List of territorial entities where Tamil is an official language

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

Historical map of Chola Kingdom where Tamil was the language of administration.

Tamil is the 15th most spoken language in the world. Tamil language speakers make approximately 1.06% of the world population. Tamil was one of the dominant languages of trade during the pre-colonial era by people like Ainnurruvar, and there are Tamil inscriptions and coins found on many parts of Asia and Africa such as on China, Cambodia, Egypt and Indonesia.[1]

During the 18th century, the British and French rules brought the Tamils to many parts of Asia and Africa which makes many countries with significant Tamil speakers and cultural impact such as there are more than 1,000,000 speakers of Tamil language in the Malaysia itself.

Sovereign states

The skyline of a city, showing many tall buildings near a body of water
The skyline of Singapore in 2015
Countries where Tamil is an official language (de jure)
Country Region Population1 Status
Singapore Singapore[2] Asia 188,591[3] Sovereign State
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka[4] Asia 5,007,003[5] Sovereign State

Dependent entities

Distribution of Tamil speakers in Indian Subcontinent.
Entity Country Population Status
India Andaman and Nicobar Islands India 379,944 Union Territory of India
India Puducherry India 1,244,464 Union Territory of India
India Tamil Nadu India 72,138,958 State of India

See also

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ "Tamil Inscriptions". Archaeology India. Tamil Inscriptions of Egypt and Thailand
    2. ↑ Wong, Aline (2000-11-24). "Education in a Multicultural Setting - The Singapore Experience". Ministry of Education, Government of Singapore. Retrieved 2009-01-18. There are four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
    3. ↑ "Department of Statistics, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore" (PDF). Census of population 2010. Department of statistics Singapore.
    4. ↑ "Language Dept Sri Lanka". Tamil and Sinhala official language of Sri Lanka
    5. ↑ "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.
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