The CIA World Factbook Every edition, 1990 to 2025 Asia

Languages India, in 36 editions.

The entry for India published Languages in 36 editions of 36, from 1990 to 2025. The text changed in 21 editions. Each is shown as published. Languages in every entry.

editions changed the text
21
the first edition with it
1990
the latest edition with it
2025

Published as “Language” (1990 to 1991) and “Languages” (1992 to 2025).

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe edition shownChoose an edition on the strip beside the text, or step through them with the arrows. Mark changes compares it with the edition before: the marks are ours, words added and words removed.

2002 edition

Changed since 2001

Open the 2002 entry

The same text in 6 editions, 2002 to 2007.

  • English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication;
  • Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people;
  • there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit;
  • Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language

English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication, communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people, Bengali (official), Telugu (official), Marathi (official), Tamil (official), Urdu (official), Gujarati (official), Malayalam (official), Kannada (official), Oriya (official), Punjabi (official), Assamese (official), Kashmiri (official), Sindhi (official), Sanskrit (official), people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani (a is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India) note: 24 languages each spoken by a million or more persons; numerous other languages and dialects, for the most part mutually unintelligible India but is not an official language

Cite this page

Central Intelligence Agency. “India: Languages.” The World Factbook, 1990–2025 editions. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/india/languages.

How to cite