National/ Official Languages in India: Check all official languages

In numerous entrance tests and recruitment exams for government jobs, questions regarding the National and languages of India are often asked. If you are also wondering what is the national language of India then you might be surprised to know that there is no national language in India. Instead, Indian constitution recognizes 22 regional languages. India is a diverse country with a large number of languages and dialects. Go through this post to know how many official languages are in India and many more interesting facts about National/ Official languages in India.

Languages with official status in India: Facts and Figures

As per the Indian Constitution, here are some important facts related to Languages in India.

• Many queries are often made such as what is the national language of India?. Well, the answer to this question is that there is no national language in India.
• In Article 343 (1) of the Indian Constitution, it is mentioned 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”.
• The proceedings in Indian Parliament are transacted in Hindi and English Languages.
•  Our constitution allows English to be used for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.
• Different states in India have the right to choose their languages through legislation.
• Please note that it is not compulsory for any state to choose its official language only from the list of scheduled languages.

List of official languages in India as per Indian Constitution

Name of the Language	Number of Speakers	Officially recognized in State
Assamese	15.3 million	Assam
Bengali	97.2 million	West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand
Bodo	1.48 million	Assam
Dogri	2.6 million	Jammu and Kashmir
Gujarati	55.5 million	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Gujarat
Hindi	528 million	Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
Kannada	43.7 million	Karnataka
Kashmiri	6.8 million	Jammu and Kashmir
Konkani	2.25 million	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa
Maithili	13.6 million	Jharkhand
Malayalam	34.8 million	Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry
Manipuri	1.8 million	Manipur
Marathi	83 million	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Maharashtra
Nepali	2.9 million	Sikkim, West Bengal
Odia	37.5 million	Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal
Punjabi	33.1 million	Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, West Bengal
Sanskrit	0.02 million	Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand
Santali	7.3 million	Jharkhand
Sindhi	2.7 million
Tamil	69 million	Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
Telugu	81.1 million	Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry
Urdu	50.7 million	Bihar, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

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State-wise Official Languages in India

As mentioned above, states are free to choose their official languages through legislation. Plus, it is not mandatory for states to choose languages only the list of 22 scheduled languages. For example – English is not mentioned in the list of scheduled languages. Still, it is an official language in many states in India.

State	Official Languages	Additional official languages
Andhra Pradesh	Telugu	English
Arunachal Pradesh	English
Assam	Assamese
Bihar	Hindi
Chhattisgarh	Hindi
Goa	Konkani, English
Gujarat	Gujarati
Haryana	Hindi
Himachal Pradesh	Hindi
Jharkhand	Hindi
Karnataka	Kannada	English
Kerala	Malayalam	English
Madhya Pradesh	Hindi
Maharashtra	Marathi
Manipur	Manipuri	English
Meghalaya	English	Khasi and Garo
Mizoram	Mizo	Khasi and Garo
Nagaland	English
Odisha	Odia
Punjab	Punjabi
Rajasthan	Hindi
Sikkim	English, Nepali, Sikkimese, Lepcha	Gurung, Limbu, Magar, Mukhia, Newari, Rai, Sherpa and Tamang
Tamil Nadu	Tamil	English
Telangana	Telugu	Urdu
Tripura	Bengali, English, Kokborok
Uttar Pradesh	Hindi	Urdu
Uttarakhand	Hindi	Sanskrit
West Bengal	Bengali, English	Darjeeling and Kurseong Sub-division – Nepali   Urdu, Hindi, Odia, Santali, Punjabi, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi, Kurmali, Kurukh and Telugu in blocks, divisions or districts with population greater than 10 percent

Official Language of Union Territories in India

State	Official Languages	Additional official languages
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Hindi, English	Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Andamanese
Chandigarh	English
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Gujarati, Konkani, Marathi, Hindi
Delhi	Hindi, English
Lakshadweep	Malayalam	English
Jammu and Kashmir	Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, Urdu, English
Ladakh	Hindi, English
Puducherry	Tamil, French, English	Telugu, Malayalam.