Telugu (English pronunciation: /ˈtɛlᵿɡuː/; తెలుగు telugu, IPA: [t̪el̪uɡu]) is a Dravidian language native to India. It stands alongside Hindi, English and Bengali as one of the few languages that predominate in more than one Indian state; it is the primary language in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and in the town of Yanam, Puducherry. It is also spoken by significant minorities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, and by the Sri Lankan Gypsy people. It is one of six languages designated a classical language of India by the Government of India. Telugu ranks third by the number of native speakers in India (74 million, 2001 census), fifteenth in the Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages worldwide and is the