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.
![](../I/m/Rajendra_map_new.svg.png)
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% 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
![](../I/m/SGD_10000_Paper_f.jpg)
Singapore 1000 Dollar Currency Showing Tamil Script Along With Chinese And Malay.
Dependent entities
![](../I/m/Tamil_Verbreitung.png)
Distribution of Tamil speakers in Indian Subcontinent.
Entity |
Country |
Population |
Status |
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | India | 7005379944000000000♠379,944 | Union Territory of India |
Puducherry | India | 7006124446400000000♠1,244,464 | Union Territory of India |
Tamil Nadu | India | 7007721389580000000♠72,138,958 | State of India |
Partially recognized and unrecognized territories
Entity |
Notes |
Karaikal | Claiming for a separate union territory in India.[4] |
Former territories where Tamil was an official language
Entity |
Notes |
Haryana | Tamil was an official language of the Indian state of Haryana until it was replaced by Punjabi[5] |
As working Language
Countries where Tamil is used and has cultural/educational impact but not official
There are also claims to make Tamil an official language of India and UN.[11] The month of January is celebrated as the Tamil Heritage Month by Canadians in Canada.[12]
See also
Notes
References