Legal status

See also: States of India by Tamil speakers

The distribution of Tamil language in the world. (Dark green: Above a million, L
ight green: 10.000 to 100.000)
Tamil is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the
22 languages under schedule 8 of the constitution of India. It is also one of th
e official languages of the union territory of Puducherry and the Andaman and Ni
cobar Islands.[82][83] Tamil is also one of the official languages of Singapore.
Tamil is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, along with Si
nhala.[8] It was once given nominal official status in the state of Haryana, pur
portedly as a rebuff to Punjab, though there was no attested Tamil-speaking popu
lation in the state, and was later replaced by Punjabi, in 2010.[84] In Malaysia
, 543 primary education government schools are available fully in Tamil medium.[
85] The establishments of Tamil medium schools have been currently in process in
Myanmar to provide education completely in Tamil language by the Tamils who set
tled there 200 years ago.[86] Tamil language is taught in Canada and South Afric
a for the local Tamil minority populations. In Ontario, Canada, the month of Jan
uary has been declared "Tamil Heritage Month" per legislation.
In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical l
anguages by the Government of India and following a political campaign supported
by several Tamil associations,[87][88] Tamil became the first legally recognise
d Classical language of India. The recognition was announced by the contemporane
ous President of India, Abdul Kalam, in a joint sitting of both houses of the In
dian Parliament on 6 June 2004.[89][90][91]