Telugu is also spoken in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and the union territories of Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Modern Standard Telugu is based on the dialect of erstwhile Krishna, Guntur, East and West Godavari districts of Coastal Andhra. It is the 14th most spoken native language in the world. Telugu is one of the six languages designated as a classical language by the Government of India. It is one of the few languages that has primary official status in more than one Indian state, alongside Hindi and Bengali.
Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language family, and one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India. Telugu ( / ˈ t ɛ l ʊ ɡ uː/ తెలుగు, Telugu pronunciation: ) is a Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language.
