List of countries and territories 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.

Sovereign Countries

Countries where Tamil is a de jure/official language.
Country Region Population1 Status
India India[1] Asia 1,247,540,000 Sovereign country
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka[2] Asia 5,007,003[3]Sovereign country
Singapore Singapore[4] Asia 688,591[5]Sovereign country

Dependent entities where Tamil is an official language

Entity Continent Population Status
India AurovilleAsia2,600Autonomous city of India
India PondicherryAsia1,244,464Union Territory of India
India Tamil NaduAsia72,138,958State of India

Recognized as minority language
Country Population Notes
South Africa South Africa650,000Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 - Chapter 1: Founding Provisions states "A Pan South African Language Board established by national legislation must promote and ensure respect for Tamil" along with other minority languages.[6]
Malaysia Malaysia4,800,000Malaysian government recognize Tamil as a minority language along with Chinese. The "national-type" school's medium of instruction is either in Tamil or Chinese.[7]
Mauritius Mauritius72,089Tamils are the first immigrants to Mauritius who were brought by French. Later British brought Tamils to fight with French and as a recognition, Tamil is being used on the currency of Mauritius.[8]

Partially recognized and unrecognized territories

Entity Notes
Tamil Eelam (Eelam)Claiming sovereignty over the North and Eastern Sri Lanka and Puttalam district as[9][10]
India KaraikalClaiming for a separate union territory in India.[11]

Former territories resp. dependent entities where Tamil was an official language

Entity Continent Population Status Notes
India Haryana Asia 10,572 State of India Tamil was once given nominal official status in Haryana but it was later replaced with Punjabi, in 2010.

Countries where Tamil is used and has cultural impact but not official

Country Region
France Réunion [12] Africa
 Seychelles [13] Africa

References

  1. ↑ "Languages with official status in India". Wikipedia. 2019-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Language Dept Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2012-10-19. Tamil and Sinhala official language of Sri Lanka
  3. ↑ "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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04.
  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 2018-12-26. 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. ↑ "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 - Chapter 1: Founding Provisions - South African Government". www.gov.za.
  7. ↑ "National Identity and Minority Languages - UN Chronicle". unchronicle.un.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
  8. ↑ "A Brief History of the Tamils of Mauritius (M. Sangeelee)". tamilelibrary.org.
  9. ↑ "India creates new state; demand rises for more states .:. Tibet Sun".
  10. ↑ "India may have 50 states if all demands for new states are met - Times of India". The Times of India. 4 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Pondy Dy. Speaker flayed". www.thehindu.com.
  12. ↑ "Reunion Culture".
  13. ↑ "Seychelles National Culture". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2012-10-19.

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