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Reference.org
Indo-Aryan languages
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<p>The Indo-Aryan languages, or sometimes Indic languages, are a branch of the <a href="/facts/Indo-Iranian_languages/uIfMNTQV">Indo-Iranian languages</a> in the <a href="/facts/Indo-European_languages/L34TfgSr">Indo-European language family</a>. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east of the <a href="/facts/Indus_river/7vTRHA4t">Indus river</a> in <a href="/facts/Bangladesh/NXk4f78Y">Bangladesh</a>, Northern <a href="/facts/India/QW4TV4sy">India</a>, Eastern <a href="/facts/Pakistan/cbIsvJy1">Pakistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Sri_Lanka/VtTBmysE">Sri Lanka</a>, <a href="/facts/Maldives/sC2HeXby">Maldives</a> and <a href="/facts/Nepal/yWCzTBR2">Nepal</a>. Moreover, apart from the <a href="/facts/Indian_subcontinent/0XUWGXpx">Indian subcontinent</a>, large immigrant and expatriate Indo-Aryan–speaking communities live in <a href="/facts/Northwestern_Europe/d8zrdArn">Northwestern Europe</a>, <a href="/facts/Western_Asia/xXM15vIz">Western Asia</a>, <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>, the <a href="/facts/Caribbean/zRI9aMCh">Caribbean</a>, <a href="/facts/Southeast_Africa/6x6414Lx">Southeast Africa</a>, <a href="/facts/Polynesia/rVSckqmD">Polynesia</a> and <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>, along with several million speakers of <a href="/facts/Romani_language/NouAKyrh">Romani languages</a> primarily concentrated in <a href="/facts/Southeast_Europe/zxgEvCdQ">Southeastern Europe</a>. There are over 200 known Indo-Aryan languages. </p><p>Modern Indo-Aryan languages descend from Old Indo-Aryan languages such as early <a href="/facts/Vedic_Sanskrit/V0fnIRdc">Vedic Sanskrit</a>, through <a href="/facts/Middle_Indo-Aryan_languages/KfT8SFPe">Middle Indo-Aryan languages</a> (or <a href="/facts/Prakrit/8X8AUK2y">Prakrits</a>). The largest such languages in terms of <a href="/facts/First_language/1yK3tnLb">first-speakers</a> are <a href="/facts/Hindustani_language/rPnbEyYP">Hindi–Urdu</a> (c. 330 million), <a href="/facts/Bengali_language/twpKobqA">Bengali</a> (242 million), <a href="/facts/Punjabi_language/Dps9vRRe">Punjabi</a> (about 150 million), <a href="/facts/Marathi_language/uIJuwlFW">Marathi</a> (112 million), and <a href="/facts/Gujarati_language/kGKRRbwe">Gujarati</a> (60 million). A 2005 estimate placed the total number of native speakers of the Indo-Aryan languages at nearly 900 million people. Other estimates are higher, suggesting a figure of 1.5 billion speakers of Indo-Aryan languages. </p>