List of languages by number of native speakers in India
The
Overview
India has not had a national language since its independence in 1947. However, Rule 1976 (As Amended, 1987) of the Constitution of India, mandates Hindi and English as the "Official Languages" required "for Official Purpose of the Union." Business in the Indian parliament is transacted in either Hindi or in English. English is allowed for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.
States within India have the liberty and powers to select their own official language(s) through legislation. In addition to the two Official Languages, the constitution recognizes 22 regional languages, named in a specific list as "
Thirteen languages account for more than 1% of Indian population each, and between themselves for over 95%; all of them are "
As per 2011 census, 26% of Indians are
India has a
As per the
List of languages by number of native speakers
Ordered by number of speakers as first language.
More than one million speakers
The 2011 census recorded 31 individual languages as having more than 1 million native speakers (0.1% of total population). The languages in bold are scheduled languages (the only scheduled language with less than 1 million native speakers is Sanskrit). The first table is restricted to only speaking populations for scheduled languages.
First language speakers | Second language speakers[14] |
Third language speakers[14] |
Total speakers | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Language | Figure[14] | % of total population |
Figure[15][14] | % of total population | ||
Hindi[note 2] | 528,347,193 | 43.63% | 139,207,180 | 24,160,696 | 691,347,193 | 57.09% |
Bengali | 97,237,669 | 8.03% | 9,037,222 | 1,008,088 | 107,237,669 | 8.85% |
Marathi | 83,026,680 | 6.86% | 12,923,626 | 2,966,019 | 99,026,680 | 8.18% |
Telugu | 81,127,740 | 6.70% | 11,946,414 | 1,001,498 | 94,127,740 | 7.77% |
Tamil | 69,026,881 | 5.70% | 6,992,253 | 956,335 | 77,026,881 | 6.36% |
Gujarati | 55,492,554 | 4.58% | 4,035,489 | 1,007,912 | 60,492,554 | 4.99% |
Urdu[note 3] | 50,772,631 | 4.19% | 11,055,287 | 1,096,428 | 62,772,631 | 5.18% |
Kannada | 43,706,512 | 3.61% | 14,076,355 | 993,989 | 58,706,512 | 4.84% |
Odia | 37,521,324 | 3.10% | 4,972,151 | 31,525 | 42,551,324 | 3.51% |
Malayalam | 34,838,819 | 2.88% | 499,188 | 195,885 | 35,538,819 | 2.93% |
Punjabi | 33,124,726 | 2.74% | 2,300,000 | 720,000 | 36,074,726 | 2.97% |
Assamese | 15,311,351 | 1.26% | 7,488,153 | 740,402 | 23,539,906 | 1.94% |
Maithili | 13,063,042 | 1.08% | 13,583,464 | 1.12% | ||
English | 259,678 | 0.02% | 83,125,221 | 45,993,066 | 129,259,678 | 10.67% |
Rank | Language | 1991 census of India[16] (total: 838,583,988) |
2001 census of India[17] (total: 1,028,610,328) |
Encarta 2007 estimate[21] Worldwide total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Speakers | Percentage | Speakers | Percentage | Speakers | Percentage | Speakers | ||
1 | Hindi[note 2] | 329,518,087 | 39.29% | 422,048,642 | 41.1% | 528,347,193 | 43.63% | 366 million |
2 | Bengali | 69,595,738 | 8.30% | 83,369,769 | 8.11% | 97,237,669 | 8.03% | 207 million |
3 | Marathi | 62,481,681 | 7.45% | 71,936,894 | 6.99% | 83,026,680 | 6.86% | 68.0 million |
4 | Telugu | 66,017,615 | 7.87% | 74,002,856 | 7.19% | 81,127,740 | 6.70% | 69.7 million |
5 | Tamil | 53,006,368 | 6.32% | 60,793,814 | 5.91% | 69,026,881 | 5.70% | 66.0 million |
