Spread of the Tamil language
Tamil is an official national language in Sri Lanka and Singapore and is spoken as a native language by part of the population in a further 4 countries. Tamil is also an official language in some southern Indian states and enjoys constitutional protection in India as a "classical language" alongside 21 other languages.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 90.9 million people worldwide speak Tamil as their mother tongue.
History of the language
Tamil is one of the oldest living languages in the world and has its roots in South India. The first written evidence of Tamil comes from inscriptions dating back to around 500 BC, making the language over 2500 years old. Originally spoken in the region that is now Tamil Nadu (an Indian state) and parts of Sri Lanka, Tamil developed into a cultured language with a distinct literature and a unique writing system.Tamil went through various phases of development, beginning with Old Tamil, which existed until the 8th century AD. This was followed by Middle Tamil, which lasted until the 16th century. Modern Tamil, which has been spoken since then, has diversified and adapted considerably, while retaining many traditional elements.
Today, Tamil is not only used as a means of communication, but is also an important element of cultural identity for Tamils worldwide. The language enjoys the status of an official language in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and Singapore and is taught as a mother tongue in many education systems.
Geographical distribution
In addition to Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, around 90 million people worldwide speak Tamil as their mother tongue. In addition to the countries shown here (see list below), there are diaspora communities with smaller groups in Canada, the USA and the UK. This expansion is partly due to migrations that began in medieval times and intensified during the colonial period when Tamils were brought to other parts of Asia and the Western world as laborers.
| Country | Region | Official language | Distribution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | South Asia | no | 5.8 % | 84,154,000 |
| Sri Lanka | South Asia | yes | 18.0 % | 3,945,000 |
| Malaysia | Southeast Asia | no | 3.9 % | 1,387,000 |
| Myanmar | Southeast Asia | no | 2.1 % | 1,145,000 |
| Singapore | Southeast Asia | yes | 4.4 % | 266,000 |
| Mauritius | Eastern Africa | no | 0.8 % | 10,000 |
Unfortunately, misunderstandings often arise. Tamil is one of 22 languages protected under the Indian Constitution. Most of these protected languages are also official languages in individual regions of the country. However, Tamil is not an official language of the Republic of India. These are exclusively Hindi and English.
Unless otherwise described in the text, this page is about native speakers — not the total number of speakers. How many people understand or speak Tamil as a subsequently learned language is not the subject of this page. Countries where native speakers make up only a few thousand, or even a few hundred people, or countries with a percentage well below 1% are unlikely to be listed here.
Official language, national language or lingua franca: explanation of frequently used terms
