National/Official Languages in India: India is a diverse country with a variety of cultures in every corner of the country. It is a union of 28 states and 8 Union Territories that have a variety of languages & distinct cultural heritage. From the origin of the Constitution, there have been many debates on the concern of the national language. However, India doesn’t hold the national language as there is quite a difference between an official language and a national language. Want to know what are the national/official languages in India? Continue your read until the end of the article and get clarity regarding Indian official/national languages.
This Blog Contains:
- What is the National Language of India?
- Official Languages of India
- List of All Official 22 Languages Specified by the Indian Consitution
- Other Major State Languages of the country
- A few other Popular Languages of India
- Indian Minority Language
- FAQs on National/Official Languages in India
What is the National Language of India?
Indian Consitution doesn’t make any choice of giving the status of the national language to none of the languages communicated in India because of the diversity of the country. Later, the Hindi language was decided as a national language of India but the issue was only 44% of the Indian population understand and speak Hindi. Thus make an issue for other Indian populations to communicate with other state people.
At last, the constitution of India has stated that both Hindi and English are the official languages of India. Moreover, it includes a list of 22 official languages. These languages are eligible to representation on the official language commission, and an aspirant in the examination held for national government service may choose to take the exam in any of these official languages.
Also Check: GK General Knowledge Topics
Official Languages of India
As per the usage of central administration, here are two languages recognized as Official Languages in India:
- Hindi is the language adopted by the Central Government when interacting with the states of the Hindi Belt.
- English is the Associate official language of India ie., used for communicating with the states.
Also, check this statement for a better understanding of the national language of India. Article 343(1) of the Indian constitution clearly mentions that “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.”
Do Refer: National Tree of India
List of All Official 22 Languages Specified by the Indian Consitution
In the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, the government recognized that there are 22 official languages in India. Part XVII of the Indian constitution handles the official languages of India from articles 343 to 351. Primarily, only 14 languages were considered, and later, after some amendments, the other languages were added. Thus, refer to the Indian constitution sanctioned list of all official 22 languages of India below:
Language | Spoken in the States |
1. Assamese | Assam, Arunachal Pradesh |
2. Bengali | West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, Andaman islands, and Bangladesh |
3. Gujarati | Gujarat, Daman, and Diu |
4. Hindi | Almost every part of the country including North-Central India |
5. Kannada | Karnataka |
6. Kashmiri | Kashmir |
7. Konkani | It is the official language of Goa but spoken in Southern Maharashtra, North Karnataka, Kerala also. |
8. Malayalam | Southwestern Kerala, Lakshadweep, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu |
9. Manipuri | Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar |
10. Marathi | In addition to Maharashtra, it is spoken in Goa, Karnataka, Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadar, and Nagar Haveli. |
11. Nepali | It is the national language of Nepal. It is also spoken in Sikkim, West Bengal, North-eastern states, Bhutan, Tibet, and Myanmar. |
12. Odia | It is mainly spoken in Odisha. It is the official language of the Odisha state. |
13. Punjabi | The principal language of Punjab is Punjabi but spoken in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Pakistan, USA, Canada, and Australia also. |
14. Sanskrit | At present; this language is not spoken in almost any part of India. But it is still spoken in Mattur (Mathur) village of Karnataka state. |
15. Sindhi | This language is mainly spoken in Gujarat and the Sindh provinces of Pakistan. |
16. Tamil | This is the official language of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It is spoken in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Vietnam also. |
17. Urdu | It is an additional official language of Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Delhi, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. There are 4.81 crores Urdu speakers in India, 1.07 crores in Pakistan, 6.5 lacs in Bangladesh, and 4 lacs in Britain. |
18. Telugu | It is the principal language of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. Apart from these states; it is spoken in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Puducherry, and Chhattisgarh also. |
19. Bodo | Bodo or Baro is a Tibetan-Burmese language spoken by Bodo people living in northeast, Nepal, and Bangladesh. |
20. Dogri | Dogri language is spoken in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. It is the dialect of Punjabi. |
21. Maithili | The Maithili language is spoken in the northern region of Bihar, and the Valley of Nepal. |
22. Santali | It is spoken in Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tripura, and Bengal. It is spoken in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan also. |
Other Major State Languages
The following languages are some of the important state official languages but are not yet identified as national languages of India:
- Kokborok – official language of Tripura
- Garo – official language of Meghalaya
- Khasi – official language of Meghalaya
- Mizo – official language of Mizoram
A few other Popular Languages of India
These popular Indian languages have speakers of about 5 million but not specified as official languages in India. Often, many of these languages are thought sub-varieties of Hindi – the national language of India.
- Bihari languages
- Angika
- Bhojpuri
- Magadhi
- Rajasthani languages
- Marwari
- Mewari
- Shekhavati
- Other Languages
- Bhili (Bhil tribals)
- Gondi (Gond tribals)
- Tulu — spoken by Tulu people of Karnataka and Kerala
- Kodava, spoken in the Kodagu district of Karnataka
- Sankethi — spoken by Sankethi people in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala
- Kutchi — the language of Kutch, a region in Gujarat
Indian Minority Language
- Mahl — the language of Minicoy, oral on the island of Minico, an island in Lakshadweep, India.
Certain minority languages in India have less than one million speakers.
FAQs on National/Official Languages in India
1. How many official languages in India are there?
There are 22 scheduled languages listed by the Indian constitution as the official languages of India. Also, the Government of India has granted the note of classical language to Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu.
2. What is the National official language of India?
Hindi is the national official language in India. Article 343(1) of the Constitution provides that Hindi in Devanagari script shall be the Official Language of the Union.
3. Is Tamil a National official language in India?
The Tamil language is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (Pondicherry).
4. What are the Rajasthani Languages?
More than fifty million people in the state of Rajasthan speak Rajasthani lingo. But the dialect changes from district to district so have a look at the variety of languages spoken in the state of Rajasthan from below:
- Marwari – the language of Marwar. The region including Jodhpur, Nagpur, and Bikaner.
- Shekhavati – the language of Shekhavati. The region including Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu.
- Mewari – the language of Mewar. The region including Udaipur, Chittor, and Kota-Bundi.