What Languages Are Spoken In Nepal?

 According to the census of 2011 in Nepal, Approximately 123 languages are spoken in the country of Nepal as a first language. Nepali language is the official language of the nation. 


Maithali and Nepali rank as the first and second most spoken languages in the country.

The Official Language Of Nepal

Nepali language, formerly known as the Gorkhali or Parbate Bhasa, is the official language of Nepal. In the Northern India's area people also use to speak. In the Indian state of SikkimIt it is the official language used by Sikkimlt people. It is also an official language of Darjeeling, that is a district in West Bengal, India. Thus the Nepali language acts as the lingua franca of Nepal ans India. The Nepali language very closely belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family but is influenced significantly by the Sino-Tibetan languages.

The Regional Languages Of Nepal

Indo-Aryan Languages Spoken In Nepal

Nepali: Although the number of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the country of Nepal is far less than that of the Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in the country, a much larger population (79 percent) of Nepal speak languages belonging to the former group than those belonging to the latter group (18 percent). The fact that the Nepali language, the most spoken language of Nepal, belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family, is responsible for the higher percentage of Indo-Aryan language group speakers in the country of Nepal.

Maithili: Other than Nepali language, Maithili is one more popular language of the Indo-Aryan family spoken in the country. Maithili is the 2nd most spoken language in Nepal. According to the census of 2011, about 11.57 percent of the Nepalese population speak Maithili language. The language is also spoken in few districts located in the Terai region of Nepal.

Sino-Tibetan Languages Spoken In Nepal

As we have disccussed earlier, about 123 languages are native to Nepal. Three- quarters of these languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Some examples are:

Nepal Bhasa: is also known as Newari, this language is spoken by the Newar people of the Nepal Mandala. Although some linguistics tend to consider it is the same as Nepali language, the language of the majority in Nepal, the Nepal Bhasa language is, in fact, greatly different from Nepali language. Nepal Bhasa language once served as the administrative language of the Nepal but since the 20th century, the importance of the language decreased and today UNESCO consider it as a "definitely endangered” language. And its users rate are decreasing day by day. 

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