From commerce to Bollywood, India is a land rich in tradition, culture, and – of course – linguistic diversity.
You’ll hear a wide variety of languages and musical dialects if you travel around India. If you’re lucky, it can feel like you’re hearing hundreds. You’d be on the right track.
So, how many Indian languages are there, in total? 121 languages and 270 mother tongues are spoken in India, despite the fact that the country has 22 official languages. It is also the birthplace of Hindi, the world’s oldest living language.
India has a large population of people who speak Indian languages.
Hindi is the most widely spoken language in India, which is not unexpected given that it is the world’s oldest living language. It may be heard across large swathes of northern and central India, thanks to its distinctive sound. Additionally, 366 million people around the world speak it.
As the largest language family in terms of speakers, Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan languages. In India, Hindi is the primary language, with English as the second official language. Constitutionally, there is no official language.
English Language in India
In India, English is the second most widely spoken language, and this has historical roots. When the United Kingdom ruled the country, English was the official language. The language has remained unchanged since India gained independence.
Over 125 million Indians speak English, making it the world’s second-largest English-speaking nation behind the United States. English is widely used in India’s corporate and educational sectors, as well as in government papers.
Most of the education in India is in the English language in major universities, colleges, and schools.
People from all around the world visiting India, don’t feel difficulty in communication because most of the Indians understand the English language. So, if you are from Germany and can speak English as your second language, you are good to apply for the Indian visa for German citizens.
Most Spoken Indian Languages in India
Hindi – a Language with 615 Million Speakers
In India, Hindi is the primary language. It is recognized by the government as an official language. The number of Indians who speak Hindi as a first language has grown since the 2001 census, according to data on Indian languages based on that year’s figures.
Bengali With 265 Million Speakers
Bengali is the country’s second most widely spoken language, with 265 million native speakers, or 8.03 percent of the country’s total population.
Urdu 170 Million Speakers
In India, there are around 170 million Urdu speakers. In addition to English, Urdu is one of the country’s official languages. It is the official language of West Bengal and Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir as well as the Indian states of Telangana and Jharkhand in the Urdu-speaking world.
Punjabi 126 Million Speakers
Punjabi is another official language in Indian Punjab. It is widely spoken in India and along with that, you can find a lot of Punjabi-speaking people in Canada. The Punjabi language is also spoken in Pakistani Punjab.
If any Canadian loves to speak Punjabi or want to see the Punjabi culture in India, he must apply for an Indian visa for Canadian citizens.
Marathi – 95 Million Native Speakers
A total of 95 million people, or 6.86 percent of the total population, speak Marathi in India.
Telugu language. – 93 Million Speakers
Telugu, a Dravidian language, is extensively spoken throughout India, especially in the south and southwest. In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa, the language is also spoken in many other nations.
Tamil 81 Million Speakers
The Dravidian language is a common ancestor of the Tamil language. There are many Indians who speak this language, despite the fact that both Singapore and Sri Lanka use it as their official language.
The majority of Tamil speakers live in southern India, along the border with Sri Lanka, and use the language.
Gujarati is Spoken by 61 Million People
5.54% of India’s population speaks Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language that has its origins in Gujarat. Located in northwestern India, it is the official language of Gujarat. Please note that Gujarati is a dialect of Sanskrit, which is derived from it.
Kannada 56 Million Speakers
Tamil and Kannada are both derived from the Dravidian language family. In India, it is spoken by an estimated 56 million people. You may be surprised to learn that Kannada is one of the world’s oldest continuously spoken languages.
Odia 38 Million Speakers
Odia is recognized as the classical language in India in 2014 and it is the only modern language from the Indo-Aryan languages. More than 38 million speakers speak this language as it is the official language of the Indian state Orissa
