Garhwali language

Garhwali (गढ़वळि भाख/भाषा) is a Central Pahari language belonging to the Northern Zone of Indo-Aryan languages. It is primarily spoken by the Garhwali people (गढ़वळि मन्खि) who are from the north-western Garhwal Division (गढ़वाळ) of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand in the Indian Himalayas.

The Central Pahari languages include Garhwali and Kumauni (spoken in the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand). Garhwali, like Kumauni, has many regional dialects spoken in different places in Uttarakhand. The script used for Garhwali is Devanagari.

Garhwali is one of the 325 recognised languages of India spoken by over 2,267,314 people in Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar and Rudraprayag districts of Uttarakhand. Garhwali is also spoken by people in other parts of India including Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. According to various estimates, there are at least 2.5 million Garhwali migrants living in Delhi and the National Capital Region.