Distribution of Tamil speakers in the Indian subcontinent.
Historical map of the Chola Empire, where Tamil was the language of administration.

The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where Tamil is an official language or language of government.

Tamil is the 17th most spoken language in the world. Tamil language speakers make up approximately 1.06% of the world population. The Tamil language is native to Tamil Nadu (India), Puducherry (India) and Sri Lanka, where most of the native Tamil speaking population is highly concentrated. Tamil is also recognized as a classical language by the Government of India in 2004 and was the first language to achieve such status.[1] Tamil is one of the 22 official languages of India.[2]

Tamil was one of the prominent languages of trade in the region during the pre-colonial era. Tamil mercantile guilds like Ainnurruvar were active in Southeast Asia, and several Tamil inscriptions and coins can be found in parts of Asia and Africa such as in China, Cambodia, Egypt and Indonesia.[3] During the 18th century, British and French colonial rulers relocated several Tamil citizens to their other colonial possessions in Asia and Africa, which today contain sizeable Tamil-speaking communities as a result.

Sovereign states

Sovereign state Tamil-speaking population1 Notes
Singapore Singapore[4] 688,591[5] Co-official language, along with English, Malay and Mandarin
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka[6] 4,200,000[7] Co-official language, along with Sinhala

Dependent entities

Entity Tamil-speaking population Notes
India Puducherrya[8] 1,244,464 Co-official language, along with Malayalam and Telugu
India Tamil Nadub[9] 72,138,958 Official language

a. Union territory of India.
b. State of India.

International institutions

Institution Languages
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) English (working language), Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese.[10]

Recognized as a minority language

Country Tamil-speaking population Notes
Malaysia Malaysia 4,800,000 The Malaysian government recognizes Tamil as a minority language along with Chinese. The "national-type" school's medium of instruction is either in Tamil or Chinese.[11]
Mauritius Mauritius 72,089 Tamils were the first immigrants to be brought to Mauritius by the French. Later, the British would also bring Tamils to fight against the French. In recognition of their impact on the country's history, Tamil is one of the languages featured on the currency of Mauritius.[12]
South Africa South Africa 600,000 The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 - Chapter 1: Founding Provisions states that "A Pan South African Language Board established by national legislation must promote and ensure respect for all languages commonly used by communities in South Africa, including... Tamil" along with several other minority languages.[13]

Dependent entities and territories where Tamil was formerly an official language

Entity Population Time period Notes
India Haryanaa 10,572 1969–2010 Tamil was once given nominal official status in Haryana but was later replaced with Punjabi in 2010.[14]
Tamil Eelamb 1983–2009 Tamil was the primary language. In 2009, the breakaway state was completely and forcefully disbanded by the Sri Lanka Army.[15][16]

a. State of India.
b. Former unrecognized quasi-state in northeastern Sri Lanka.

See also

References

  1. ^ Stein, Burton (1977-01-01). "Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country". The Journal of Asian Studies. 37 (1): 7–26. doi:10.2307/2053325. JSTOR 2053325.
  2. ^ "Languages Included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constution [sic] | Department of Official Language | Ministry of Home Affairs | GoI". www.rajbhasha.nic.in. Archived from the original on 2018-05-12. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  3. ^ "Tamil Inscriptions". Archaeology India. Archived from the original on 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2013-05-07. Tamil Inscriptions of Egypt and Thailand
  4. ^ Wong, Aline (2000-11-24). "Education in a Multicultural Setting - The Singapore Experience". Ministry of Education, Government of Singapore. Archived from the original on 2008-05-04. Retrieved 2009-01-18. There are four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
  5. ^ "Department of Statistics, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore" (PDF). Census of population 2010. Department of statistics Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-16.
  6. ^ "Language Dept Sri Lanka". Tamil and Sinhala official language of Sri Lanka
  7. ^ "Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka, 2012" (PDF). Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka, 2012. Department of Census and Statistics-Sri Lanka.
  8. ^ "The Pondicherry Official Languages Act, 1965" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  9. ^ "The Tamil Nadu Official Language Act, 1956" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  10. ^ "The ASEAN Charter" (PDF). ASEAN.
  11. ^ National Identity and Minority Languages
  12. ^ A Brief History of the Tamils of Mauritius
  13. ^ Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 - Chapter 1: Founding Provisions - South African Government
  14. ^ "Punjabi edges out Tamil in Haryana". Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  15. ^ "India creates new state; demand rises for more states .:. Tibet Sun".
  16. ^ "Telangana statehood: India may have 50 states if all demands for new states are met | India News - Times of India". The Times of India.
Categories