6 | Gujarati | 40,673,814 | 4.85% | 46,091,617 | 4.48% | 55,492,554 | 4.58% | 46.1 million |
7 | Urdu[note 3] | 43,406,932 | 5.18% | 51,536,111 | 5.01% | 50,772,631 | 4.19% | 60.3 million |
8 | Kannada | 32,753,676 | 3.91% | 37,924,011 | 3.69% | 43,706,512 | 3.61% | 35.3 million |
9 | Odia | 28,061,313 | 3.35% | 33,017,446 | 3.21% | 37,521,324 | 3.10% | 32.3 million |
10 | Malayalam | 30,377,176 | 3.62% | 33,066,392 | 3.21% | 34,838,819 | 2.88% | 35.7 million |
11 | Punjabi | 23,378,744 | 2.79% | 29,102,477 | 2.83% | 33,124,726 | 2.74% | 57.1 million |
12 | Assamese | 13,079,696 | 1.56% | 13,168,484 | 1.28% | 15,311,351 | 1.26% | 15.4 million |
13 | Maithili | 7,766,921 | 0.926% | 12,179,122 | 1.18% | 13,583,464 | 1.12% | 24.2 million |
14 | Bhili/Bhilodi | 9,582,957 | 0.93% | 10,413,637 | 0.86% | |||
15 | Santali | 5,216,325 | 0.622% | 6,469,600 | 0.63% | 7,368,192 | 0.61% | |
16 | Kashmiri | 5,527,698 | 0.54% | 6,797,587 | 0.56% | |||
17 | Gondi | 2,713,790 | 0.26% | 2,984,453 | 0.25% | |||
18 | Nepali | 2,076,645 | 0.248% | 2,871,749 | 0.28% | 2,926,168 | 0.24% | 16.1 million |
19 | Sindhi | 2,122,848 | 0.253% | 2,535,485 | 0.25% | 2,772,264 | 0.23% | 19.7 million |
20 | Dogri | 2,282,589 | 0.22% | 2,596,767 | 0.21% | |||
21 | Konkani | 1,760,607 | 0.210% | 2,489,015 | 0.24% | 2,256,502 | 0.19% | |
22 | Kurukh | 1,751,489 | 0.17% | 1,988,350 | 0.16% | |||
23 | Khandeshi | 2,075,258 | 0.21% | 1,860,236 | 0.15% | |||
24 | Tulu | 1,722,768 | 0.17% | 1,846,427 | 0.15% | |||
25 | Meitei (Manipuri) | 1,270,216 | 0.151% | 1,466,705* | 0.14% | 1,761,079 | 0.15% | |
26 | Bodo |
1,221,881 | 0.146% | 1,350,478 | 0.13% | 1,482,929 | 0.12% | |
27 | Khasi | 1,128,575 | 0.11% | 1,431,344 | 0.12% | |||
28 | Ho | 1,042,724 | 0.101% | 1,421,418 | 0.12% | |||
29 | Garo | 1,061,352 | 0.103% | 1,145,323 | 0.09% | |||
30 | Mundari | 889,479 | 0.086% | 1,128,228 | 0.09% | |||
31 | Tripuri |
854,023 | 0.083% | 1,011,294 | 0.08% |
* Excludes figures of Paomata, Mao-Maram and Purul sub-divisions of Senapati district of Manipur for 2001.
** The percentage of speakers of each language for 2001 has been worked out on the total population of India excluding the population of Mao-Maram, Paomata and Purul subdivisions of Senapati district of Manipur due to cancellation of census results.
100,000 to one million speakers
Rank | Language | 2001 census | |
---|---|---|---|
Speakers | Percentage | ||
32 | Kui | 916,222 | 0.089% |
33 | Lushai/Mizo | 674,756 | 0.066% |
34 | Halabi |
593,443 | 0.058% |
35 | Korku | 574,481 | 0.056% |
36 | Miri/Mishing | 551,224 | 0.054% |
37 | Munda | 469,357 | 0.046% |
38 | Karbi/Mikir | 419,534 | 0.041% |
39 | Koya | 362,070 | 0.035% |
40 | Ao | 261,387 | 0.025% |
41 | Savara | 252,519 | 0.025% |
42 | Konyak | 248,109 | 0.024% |
43 | Kharia | 239,608 | 0.023% |
44 | English | 226,449 | 0.022% |
45 | Malto | 224,926 | 0.022% |
46 | Nissi/Dafla | 211,485 | 0.021% |
47 | Adi |
198,462 | 0.019% |
48 | Thado |
190,595 | 0.019% |
49 | Lotha | 170,001 | 0.017% |
50 | Coorgi/Kodagu |
166,187 | 0.016% |
51 | Rabha | 164,770 | 0.016% |
52 | Tangkhul | 142,035 | 0.014% |
53 | Kisan | 141,088 | 0.014% |
54 | Angami | 132,225 | 0.013% |
55 | Phom | 122,508 | 0.012% |
56 | Kolami |
121,855 | 0.012% |
57 | Khond/Kondh[22] | 118,597 | 0.012% |
58 | Dimasa | 111,961 | 0.011% |
59 | Ladakhi | 104,618 | 0.010% |
60 | Sema |
103,529 | 0.010% |
