi | 3,31,24,726 | 2.74% |
12 | Assamese | 1,53,11,351 | 1.26% |
13 | Maithili | 1,35,83,464 | 1.12% |
14 | Bhili/Bhilodi | 1,04,13,637 | 8.67% |
15 | Santali | 73,68,192 | 13.89% |
16 | Kashmiri | 67,97,587 | 0.56% |
17 | Nepali | 29,26,168 | 0.24% |
18 | Gondi | 29,84,453 | 9.97% |
19 | Sindhi | 27,72,264 | 0.23% |
20 | Konkani | 22,56,502 | 0.19% |
21 | Dogri | 25,96,767 | 0.21% |
22 | Khandeshi | 18,60,236 | -10.36% |
23 | Kurukh | 19,88,350 | 13.52% |
24 | Tulu | 18,46,427 | 7.18% |
25 | Meitei/Manipuri | 17,61,079 | 0.15% |
26 | Bodo | 14,82,929 | 0.12% |
27 | Khasi | 14,31,344 | 26.83% |
28 | Mundari | 11,28,228 | 6.30% |
29 | Ho | 14,21,418 | 36.32% |
30 | Garo | 11,45,323 | 28.76% |
31 | Tripuri | 10,11,294 | 18.42% |
Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength - 2011
S. No. | Language | Persons who Returned the Language as their Mother Tongue | Percentage to Total Population |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hindi | 52,83,47,193 | 43.63 |
2 | Bengali | 9,72,37,669 | 8.03 |
4 | Marathi | 8,30,26,680 | 6.86 |
3 | Telugu | 8,11,27,740 | 6.70 |
5 | Tamil | 6,90,26,881 | 5.70 |
7 | Gujarati | 5,54,92,554 | 4.58 |
6 | Urdu | 5,07,72,631 | 4.19 |
8 | Kannada | 4,37,06,512 | 3.61 |
10 | Oriya | 3,75,21,324 | 3.1 |
9 | Malayalam | 3,48,38,819 | 2.88 |
11 | Punjabi | 3,31,24,726 | 2.74 |
12 | Assamese | 1,53,11,351 | 1.26 |
13 | Maithili | 1,35,83,464 | 1.12 |
14 | Santali | 73,68,192 | 0.61 |
15 | Kashmiri | 67,97,587 | 0.56 |
16 | Nepali | 29,26,168 | 0.24 |
17 | Sindhi | 27,72,264 | 0.23 |
18 | Konkani | 22,56,502 | 0.19 |
19 | Dogri | 25,96,767 | 0.21 |
20 | Manipuri | 17,61,079 | 0.15 |
21 | Bodo | 14,82,929 | 0.12 |
22 | Sanskrit | 24,821 | N |
States official languages
S. No. | States | Official Languages | Additional Official Languages |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andhra Pradesh | Telugu | Urdu |
2 | Arunachal Pradesh | English | |
3 | Assam | Assamese | |
4 | Bihar | Hindi | Urdu |
5 | Chhattisgarh | Hindi | |
6 | Goa | Konkani | Marathi |
7 | Gujarat | Gujarati | |
8 | Haryana | Hindi | |
9 | Himachal Pradesh | Hindi | English |
10 | Jharkhand | Hindi | Urdu |
11 | Karnataka | Kannada | |
12 | Kerala | Malayalam | |
13 | Madhya Pradesh | Hindi | |
14 | Maharashtra | Marathi | |
15 | Manipur | Manipuri | English |
16 | Meghalaya | English | Khasi |
17 | Mizoram | Mizo, English, Hindi | |
18 | Nagaland | English | |
19 | Odisha | Odia | |
20 | Punjab | Punjabi (in Gurumukhi Script) | |
21 | Rajasthan | Hindi | English |
22 | Sikkim | English | |
23 | Tamil Nadu | Tamil | English |
24 | Telangana | Telugu and Urdu | |
25 | Tripura | Bengali, Kokborok and English | |
26 | Uttar Pradesh | Hindi | Urdu |
27 | Uttarakhand | Hindi | |
28 | West Bengal | Bengali | Hindi, Urdu, Santhali, Oriya and Punjabi, Nepali |
S. No. | Union Territory | Official Languages | Other Officially Recognised Languages |
1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | English, Hindi | |
2 | Chandigarh | English | Punjabi and Hindi |
3 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | Hindi and Gujarati | Marathi |
4 | Daman and Diu | Konkani and Gujarati | |
5 | Delhi | Hindi | Punjabi, Urdu |
6 | Lakshadweep | English | Hindi |
7 | Puducherry | Tamil, English | Malayalam and Telugu |
8 | Jammu and Kashmir | Urdu | |
9 | Ladakh | Ladakhi |
Other local languages and dialects
The 2011 census identified the following native languages having more than one million speakers. All of them are dialects/variants grouped under Hindi
S. No. | State | Speakers |
---|---|---|
1 | Haryanvi | 322,230,097 |
2 | Bhojpuri | 50,579,447 |
3 | Rajasthani | 25,806,344 |
4 | Chhattisgarhi | 16,245,190 |
5 | Magadh/Magahi | 12,706,825 |
6 | Khorth/Khotta | 8,038,735 |
7 | Marwari | 7,831,749 |
8 | Bundeli/Bundelkhan | 5,626,356 |
9 | Malvi | 5,212,617 |
10 | Sadan/Sadri | 4,345,677 |
11 | Mewari | 4,212,262 |
12 | Awadhi | 3,850,906 |
13 | Laman/Lambadi | 3,276,548 |
14 | Pahari | 3,253,889 |
15 | Harauti | 2,944,356 |
16 | Bagheli/Baghel Khan | 2,679,129 |
17 | Garhwali | 2,482,089 |
18 | Nimadi | 2,309,265 |
19 | Nimadi | 2,309,265 |
20 | Surjapuri | 2,256,228 |
21 | Kumauni | 2,081,057 |
22 | Surgujia | 1,738,256 |
23 | Surgujia | 1,738,256 |
24 | Banjari | 1,581,271 |
25 | Brajbhasha | 1,556,314 |
26 | Dhundhari | 1,476,446 |
27 | Gojri/Gujjari/Gujar | 1,227,901 |
28 | Kangri | 1,117,342 |
Last Updated on: November 19, 2019