Languages of India

Languages of IndiaLanguages of

India

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.

Languages of IndiaLanguages of

India

According to Ethnologue, India is considered to be the home to 398languages. But still there is not a single Indian language which is

spoken across its length and breadth. Hindi is spoken by the majority of North Indians but it's not a popular means of

communication in southern part of India. Similarly south Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam - are not

understood by the people of northern India.

For the convenience of people, the Constitution of India has recognized 23 languages as official languages of India. These are

known as Scheduled Languages and constitute the Major languages of India.

Languages of IndiaLanguages of

India

Besides these, there are Indian 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. This includes Rajasthani, Bihari, Haryanavi, Bhili, Gondi, Tulu among others.

Some Indian languages are not widely spoken; they are given the status of minority languages. Mahl and Portuguese languages

come under this category.

AssameseLanguages of

India

BanglaLanguages of

India

BodoLanguages of

India

DogriLanguages of

India

EnglishLanguages of

India

GujaratiLanguages of

India

HindiLanguages of

India

KannadaLanguages of

India

KashmiriLanguages of

India

KonkaniLanguages of

India

MaithiliLanguages of

India

MalayalamLanguages of

India

ManipuriLanguages of

India

MarathiLanguages of

India

NepaliLanguages of

India

OdiyaLanguages of

India

PunjabiLanguages of

India

SanskritLanguages of

India

SanthaliLanguages of

India

SindhiLanguages of

India

TamilLanguages of

India

TeluguLanguages of

India

UrduLanguages of

India

States & Their

LanguagesLanguages of

India

Name of State/

Union Territory Major Language Spoken Other Languages Spoken

Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri Dogri and Hindi

Himachal Pradesh Hindi Punjabi and Nepali

Punjab Punjabi Hindi

Uttrakhand Hindi Urdu, Punjabi and Nepali

Haryana Hindi Punjabi and Urdu

Delhi Hindi Punjabi, Urdu and Bengali

Uttar Pradesh Hindi Urdu

Rajasthan Hindi Punjabi and Urdu

Madhya Pradesh Hindi Marathi and Urdu

States & Their

LanguagesLanguages of

India

Name of State/

Union Territory Major Language Spoken Other Languages Spoken

Bihar Hindi Maithili and Urdu

Jharkhand Hindi Santali, Bengali and Urdu

West Bengal Bengali Hindi, Santali, Urdu, Nepali

Sikkim Nepali Hindi, Bengali

Assam Assamese Bengali, Hindi, Bodo and Nepali

Arunachal Pradesh Bengali Nepali, Hindi and Assamese

Nagaland Bengali Hindi and Nepali

Mizoram Bengali Hindi and Nepali

Tripura Bengali Hindi

States & Their

LanguagesLanguages of

India

Name of State/

Union Territory Major Language Spoken Other Languages Spoken

Manipur Manipuri Nepali, Hindi and Bengali

Orissa Oriya Hindi, Telegu and Santali

Maharashtra Marathi Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati

Gujarat Gujarati Hindi, Sindhi, Marathi and Urdu

Daman and Diu Gujarati Hindi and Marathi

Dadra and Nagar Haveli Gujarati Hindi, Konkani and Marathi

Goa Konkani Marathi, Hindi and Kannada

Karnataka Kannada Urdu, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil

Andhra Pradesh Telugu Urdu, Hindi and Tamil

States & Their

LanguagesLanguages of

India

Name of State/

Union Territory Major Language Spoken Other Languages Spoken

Lakshadweep Islands Malayalam None

Tamil Nadu Tamil Telugu, Kannada and Urdu

Puducherry Tamil Telugu, Kannada and Urdu

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Bengali Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and

Malayalam

This presentation is a result of my experiences while I was helping out my son with his school assignments and project work. I am happy to share this with other students and their

parents. Hope you find this informative and useful. Thank you.

- Prashant Mahajan -

All pictures belong to their original authors, photographers.