List of mother tongues by number of speakers
Each of the languages of the 2001 census subsumes one or more mother tongues. Speaker numbers are available for these mother tongues and they are also included in the speaker numbers for their respective language. For example, the language Telugu (with a total of 81,127,740 speakers) includes the mother tongues of Telugu (with 80,912,459 speakers),
The following table lists those mother tongues that have more than one million speakers according to the 2011 census:[25]
Rank | Mother tongue | 2011 census | Included in language | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Speakers | Percentage | |||
1 | Hindi | 322,200,000 | 26.6% | |
2 | Bengali | 96,180,000 | 7.94% | |
3 | Marathi | 82,800,000 | 6.84% | |
4 | Telugu | 80,910,000 | 6.68% | |
5 | Tamil | 68,890,000 | 5.69% | |
6 | Gujarati | 55,040,000 | 4.55% | |
7 | Urdu | 50,730,000 | 4.19% | |
8 | Bhojpuri | 50,580,000 | 4.18% | Hindi |
9 | Kannada | 43,510,000 | 3.59% | |
10 | Malayalam | 34,780,000 | 2.87% | |
11 | Odia | 34,060,000 | 2.81% | |
12 | Punjabi | 31,140,000 | 2.57% | |
13 | Rajasthani |
25,810,000 | 2.13% | Hindi |
14 | Chhattisgarhi | 16,250,000 | 1.34% | Hindi |
15 | Assamese | 14,820,000 | 1.22% | |
16 | Maithili | 13,350,000 | 1.10% | |
17 | Magahi | 12,710,000 | 1.05% | Hindi |
18 | Haryanvi | 9,807,000 | 0.810% | Hindi |
19 | Khortha/Khotta | 8,039,000 | 0.664% | Hindi |
20 | Marwari | 7,832,000 | 0.647% | Hindi |
21 | Santali | 6,973,000 | 0.576% | |
22 | Kashmiri | 6,554,000 | 0.541% | |
23 | Bundeli/Bundel khandi | 5,626,000 | 0.465% | Hindi |
24 | Malvi | 5,213,000 | 0.430% | Hindi |
25 | Sadan/Sadri |
4,346,000 | 0.359% | Hindi |
26 | Mewari | 4,212,000 | 0.348% | Hindi |
27 | Awadhi | 3,851,000 | 0.318% | Hindi |
28 | Wagdi | 3,394,000 | 0.280% | Bhili/Bhilodi |
29 | Lamani/Lambadi | 3,277,000 | 0.271% | Hindi |
30 | Pahari[note 4] |
3,254,000 | 0.269% | Hindi |
31 | Bhili/Bhilodi | 3,207,000 | 0.265% | |
32 | Hara/Harauti |
2,944,000 | 0.243% | Hindi |
33 | Nepali | 2,926,000 | 0.242% | |
34 | Gondi | 2,857,000 | 0.236% | |
35 | Bagheli/Baghel Khandi | 2,679,000 | 0.221% | Hindi |
36 | Sambalpuri | 2,630,000 | 0.217% | Odia |
37 | Dogri | 2,597,000 | 0.214% | |
38 | Garhwali | 2,482,000 | 0.205% | Hindi |
39 | Nimadi | 2,309,000 | 0.191% | Hindi |
40 | Surjapuri | 2,256,000 | 0.186% | Hindi |
41 | Konkani | 2,147,000 | 0.177% | |
42 | Kumauni | 2,081,000 | 0.172% | Hindi |
43 | Kurukh/Oraon | 1,977,000 | 0.163% | |
44 | Tulu | 1,842,000 | 0.152% | |
45 | Manipuri | 1,761,000 | 0.145% | |
46 | Surgujia |
1,738,000 | 0.144% | Hindi |
47 | Sindhi | 1,679,000 | 0.139% | |
48 | Bagri | 1,657,000 | 0.137% | Punjabi |
49 | Ahirani |
1,636,000 | 0.135% | Khandeshi |
50 | Banjari |
1,581,000 | 0.131% | Hindi |
51 | Brajbhasha | 1,556,000 | 0.129% | Hindi |
52 | Dhundhari | 1,476,000 | 0.122% | Hindi |
53 | Bodo/Boro |
1,455,000 | 0.120% | Bodo |
54 | Ho | 1,411,000 | 0.117% | |
55 | Gojri/Gujjari/Gujar | 1,228,000 | 0.101% | Hindi |
56 | Mundari | 1,128,000 | 0.093% | |
57 | Garo | 1,125,000 | 0.093% | |
58 | Kangri | 1,117,000 | 0.092% | Hindi |
59 | Khasi | 1,038,000 | 0.086% | |
60 | Kachchhi | 1,031,000 | 0.085% | Sindhi |
Notes
- ^ Some languages may be over- or under-represented as the census data used is at a state-level. For example, while Urdu has 52 million speakers (2001), in no state is it a majority language.
