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.

2011 edition

Same as 2010

Open the 2011 entry

The same text in 5 editions, 2010 to 2014.

  • Hindi 41%,
  • Bengali 8.1%,
  • Telugu 7.2%,
  • Marathi 7%,
  • Tamil 5.9%,
  • Urdu 5%,
  • Gujarati 4.5%,
  • Kannada 3.7%,
  • Malayalam 3.2%,
  • Oriya 3.2%,
  • Punjabi 2.8%,
  • Assamese 1.3%,
  • Maithili 1.2%,
  • other 5.9%

note: English enjoys the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% 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 (2001 census)

Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%
note:
English enjoys associate the status of subsidiary official language but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% 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 (2001 census)

Cite this page

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

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