Goa’s Population

Goa’s population is clenching especially in the northern and central coast areas while the highland and mountainous areas of the hinterland are colonized much thinner. Thanks to the high living standards for Indian conditions, approximately one third of Goan’s are immigrants from another Indian state.

Approximately one third of the immigrants came from Karnataka alone, followed by Kerala and Gujarat. In rural areas, a small group of about 25,000 lives in Adivasis (indigenous people), which are known as Gauda.

Languages of Goa
Indo-Aryan Konkani 57.21%
Indo-Aryan Marathi 22,61%
Hindi Indo-Aryan 5.71%
Kannada Dravidian 5.54%
Urdu Indo-Aryan 4.02%
Malayalam Dravidian 1.12%

The traditional language of Goans is Konkani, originally a dialect of Marathi, but is now recognized as a separate language. Konkani has some influences from the Portuguese and Kannada. It is preferred in Devanagari, but sometimes is also written in Latin letters. By increasing Western influence, the imminent annexation of Goa to Maharashtra in the 1960s and 80s made Marathi the official language and Konkani was threatened in its survival.

A strong movement to preserve the language, however, meant that today it is the common vernacular of the population and since 1987 is also the official language of the State of Goa. In addition, Marathi is also established, spoken in some rural areas Nordgoas as their first language and used for official purposes.

English tourism for Goa is of immense economic significance. Even the language of education has now largely replaced the Portuguese. The latter is maintained by only a few Christian families or descendants of Portuguese settlers, who mostly belong to a Brahmin caste.

Like the English, Hindi is also used frequently for communication between speakers of different mother tongues. Among the younger population of Goa it has become a mix of Hindi, Konkani and English established as the colloquial language that is consistent with the language used in the so-called Bollywood films. Immigrants from other states use their mother tongues. Kannada speakers have considerable numbers in Goa.