- ^ Pahari languagesapart from Nepali and (in 2001) Dogri, whether or not the included varieties were reported as "Hindi" or under their individual names during census.
- ^ a b Although linguistically Modern Standard Hindi and Urdu together is classified as a single language called Hindustani, the government classifies them as separate languages instead of different standard registers of the same language due to socio-political reasons.
- Pahari" as ambiguous, but in the census returns the language name most commonly comes from the Western Pahari area.[26]
See also
- Languages with official status in India
- List of endangered languages in India
References
- ^ "50th Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India (July 2012 to June 2013)" (PDF). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ Lewis, M. Paul; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2014). "Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Seventeenth edition) : India". Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
- ^ "How a Bihari lost his mother tongue to Hindi".
- ^ "These four charts break down India's complex relationship with Hindi".
- ^ "Nearly 60% of Indians speak a language other than Hindi".
- ^ 2001 census data Archived 2013-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ In 1991, there were 90,000,000 "users" of English. (Census of India Indian Census Archived 2006-12-23 at the Wayback Machine, Issue 10, 2003, pp. 8–10, (Feature: Languages of West Bengal in Census and Surveys, Bilingualism and Trilingualism) and Tropf, Herbert S. 2004. India and its Languages Archived 2008-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Siemens AG, Munich.)
- ^ —"What census data reveals about use of Indian languages". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
—"Hindi Added 100Mn Speakers In A Decade; Kashmiri 2nd Fast Growing Language". 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
—"Hindi fastest growing language in India, finds 100 million new speakers".
—"Hindi grew rapidly in non-Hindi states even without official mandate". India Today. Retrieved 2023-11-16. - ^ "COMPARATIVE SPEAKERS' STRENGTH OF SCHEDULED LANGUAGES -1971, 1981, 1991 AND 2001". censusindia.gov. New Delhi, India: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
- ^ https://censusindia.gov.in/census.website/data/census-tables Table C-17
- ^ Paul, Lewis M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D. Fennig, eds. (2015). "Summary by country". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Eighteenth ed.). SIL International.
- ^ Jain, Bharti (27 June 2018). "Hindi mother tongue of 44% in India, Bangla second most-spoken". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ Statement 4 : Scheduled Languages in descending order of speakers' strength – 2011
- ^ a b c d Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. "C-17 POPULATION BY BILINGUALISM AND TRILINGUALISM". Archived from the original on 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ "Indiaspeak: English is our 2nd language – Times of India".
- ^ Comparative Speaker's Strength of Scheduled Languages -1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 Archived 2013-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Census of India, 1991
- ^ Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2000 Archived 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, Census of India, 2001
- ^ "Language" (PDF). Census of India. New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ Statement 1 : Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues – 2011 Archived 2018-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Statement 2 : Distribution of population by Scheduled and other Languages India, States and Union Territories – 2011 Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People – Table – MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2007-12-03.
- ^ different from Kui language
- ^ The data are from http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-0000.XLSX. Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Census Data 2001 General Notes". Archived from the original on 22 February 2013.
- ^ "2011 Census tables: C-16, population by mother tongue". Census of India Website. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-521-23420-7.
General references
- Data table of Census of India, 2001
- Language Maps from Central Institute of Indian Languages
- Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength – 2001
- Comparative ranking of scheduled languages in descending order of speaker's strength-1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001
- Census data on Languages
- C-16 Population By Mother Tongue – Town Level
- C-16 Population By Mother Tongue
External links
- "Major Indian Languages". Discover India. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050109084200/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=India Ethnologue report
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20041213203632/http://www.ciil.org/ Central Institute of Indian Languages