Hindi is the most widely spoken language in India, ranking as the fifth most spoken language in the world, with around 182 million native speakers as of 1998. It is written in the Devanagari script and is spoken across northern India and various other regions. A survey in 1997 revealed that 66% of Indians are able to communicate in Hindi. The most common variant of Hindi is Hindustani, which has absorbed vocabulary from languages like Persian, Arabic, Turkish, English, Portuguese, and the Dravidian languages of South India.
Modern Standard Hindi, derived from the Hindustani language, is a Sanskritized form and serves as one of the official languages of India. It is used for formal communication, education, and media. Regions such as Delhi, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northeastern Madhya Pradesh, and parts of eastern Rajasthan predominantly speak Hindi. In its spoken form, Hindi is closely related to Urdu, as both languages share a similar grammar and structure. However, they differ in their specialized vocabulary: Hindi draws from Sanskrit, while Urdu incorporates more words from Persian and Arabic. Colloquial Hindi and Urdu are largely mutually intelligible, but this changes in more formal or literary contexts.
According to the 2001 Indian Census, around 258 million people reported Hindi as their native language, with about 180 million people speaking the Hindustani dialect (also called Khariboli). This places Hindi as the sixth most spoken language globally.
The Indian Constitution, adopted in 1950, declared Hindi, written in the Devanagari script, as the official language of the federal government. English continues to be used alongside Hindi for official matters. Hindi also holds a place among the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, ensuring its use in government documentation and communication. While there was an initial push for Hindi to be the sole official language, resistance from several regions, especially in South India, led to the continued use of English in official functions through the Official Languages Act of 1963.
Hindi is the official language in several states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, where it is sometimes designated alongside a co-official language like Urdu.