What Languages do People Speak in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh is unique as the only South Asian monolingual country with just one official language, Bengali, spoken by 98% of Bangladeshis. Still, there are many indigenous, immigrant, and foreign languages spoken in Bangladesh.

How Many Languages Are Spoken in Bangladesh?

There are about 39 languages spoken across Bangladesh. The official language, Bengali, is spoken by the vast majority of people but there are many indigenous languages spoken in some regions of the country and several foreign and immigrant languages.

Official Languages of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has just one official language: Bengali or Bangla. Bengali is spoken by about 98% of residents and it's also spoken in countries with Bangladesh expatriates like India, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia.

Bengali proper is an Indo-Aryan language and there are several separate but similar languages and dialects spoken across the country.

Other languages in the Bengali language branch spoken in Bangladesh include: -- Bishnupriya Manipuri: A separate language from Bengali spoken by the Bishnupriya Manipuri. -- Chakma: Spoken in the Chittagong Hill Tract area by the indigenous Chakma people. -- Tangchangya: Very similar to Chakma and spoken by the Tanchangya people. -- Hajong: Spoken by the ethnic Hajongs in the Mymensingh District. -- Marma: Considered a dialect of Burmese and spoken by the Marma people. -- Rohingya: Spoken by the Rohingya people in Arakan State, Burma, and Burmese refugees in the Chittagong Division. -- Sylheti: Spoken by Sylheti people in the Northeast area of the Sylhet Division. -- Chittagonian: While considered a Bengali dialect, the languages are mostly mutually unintelligible. It's spoken in the Southeast area of Chittagong.

Bihari and Oraon Sadri are two other Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Bangladesh that are not part of the Bengali branch.

Only Bengali proper is considered an official Bangladesh language.

Other Languages of Bangladesh

There are also indigenous languages spoken in the mountainous regions of Bangladesh and they are broken down into three language families.

The Austroasiatic languages include widely spoken languages of Southeast Asia like Vietnamese and Khmer as well as small languages spoken by indigenous people of eastern and northern Bangladesh like Pnar, Santali, War-Jaintia, Koda, and Khasi, and Mundari.

There are two Dravidian languages spoken in western Bangladesh by indigenous people: Sauria Paharia and Kurukh. Kurukh is spoken by about 65,000 people in Bangladesh and considered a vulnerable language.

In the eastern, northern, and particularly the southeastern parts of Bangladesh are indigenous peoples speaking TIbeto-Burman languages including: -- A'Tong (5,000 native speakers, considered a dialect of Garo) -- Chak (3,000 speakers in Bangladesh) -- Chin languages like Falam, Haka, Khumi, Bawm, and Asho (750,000 speakers combined in Bangladesh, Burma, and India) -- Koch (36,000 speakers) -- Garo (130,000 speakers in Bangladesh) -- Megam (7,000 speakers) -- Meitei Manipuri (1.8 million speakers in the region) -- Mizo (830,000 speakers in the region) -- Mru (22,000 speakers in Bangladesh, considered severely endangered) -- Pangkhua (3,000 speakers in Bangladesh, very similar to Mizo and Bawm) -- Rakhine (considered a dialect of Burmese, 1 million speakers in the region) -- Tripuri languages like Riang, Kok Borok, Usoi, and Tippera

There are many other non-indigenous and Bengali languages spoken in Bangladesh. -- English is taught in schools and colleges. -- Arabic was once an official language of Bangladesh and there are many Muslims in Bangladesh who speak Arabic. -- Urdu, primarily spoken in East Pakistan but also spoken by the Bihari people in Bangladesh. There are about 300,000 to 500,000 Biharis in Bangladesh who are considered stranded.

Primary Languages

Name
Bengali
Pop. Speaking
178,200,000
Dialects
Barisal, Noakhali, Khulna, Mymensingh

Other Languages

Chittagonian
13,000,000
Rangpuri
10,325,000
Sylheti
8,500,000
Bangla Sign Language
2,600,000
Rohingya
947,000
Bihari
250,000
Santhali
225,000
Rakhine
200,000
Oraon Sadri
166,000
Marma
150,000
Chakma
150,000
Garo
120,000
Tippera
85,000
Kurux
50,000
Bishnupuriya
40,000
Mru
30,000
Usoi
22,400
Tangchangya
21,600
War-Jaintia
16,000
Meitei
15,000
Bawn Chin
10,000
Hajong
8,000
Sauria Paharia
7,000
Megam
6,870
Koch
6,000
Atong
5,400
Kok Borok
5,000
Pnar
4,000
Asho Chin
4,000
Chak
3,000
Mahali
3,000
Mundari
2,500
Pangkhua
2,400
Khumi Chin
2,090
Kol
1,660
Koda
1,300
Lyngngam
1,000

What Languages do People Speak in Bangladesh?