Hyderabad, India - Demographics - Ethnic Groups, Language and Religion

Ethnic Groups, Language and Religion

Residents of Hyderabad are called Hyderabadi. The majority of them are Telugu people, followed by Urdu-speaking and Marathi people, and there are minority Kannada (including Nawayathi), Marwari, Bengali, Tamil, Malayali, Gujarati, Punjabi and Uttar Pradeshi communities. Among the communities of foreign origin, Yemeni Arabs form the majority, and African Arabs, Armenians, Abyssinians, Iranians, Pathans and Turkish people are also present. The foreign population declined after Hyderabad State became part of the Indian Union.

Telugu is the official language of Hyderabad and Urdu is its second language; English is also used, particularly among white-collar workers. The Telugu spoken in Hyderabad is a dialect called Telangana and the Urdu spoken here is called Dakhani. A significant minority speaks other languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada and Tamil.

Hindus form the majority of Hyderabad's population. Muslims are present throughout the city and predominate in and around the Old City. There are also Christian, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Parsi communities, and iconic temples, mosques and churches can be seen. According to the 2001 census, Hyderabad district's religious make-up was: Hindus (55%), Muslims (42%), Christians (2.4%), Jains (0.4%), Sikhs (0.28%) and Buddhists (0.02%); 0.22% did not state any religion.