Search results
64 million
- Numbering about 64 million in the early 21st century (including about 3 million speakers in northern and eastern Sri Lanka), Tamil speakers make up the majority of the population of Tamil Nadu state and also inhabit parts of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh states, all situated in the southernmost third of India.
www.britannica.com › topic › Tamil
People also ask
How many people speak Tamil?
How many Tamil speakers are there in India?
Is Tamil an official language in India?
Where does Tamil come from?
Tamil (native name: தமிழ்) has its roots in the Dravidian language family. With over 80 million native speakers, Tamil is the most widely spoken language in India. In total, around 89.4 million people worldwide speak Tamil as their mother tongue.
People who speak Tamil as their mother tongue and are born in Tamil clans are considered Tamils. Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India (concentrated mainly in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), 15% in Sri Lanka (excluding Eelam Moors ), [note 3] 7% in Malaysia, and 5% in Singapore .
- 237,890 (2021)
- 1,800,000
- 69,026,881 (2011)
- 3,135,770 (2012)
5 days ago · Tamil, people originally of southern India who speak Tamil, one of the principal languages of the Dravidian family. Numbering about 64 million in the early 21st century (including about 3 million speakers in northern and eastern Sri Lanka ), Tamil speakers make up the majority of the population of Tamil Nadu state and also inhabit parts of ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Tamil [b] ( தமிழ், Tamiḻ, pronounced [t̪amiɻ] ⓘ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and union territory of Puducherry, and the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore.
Mar 31, 2024 · 1. India: With a staggering population of 69,026,881 Tamil speakers, India is home to the largest Tamil-speaking population in the world. The majority of Tamils in India reside in the state of Tamil Nadu, where they constitute a significant portion of the population. 2. Sri Lanka: Coming in second is Sri Lanka, with 3,135,770 Tamil speakers.
India has a Greenberg's diversity index of 0.914—i.e. two people selected at random from the country will have different native languages in 91.4% of cases. As per the 2011 Census of India, languages by highest number of speakers are as follows: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Urdu, Kannada, Odia, Malayalam.
Tamil is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and union territory of Puducherry, and the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory ...
