Tribes

Language

Oriya, one of the oldest languages in the country having Sanskritic origin, is the predominant language spoken in the state and its outlying tracts. It is spoken by about 84 per cent of the population of Orissa. Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu are widely understood and sometimes spoken. Oriya is the official language of the state. English is spoken by the educated few. According to the 1981 census the Oriya-speaking people constituted 3.62 per cent of India's population and are nearest in strength to the speakers of three other major languages, namely Malayalam (4.00 per cent), Kannada (3.96 per cent)and Punjabi (3.00 per cent).

Though Orissa possesses fewer cities than most other states of the country, almost all the languages recognised by the Constitution including the recently included Nepalese have their speakers among the people. Apart from the speakers of Hindi and Urdu, there are the speakers of other languages like Punjabi (.OS%), Gujarati (.06%), Malayalam (.05%), Tamii (.04%) and so on according to the 1981 census. Orissa mall be described as a polyglot state, there being hardly any instance of linguistic intolerance.

Contributed By:Late Prof.Bidhubhusan Das