Which language is spoken in Tamil Nadu?

Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu and has major importance as one of India's six classical languages. According to the 2011 Census of India, Tamil is the most widely spoken language in Tamil Nadu, accounting for more than 88.35% of the population, followed by Telugu (5.87%), Urdu (1.75%), Kannada (1.58%), and Malayalam (1.00%).

Tamil is also one of the classical languages of the world, with a rich heritage of art & culture and literature. The majority of people in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (India) speak Tamil as their first language. Aside from that, it is recognized as a minority language in South Africa, Malaysia, and Mauritius. 

According to a census report, while Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu, spoken by 88.4% of the population, there is still a substantial population who speaks other languages, as indicated below:

• Telugu is one of the few regional languages spoken in Tamil Nadu, accounting for 5.87% of all Tamil speakers. It has a significant literary history and is used by approximately one-tenth of the people to communicate.
• Urdu: Tamil Nadu also has a large population of Indo-Aryan speakers. Urdu is primarily spoken by people in both urban and rural areas of the state. Urdu is spoken by around 1.75% of the people in Tamil Nadu.
• Kannada is spoken by around 1.58% of the Tamil Nadu population, together with its dialect Badaga, primarily in the western area along the intersection of Tamil Nadu's borders with Karnataka and Kerala.
• Malayalam is spoken by around 1% of Tamils, who are linguistic minorities in neighboring states. It is also spoken by Tamil communities in Kanyakumari and Nilgiris districts.
• Hindi: Despite being India's official language, just 0.46% of people in Tamil Nadu speak it. It is frequently used as a second language or to communicate across borders by tourists and others.
• Saurashtra: Around 0.33% of Saurashtrians speak in some districts of the state, including Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Kanchipuram, Ramanathapuram, Kanyakumari, Chennai, Tiruvannamalai, and Vellore. 
• Marathi: The existence of the Marathi language in Tamil Nadu remains a multicultural celebration of history. Currently, around 0.12% of the Maharashtrian population living in the state speaks Marathi.
• English - According to a 2018 Census report, job migration has led to a 17% increase in the number of English speakers in Tamil Nadu. Because it is not a regional language, just 0.03% of the state's population speaks it regularly.

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