India, a potpourri of different cultures, religions and beliefs, is home to not just one or two languages but to an uncountable number of different lingual families. Languages belonging to the two major language families - Indo Aryan and Dravidian - are spoken by more than 90% of the people of India. Know more about the languages of India with India Language Map.
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:
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.
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% |
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 |
SL 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 |
SL 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 |
SOURCES:
50th REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN INDIA (July 2012 to June 2013)
http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/ NCLM50thReport.pdf
The 2011 census identified the following native languages having more than one million speakers. All of them are dialects/variants grouped under Hindi
sl 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 |