how many languages are spoken in india

how many languages are spoken in india

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India is extremely linguistically diverse, with estimates of the number of languages spoken varying somewhat. According to the 2001 Census of India, there are 122 major languages and 1599 other languages spoken across the country. More broadly, some sources report there are over 19,500 languages or dialects spoken as mother tongues in India. The Constitution of India recognizes 22 official languages at the national level. Besides these, there are numerous other languages spoken regionally or by smaller communities, making the total number of languages spoken in India in the hundreds or even thousands depending on definitions used.

The 22 officially recognized languages include Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

In summary, India has:

  • 22 official nationally recognized languages
  • About 122 major languages
  • Around 1600 other languages according to 2001 census
  • Up to thousands or over 19,000 dialects/mother tongues reported by some studies

This highlights India's rich linguistic mosaic and diversity.

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