| Many widely divergent languages with varied dialects
in a multi-hued cultural set-up is part of the kaleidoscope of India.
In a country with so much regional variation, where in several cases
state boundaries have been drawn on linguistic lines, it is but inevitable
that fifteen national languages are recognized by the Indian constitution.
These are spoken now in over 1600 dialects
While India's official language is Hindi in the
Devnagri script, English continues to be the official working language.
Most Indians living in urban and semi-urban towns are multi-lingual.
For many in the metro cities of India, English is virtually their
first language, and for many more, it is the second language. Sanskrit,
one of the oldest languages of the world, is the language in which
the great Indian epics and classical literature have been written.
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Hindi is spoken as a mother tongue by about 40 percent of the population,
mainly in the area known as the Hindi belt. It is the official language
of the Indian Union and of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh., Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Assamese is the state language of Assam and is
spoken by nearly 60 percent of the State's population. The origin
of this language dates back to the 13th century. Bengali,
also developed in the 13th century, is the official state language
of West Bengal. It is spoken by nearly 200 million people worldwide,
and is used in neighbouring Bangladesh also. Oriya,
the state language of Orissa is spoken by nearly 87 percent of its
population.
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