# States of India by Tamil speakers

This is a list of states and territories of India by number of people for whom Tamil is their mother tongue (first language).
| State/territory | 1981 census | 1981 census | 1981 census | 1991 census | 1991 census | 1991 census | 2001 census | 2001 census | 2001 census | 2011 census | 2011 census | 2011 census |
| State/territory | Tamil pop. | % of state | % of Tamil | Tamil pop. | % of state | % of Tamil | Tamil pop. | % of state | % of Tamil | Tamil pop. | % of state | % of Tamil |
| Tamil Nadu | 41,045,591 | 85.35% | 91.76% | 48,434,744 | 86.71% | 91.38% | 55,798,916 | 89.41% | 91.78% | 63,753,997 | 88.37% | 92.36% |
| Karnataka | 1,385,313 | 3.76% | 3.10% | 1,728,361 | 3.84% | 3.26% | 1,874,959 | 3.55% | 3.08% | 2,110,128 | 3.45% | 3.06% |
| Puducherry | 534,560 | 89.18% | 1.20% | 720,473 | 89.19% | 1.36% | 861,502 | 88.42% | 1.42% | 1,100,976 | 88.22% | 1.59% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 654,463 | 1.23% | 1.46% | 753,484 | 1.13% | 1.42% | 769,685 | 1.01% | 1.27% | 713,848 | 0.84% | 1.03% |
| Maharashtra | 300,348 | 0.48% | 0.67% | 427,447 | 0.54% | 0.81% | 527,995 | 0.55% | 0.87% | 509,887 | 0.45% | 0.74% |
| Kerala | 603,188 | 2.39% | 1.35% | 616,010 | 2.12% | 1.16% | 596,971 | 1.87% | 0.98% | 502,516 | 1.50% | 0.73% |
| Delhi | 54,776 | 0.89% | 0.12% | 84,873 | 0.90% | 0.16% | 92,426 | 0.67% | 0.15% | 82,719 | 0.49% | 0.12% |
| Andaman & Nicobar | 26,485 | 14.81% | 0.06% | 53,536 | 19.07% | 0.10% | 62,961 | 17.68% | 0.10% | 57,830 | 15.20% | 0.08% |
| Gujarat | 21,852 | 0.06% | 0.05% | 34,498 | 0.08% | 0.07% | 37,092 | 0.07% | 0.06% | 40,072 | 0.07% | 0.06% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 32,152 | 0.06% | 0.07% | 38,562 | 0.06% | 0.07% | 24,848 | 0.04% | 0.04% | 20,544 | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| West Bengal | 19,447 | 0.04% | 0.04% | 25,797 | 0.04% | 0.05% | 20,238 | 0.03% | 0.03% | 15,930 | 0.02% | 0.02% |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 866 | 0.01% | 0.00% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 9,494 | 0.09% | 0.02% | 14,728 | 0.12% | 0.02% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 3,455 | 0.00% | 0.01% | 15,569 | 0.01% | 0.03% | 13,665 | 0.01% | 0.02% | 14,444 | 0.01% | 0.02% |
| Haryana | 4,082 | 0.03% | 0.01% | 5,202 | 0.03% | 0.01% | 10,207 | 0.05% | 0.02% | 12,658 | 0.05% | 0.02% |
| Punjab | 3,280 | 0.02% | 0.01% | 6,271 | 0.03% | 0.01% | 12,339 | 0.05% | 0.02% | 10,389 | 0.04% | 0.02% |
| Chhattisgarh | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13,241 | 0.06% | 0.02% | 10,334 | 0.04% | 0.01% |
| Jharkhand | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12,913 | 0.05% | 0.02% | 10,061 | 0.03% | 0.01% |
| Rajasthan | 5,117 | 0.01% | 0.01% | 12,461 | 0.03% | 0.02% | 11,852 | 0.02% | 0.02% | 8,939 | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| Goa | 3,884 | 0.37% | 0.01% | 6,818 | 0.58% | 0.01% | 7,903 | 0.59% | 0.01% | 6,947 | 0.48% | 0.01% |
| Odisha | 8,906 | 0.03% | 0.02% | 11,502 | 0.04% | 0.02% | 8,709 | 0.02% | 0.01% | 6,155 | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| Chandigarh | 3,426 | 0.78% | 0.01% | 5,318 | 0.83% | 0.01% | 5,716 | 0.63% | 0.01% | 5,579 | 0.53% | 0.01% |
| Assam | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1,770 | 0.01% | 0.00% | 5,672 | 0.02% | 0.01% | 5,229 | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| Uttarakhand | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2,215 | 0.03% | 0.00% | 2,584 | 0.03% | 0.00% |
| Manipur | 1,832 | 0.13% | 0.00% | 2,600 | 0.14% | 0.00% | 2,279 | 0.11% | 0.00% | 1,657 | 0.06% | 0.00% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 548 | 0.09% | 0.00% | 887 | 0.10% | 0.00% | 1,595 | 0.15% | 0.00% | 1,246 | 0.09% | 0.00% |
| Nagaland | 258 | 0.03% | 0.00% | 1,166 | 0.10% | 0.00% | 1,441 | 0.07% | 0.00% | 1,127 | 0.06% | 0.00% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 458 | 0.01% | 0.00% | 569 | 0.01% | 0.00% | 1,066 | 0.02% | 0.00% | 1,038 | 0.02% | 0.00% |
| Bihar | 15,351 | 0.02% | 0.03% | 16,304 | 0.02% | 0.03% | 1,453 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 986 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Tripura | 131 | 0.01% | 0.00% | 423 | 0.02% | 0.00% | 1,312 | 0.04% | 0.00% | 929 | 0.03% | 0.00% |
| Meghalaya | 290 | 0.02% | 0.00% | 642 | 0.04% | 0.00% | 834 | 0.04% | 0.00% | 913 | 0.03% | 0.00% |
| Sikkim | 133 | 0.04% | 0.00% | 169 | 0.04% | 0.00% | 484 | 0.09% | 0.00% | 762 | 0.12% | 0.00% |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 54 | 0.05% | 0.00% | 199 | 0.14% | 0.00% | 666 | 0.30% | 0.00% | 739 | 0.22% | 0.00% |
| Lakshadweep | 35 | 0.09% | 0.00% | 282 | 0.55% | 0.00% | 386 | 0.64% | 0.00% | 364 | 0.56% | 0.00% |
| Daman & Diu | - | - | - | 100 | 0.10% | 0.00% | 348 | 0.22% | 0.00% | 320 | 0.13% | 0.00% |
| Mizoram | 108 | 0.02% | 0.00% | 331 | 0.05% | 0.00% | 431 | 0.05% | 0.00% | 306 | 0.03% | 0.00% |
| India | 44,730,389 | 6.76% | 100.00% | 53,006,368 | 6.32% | 100.00% | 60,793,814 | 5.91% | 100.00% | 69,026,881 | 5.70% | 100.00% |