मराठी ही इंडो-युरोपीय भाषाकुलातील एक भाषा आहे. भारतातील प्रमुख २२ भाषांपैकी मराठी एक आहे. महाराष्ट्र आणि गोवा ह्या राज्यांची मराठी ही अधिकृत राजभाषा आहे. मराठी प्रथम भाषा (मातृभाषा) असणाऱ्यांच्या लोकसंख्येनुसार मराठी ही जगातील पंधरावी व भारतातील चौथी भाषा आहे. मराठी बोलणार्‍यांची एकूण लोकसंख्या ९,००,००,००० आहे. मराठी भाषा ९व्या शतकापासून प्रचलित आहे. मराठी भाषेची निर्मिती संस्कृतमधून निर्माण झालेल्या महाराष्ट्री प्राकृत व अपभ्रंश या भाषांपासून झाली आहे.

Marathi (मराठी Marāṭhī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most spoken language in the world. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 1000 AD. The major dialects of Marathi are called Standard Marathi and Warhadi Marathi.There are a few other sub-dialects like Ahirani, Dangi, Vadvali, Samavedi, Khandeshi, and Malwani. Standard Marathi is the official language of the State of Maharashtra.

Spoken In : India, Mauritius and Israel, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh parts of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu.

Native Speakers: 68 million Marathi proper (1997) another 7 million Varhadi (1995), 3 million as a second language

Language family: Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Indo-Aryan > Southern Indo-Aryan > Marathi

Writing system: Devanagari (standard), Modi (shorthand script), Latin (social networking and online chat).

Official language in: India (State of Maharashtra, Union territories of Daman-Diu) and Dadra Nagar Haveli

Regulated by: Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad & various other institutions

Language codes: mr (ISO 639-1), mar (ISO 639-2, ISO 639-3)

Marathi is primarily spoken in Maharashtra and parts of neighbouring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, union-territories of Daman-diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli. The cities of Baroda, Surat, Ahmedabad and Belgaum (Karnataka), Indore, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and Tanjore (Tamil Nadu) each have sizable Marathi-speaking communities. Marathi is also spoken by Maharashtrian emigrants worldwide, especially in the United States, Israel, Mauritius, and Canada.

References :
• Government: National Portal of India : india.gov.in
• Government of Maharashtra: maharashtra.gov.in
• Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) : http://tdil.mit.gov.in/
• Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language
• Marathi language at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
• Marathi is an official language of Dadra and Nagar Haveli Administration's profile
• Abstract of Language Strength in India: 2001 Census
• Official Languages Resolution, 1968, para.2
• A Survey of Marathi Dialects. VIII. Gāwḍi, A.M.Ghatage & P.P.Karapurkar. The State Board for Literature and Culture, Bombay. 1972.
• Marathi Sahitya (Review of the Marathi Literature up to I960) by Kusumavati Deshpande, Maharashtra Information Centre, New Delhi
• 'Marathi Vyakaran' (Marathi Grammar) - Moreshvar Sakharam More.
• Marathyancha Itihaas by Dr. Kolarkar (pg.3)
• Molesworth, J. T. (James Thomas). A dictionary, Marathi and English. 2d ed., rev. and enl. Bombay: Printed for government at the Bombay Education Society's press, 1857.
• Vaze, Shridhar Ganesh. The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English. Poona: Arya-Bhushan Press, 1911.
• Tulpule, Shankar Gopal and Anne Feldhaus. A dictionary of old Marathi. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan, 1999.