Tamil is a
Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the
Tamil people of
India and northern
Sri Lanka, and also by the
Tamil diaspora. Tamil is an
official language of two countries,
Singapore and Sri Lanka, and has official status in the
Indian state of
Tamil Nadu and the Indian
Union Territory of
Puducherry. It is also used as one of the languages of education in
Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin. In India, outside of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Tamil is also spoken in the states of
Kerala,
Puducherry and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a secondary language and by minorities in
Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the 22
scheduled languages of India and was the first Indian language declared as a
classical language, which was done by the
Government of India in 2004. The language is also spoken by Tamil minorities in
Malaysia, the
United Arab Emirates, the
United States,
United Kingdom,
Mauritius,
Canada,
South Africa,
Fiji,
Germany, the
Philippines, the
Netherlands,
Indonesia and
France, as well as smaller emigrant communities elsewhere.