Top 12 Most Spoken Languages in India

Most Spoken Languages in India

India is a land of hundreds of languages. India’s linguistic diversity is a vital aspect of its cultural identity, fostering unity in diversity. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution recognizes 22 official languages. The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, has recognized 11 languages as the Classical Languages of India. In this list we present top 12 most spoken languages in India.

The Top 12 Most Spoken Languages in India

SN Language Native Speakers as per 2011 Census %
1. Hindi 322,230,097 26.61%
2. Bengali 97,237,669 8.03%
3. Marathi 83,026,680 6.86%
4. Telugu 81,127,740 6.70%
5. Tamil 69,026,881 5.70%
6. Gujarati 55,492,554 4.58%
7. Urdu 50,772,631 4.19%
8. Kannada 43,706,512 3.61%
9. Odia 37,521,324 3.10%
10. Malayalam 34,838,819 2.88%
11. Punjabi 33,124,726 2.74%
12. Assamese 15,311,351 1.26%

Compare these 12 most spoken languages in India with the 22 official languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and the 11 Classical Languages of India. Questions might be asked in combination of the above articles.

Source(s):
1. https://censusindia.gov.in