What is the National language of India? List of 22 language of India.

What is the National Language of India? List of 22 Languages of India.

National Language of India

India is a diverse country with diverse culture in every part of the country. It is a union of 28 states and 8 Union Territories where each state represents its own cultural heritage with its own dialect. According to the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution, there are a total of 22 scheduled languages that are widely spoken in different states. As there are so many languages spoken in the country, it was difficult to determine the National language. So what is the national language of India? Which language is the official language of India? Know about the National language in detail.

What is the National Language of India?

India doesn’t give the status of the National language to any of the languages due to the diversity of the country. Hindi is a language spoken by less than 44% of people in India. The debate to make Hindi as an official language has sparked for decades but to no avail. The Indian constitution does not give rights to any language to be declared as the National language of India. However, Hindi and English have been declared as the official languages to be used in official purposes throughout the country.

Official 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.”

The business in Indian parliament or the offices of government can only be transacted in Hindi or in English. English is allowed to be used in official purposes throughout the country such as parliamentary proceedings, communications between the Central Government and a State Government and in judicial matters.

List of 22 languages of India

There are 22 languages that have been recognized in the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution. Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals with the official languages of India from articles 343 to 351. Originally, only 14 languages were mentioned and later, after several amendments, the other languages were added. Check out the list of all the 22 languages of India as recognized by the Indian constitution.

Sr. No	Language	Recognition in state
1	Assamese	Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
2	Bengali	West Bengal, Tripura
3	Bodo	Assam
4	Dogri	Official language of Jammu and Kashmir
5	Gujarati	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Gujarat
6	Hindi	Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal
7	Kannada	Karnataka
8	Kashmiri	Jammu and Kashmir
9	Konkani	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala (The Konkan Coast)
10	Maithili	Bihar, Jharkhand
11	Malayalam	Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry
12	Manipuri	Manipur
13	Marathi	Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
14	Nepali	Sikkim and West Bengal
15	Odia	Official language of Orissa
16	Punjabi	Official language of Punjab and Chandigarh, 2nd official language of Delhi and Haryana
17	Sanskrit	Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand
18	Santali	Spoken by Santhal people mainly in the state of Jharkhand as well as in the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura, West Bengal
19	Sindhi	Gujarat and Maharashtra, especially Ulhasnagar
20	Tamil	Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
21	Telugu	Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry
22	Urdu	Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Jharkhand, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal