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India

Asia

To which language should you translate to localize in India?

What we know from our community

There is an old Hindi saying about India and the languages spoken here, “Kos-Kos Par Paani Badle, Char Kos Par Vaani”, which means “After every 18 miles, water changes its characteristics, and Language is different at every 72 miles”. This stands very true for India, here the demography of languages is not linear, but dynamic. Due to the diversity here, the multi-lingual population is vast. 
Hindi is one of the official languages (often dubbed as national, but it is not). According to 2011 Census (the latest one), the native Hindi speakers are 528 million, which was 43.63% of the population in 2011. 139 million people in the survey confirmed Hindi as their second language, and 24 million said Hindi is their third language. This essentially means 691 million people (57%) confirmed Hindi as their first, second, or third language. Considering the consistent rise of Hindi as a language — thanks to Bollywood movies — this percentage must have increased since 2011. In the Census 1971, there were 36.99% native Hindi speakers, which rose to 43.63% in 2011.

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official languages

Hindi in Devanagari script (40%; 571 mln), English (3.2%; 45.7 mln).

Actual languages

Hindi in Devanagari script (40%; 571 mln), Bengali (8%; 114.2 mln), Telugu (7.2%; 102.8 mln), Marathi (6.7%; 95.7 mln), Tamil (5.8%; 82.8 mln), Urdu (5%; 71.4 mln), Gujarati (4.4%; 62.8 mln), Kannada (3.6%; 51.4 mln), English (3.2%; 45.7 mln), Malayalam (3.2%; 45.7 mln), Odia (3.2%; 45.7 mln), Punjabi (2.8%; 40 mln), Bhojpuri (2.2%; 31.4 mln), Assamese (1.3%; 18.5 mln), Maithili (1.2%; 17.1 mln), other (2.2%; 31.4 mln).

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in India

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

  • 113/150 localize by translating into English.
  • 6/150 localize by translating both into English and Hindi.
  • 2/150 localize by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi and Urdu.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi and Urdu.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Marathi.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi and Urdu.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, Urdu and Indian Sign Language.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Hindi.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, French, Korean and Japanese.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, French and Simplified Chinese.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, French, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and German.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English, French, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Thai, Ukraine, Polish, Hungarian, Bahasa Indonesian, Romanian and Turkish.
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into English and Simplified Chinese.
  • Localization available 3M
  • Localization available ABB
  • Localization available Accenture
  • Localization available Adidas
  • Localization available Adobe
  • Localization available Airbnb
  • Localization not available Aldi
  • Localization available Amazon
  • Localization available American Airlines
  • Localization available American Express
  • Localization available Apple
  • Localization available Audi
  • Localization available Autodesk
  • Localization available Avis
  • Localization available Bayer
  • Localization available BMW
  • Localization available Booking.com
  • Localization available Bosch
  • Localization available British Airways
  • Localization available Bumble
  • Localization available Burberry
  • Localization available BYD
  • Localization available Canon
  • Localization available Capgemini
  • Localization available Cartier
  • Localization available Caterpillar
  • Localization available Chevrolet
  • Localization available Cisco Systems
  • Localization available Citibank
  • Localization available Coca-Cola
  • Localization not available Costco
  • Localization available Dell
  • Localization available Deloitte
  • Localization available Delta
  • Localization available DHL
  • Localization not available Disney+
  • Localization available Dyson
  • Localization available eBay
  • Localization available Eli Lilly
  • Localization available Emirates
  • Localization available Ernst & Young
  • Localization available Facebook
  • Localization available FedEx
  • Localization available Ford
  • Localization available Four Seasons
  • Localization available Fujifilm
  • Localization available GE
  • Localization available Gillette
  • Localization available GoDaddy
  • Localization available Google
  • Localization not available Gucci
  • Localization available Haier
  • Localization available Heineken
  • Localization not available Hermès
  • Localization available Hertz
  • Localization not available Hilton
  • Localization available Hisense
  • Localization available Hitachi
  • Localization available Honda
  • Localization available Hotels.com
  • Localization available HP
  • Localization available HP Enterprise
  • Localization available HSBC
  • Localization not available Huawei
  • Localization not available Hyatt
  • Localization available Hyundai
  • Localization available IBM
  • Localization available IKEA
  • Localization not available Intel
  • Localization available InterContinental Hotels
  • Localization available J&J
  • Localization available Jack Daniel's
  • Localization available Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Localization available John Deere
  • Localization available Kellogg's
  • Localization available Kia
  • Localization available KPMG
  • Localization available L'Oréal
  • Localization available Land Rover
  • Localization available LEGO
  • Localization available Lenovo
  • Localization available Lexus
  • Localization available LG
  • Localization available Louis Vuitton
  • Localization available Lululemon
  • Localization not available LUSH
  • Localization available Marriott
  • Localization available MasterCard
  • Localization available McDonald's
  • Localization available Mercedes-Benz
  • Localization available Merck
  • Localization available Microsoft
  • Localization available Mitsubishi Electric
  • Localization available Nestlé
  • Localization available Netflix
  • Localization available Nike
  • Localization available Nikon
  • Localization not available Nintendo
  • Localization not available Nio
  • Localization available Nissan
  • Localization available NIVEA
  • Localization available Oracle
  • Localization available Pampers
  • Localization available Panasonic
  • Localization available PayPal
  • Localization available Pepsi
  • Localization available Pfizer
  • Localization available Philips
  • Localization available Pitney Bowes
  • Localization available Porsche
  • Localization available Procter & Gamble
  • Localization available PWC
  • Localization available Revolut
  • Localization available Rolex
  • Localization available Royal Caribbean
  • Localization available Salesforce
  • Localization available Samsung
  • Localization available Sanofi
  • Localization available SAP
  • Localization not available Sephora
  • Localization available Shopify
  • Localization available Siemens
  • Localization available Sony
  • Localization available Spotify
  • Localization available Starbucks
  • Localization available Steelcase
  • Localization available Stripe
  • Localization available Subaru
  • Localization not available Tesla
  • Localization available The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Localization available Tiffany
  • Localization available Tinder
  • Localization available Toshiba
  • Localization available Toyota
  • Localization available TripAdvisor
  • Localization available Uber
  • Localization available United Airlines
  • Localization available UPS
  • Localization available Visa
  • Localization available