India, a union of states, is a sovereign, secular, democratic, republic with a parliamentary system of government. India, one of the most diverse nations in the world, is divided into 28 states and 8 union territories for administrative purposes. The tradition, culture, art, language and food vary from state to state and are unique to each region. The world’s second-largest populated country is the house of more than 19000 languages, making it the most linguistically diversified nation. Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals with the official languages in articles 343 to 351. Even though the Constitution does not specify the official language at t present, the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution specifies 22 languages (originally 14 languages). Let’s check the list of Indian states and official languages.
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List of the Indian States and its Official Languages 2021
Being the 07th largest country in the world, India is full of traditions and cultural diversity. Among the diversities we have the language is one of the key factors. More than 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother tongues, according to the latest analysis of the census. There are 121 languages which are spoken by 10,000 or more people in India, which has a population of 121 crores. This makes us the most linguistically diversified nation. At the same time, this is a hindrance to both public and private affairs. So to unify the government affairs and to ease the communication among various groups, the constitution identified 22 languages as the official languages of various states and communities. Let’s check the list of languages across the Indian states.
| State | Languages | Capital |
| Andhra Pradesh | Telugu | Hyderabad/Amravati |
| Arunachal Pradesh {AP} | English | Itanagar |
| Assam | Assamese | Dispur |
| Bihar | Hindi | Patna |
| Chhattisgarh | Hindi | Raipur |
| Goa | Konkani | Panaji |
| Gujarat | Gujarati | Gandhinagar |
| Haryana | Hindi | Chandigarh |
| Himachal Pradesh {HP} | Hindi | Shimla |
| Jharkhand | Hindi | Ranchi |
| Karnataka | Kannada | Bangalore |
| Kerala | Malayalam | Trivandrum |
| Madhya Pradesh {MP} | Hindi | Bhopal |
| Maharashtra | Marathi | Mumbai |
| Manipur | Meiteilon (Manipuri) | Imphal |
| Meghalaya | English | Shillong |
| Mizoram | Mizo, English & Hindi | Aizawl |
| Nagaland | English | Kohima |
| Odisha | Odia | Bhubaneshwar |
| Punjab | Punjabi | Chandigarh |
| Rajasthan | Hindi | Jaipur |
| Sikkim | English | Gangtok |
| Tamil Nadu | Tamil | Chennai |
| Telangana | Telugu & Urdu | Hyderabad |
| Tripura | Bengali, English & Kokborok | Agartala |
| Uttar Pradesh {UP} | Hindi | Lucknow |
| Uttarakhand | Hindi | Dehradun |
| West Bengal {WB} | Bengali | Kolkata |
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List of the Indian Union Territories Languages and Capitals 2021
Here is the complete list of union territories languages of India.
| Name of the Union Territory | Languages | Name of the Capital |
| Andaman & Nicobar Island | Hindi & English | Port Blair |
| Chandigarh | English | Chandigarh |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani & Hindi | Daman |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Kashmiri, Dogri, English, Hindi, Urdu | Srinagar (Summer Capital), Jammu (Winter capital) |
| Delhi | Hindi | Delhi |
| Ladakh | Ladakhi, Purgi, Hindi, English | Leh, Kargil |
| Lakshadweep | Malayalam & English | Kavaratti |
| Pondicherry | Tamil | Pondicherry |
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It is worth mentioning that the Sindhi language was added in the 8th schedule by the 21st Amendment Act of 1967; Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were added by the 71st Amendment Act of 1992; and Bodo, Dongri, Maithili and Santhali were added by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003. In all the 22 official languages the Hindi language is spoken by most Indians.
List of Indian States with English as the official language
| State | Official language(s) |
Additional official language(s)
|
| Arunachal Pradesh | English | – |
| Himachal Pradesh | Hindi | English |
| Manipur | Meitei (Manipuri) | English |
| Meghalaya | English |
Khasi and Garo
|
| Mizoram |
Mizo, English and Hindi
|
– |
| Nagaland | English | – |
| Odisha | Odia | English |
| Rajasthan | Hindi | English |
| Sikkim | English |
Additional ten local languages
|
| Tamil Nadu | Tamil | English |
| Tripura |
Bengali, English and Kokborok
|
– |
List of Indian States with Hindi as the Official language
| State | Official language(s) |
Additional official language(s)
|
| Bihar | Hindi | Urdu |
| Chhattisgarh | Hindi | – |
| Gujarat | Gujarati | Hindi |
| Haryana | Hindi | Punjabi |
| Himachal Pradesh | Hindi | English |
| Jharkhand | Hindi | Urdu |
| Madhya Pradesh | Hindi | – |
| Mizoram | Mizo, English and Hindi | – |
| Rajasthan | Hindi | English |
| Uttar Pradesh | Hindi | Urdu |
| Uttarakhand | Hindi | Sanskrit |
| West Bengal | Bengali |
Nepali, Hindi, Kamtapuri, Kurukh and Urdu (specific areas)
|
List of Official Languages of India – FAQ
-
How many languages are there in India?
At present, the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution specifies 22 languages
-
What are the 22 languages in India?
Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Marathi, Malayalam, Meitei (Manipuri), Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu are the 22 languages in India.
-
Which state has more languages in India?
Nagaland is the most linguistically diverse state in India.
-
Which state is least linguistically diverse in India?
Kerala is the least diverse state in India language-wise.
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