Tamil people

E39754

Dravidian people ethnic group

Tamil people are a Dravidian ethnic group native to South Asia, primarily associated with the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and northern and eastern Sri Lanka, known for their ancient history, rich literary and artistic traditions, and widespread global diaspora.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (5)

Surface form	Occurrences
Sri Lankan Tamils	12
Tamils	2
Indian Tamils	1
Jaffna Tamils	1
Tamil American	1

Statements (95)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Dravidian people ⓘ ethnic group ⓘ
associatedWith	Bharatanatyam ⓘ Carnatic music ⓘ Dravidian temple architecture ⓘ surface form: Dravidian architecture Tamil cinema ⓘ Tamil culture ⓘ Tamil literature ⓘ
calendar	Tamil calendar ⓘ
classicalArtForm	Tanjore painting ⓘ Temple architecture ⓘ
classicalLanguage	Tamil ⓘ
classicalLiterature	Sangam literature ⓘ
classicalLiteraturePeriod	Sangam literature ⓘ surface form: Sangam period
classicalWork	Manimekalai ⓘ Cilappatikāram ⓘ surface form: Silappatikaram Tirukkural ⓘ
concentratedIn	Eastern Province, Sri Lanka ⓘ Tamil Nadu ⓘ surface form: Indian state of Tamil Nadu Northern Province, Sri Lanka ⓘ
culturalCapital	Chennai ⓘ
culturalIdentity	Dravidian identity ⓘ Tamil nationalism ⓘ
diaspora	Canada ⓘ Fiji ⓘ Malaysia ⓘ Mauritius ⓘ Middle East ⓘ Réunion ⓘ Singapore ⓘ South Africa ⓘ Sri Lanka ⓘ United Kingdom ⓘ United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
ethnonym	Tamil people self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Tamils
haveEthnicMinorityStatusIn	Sri Lanka ⓘ
haveOfficialLanguageStatusIn	India ⓘ Singapore ⓘ Sri Lanka ⓘ
historicalKingdom	Chera dynasty ⓘ Chola dynasty ⓘ Pallava dynasty ⓘ Pandya dynasty ⓘ
historicalRegion	Tamilakam ⓘ
language	Tamil ⓘ surface form: Tamil language
languageFamily	Dravidian languages ⓘ
majorCity	Coimbatore ⓘ Jaffna ⓘ Madurai ⓘ
nativeTo	South Asia ⓘ Sri Lanka ⓘ Tamil Nadu ⓘ
notableAlvar	Andal ⓘ Nammalvar ⓘ
notablePhilosopher	Thiruvalluvar ⓘ
notableReligionPhilosophy	Shaiva Siddhanta ⓘ
notableSaint	Appar ⓘ Manikkavacakar ⓘ Sundarar ⓘ
politicalMovement	Dravidian movement ⓘ
politicalPartyInfluence	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ⓘ Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ⓘ
populationEstimate	over 70 million ⓘ
primaryReligion	Shaivism ⓘ
recognizedAs	one of the largest ethnic groups in South Asia ⓘ
religion	Buddhism ⓘ Christianity ⓘ Hinduism ⓘ Islam ⓘ Jainism ⓘ
scriptDirection	left-to-right ⓘ
traditionalDance	Bharatanatyam ⓘ
traditionalDress	Sari ⓘ Veshti ⓘ
traditionalFestival	Diwali ⓘ surface form: Deepavali Pongal ⓘ Tamil New Year ⓘ Pongal ⓘ surface form: Thai Pongal
traditionalFood	Dosa ⓘ Idli ⓘ Rasam ⓘ Sambar ⓘ
traditionalMartialArt	Silambam ⓘ
traditionalMusic	Carnatic music ⓘ
traditionalReligionCenter	Chidambaram ⓘ Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple ⓘ surface form: Madurai Meenakshi Temple Palani Murugan Temple ⓘ Rameswaram ⓘ
traditionalScripture	Divya Prabandham ⓘ Tevaram ⓘ Tirumurai ⓘ
traditionalSport	Jallikattu ⓘ Kabaddi ⓘ
traditionalTheatre	Therukoothu ⓘ
writingSystem	Tamil script ⓘ