Indian numbering system
Encyclopedia
The South Asian numbering system, used today in the Indian subcontinent
(comprising India
, Pakistan
, Bangladesh
, and Nepal
), is based on grouping by two decimal
places, rather than the three decimal places commonplace in most parts of the world. This system of measurement introduces separators into numbers in places appropriate to the two-digit grouping. For example, 30 million (3 crore) rupees would be written as 3,00,00,000, with commas at the thousand, lakh
, and crore
levels, instead of 30,000,000.
The terms crore
and lakh
are in widespread use today in Indian English
and Pakistani English
.
The table below follows the short scale usage of billion being a thousand million. In India
, following former British
usage, the long scale was used, with one billion equivalent to one million million.
Neel, Padma, Shankh are more commonly found in old sections of Indian Mathematics
.
Instead of saying the higher numbers, it is more common to use lakh and crore repeatedly or in combination, saying 1 lakh crore for 1012 or one trillion.
The term crore ( [Korur] in Persian
) was also used in Iran
until recent decades, but with the meaning of 500,000.
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
(comprising India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
), is based on grouping by two decimal
Decimal
The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations....
places, rather than the three decimal places commonplace in most parts of the world. This system of measurement introduces separators into numbers in places appropriate to the two-digit grouping. For example, 30 million (3 crore) rupees would be written as 3,00,00,000, with commas at the thousand, lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
, and crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
levels, instead of 30,000,000.
The terms crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
and lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
are in widespread use today in Indian English
Indian English
Indian English is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contexts...
and Pakistani English
Pakistani English
Pakistani English is the term used to describe the English language as spoken in Pakistan. Pakistani English is slightly different in respect to accent and spellings of some words.-History:...
.
The table below follows the short scale usage of billion being a thousand million. In India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, following former British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
usage, the long scale was used, with one billion equivalent to one million million.
| Hindi (transliteration) | Indian figure | Power notation |
English figure | Short scale Long and short scales The long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale... English (long scale Long and short scales The long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale... English) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 1 | one | |
| 10 | 101 | 10 | ten | |
| 100 | 102 | 100 | hundred | |
| 1,000 | 103 | 1,000 | one thousand | |
| 1,00,000 | 105 | 100,000 | one hundred thousand | |
| 1,00,00,000 | 107 | 10,000,000 | ten million | |
| 1,00,00,00,000 | 109 | 1,000,000,000 | one billion 1000000000 (number) 1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109.... (one milliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,000 | 1011 | 100,000,000,000 | one hundred billion (one hundred milliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1013 | 10,000,000,000,000 | ten trillion (ten billion) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1015 | 1,000,000,000,000,000 | one quadrillion (one billiard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1017 | 100,000,000,000,000,000 | one hundred quadrillion (one hundred billiard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1019 | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 | ten quintillion (ten trillion) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1021 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one sextillion (one trilliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1023 | 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one hundred sextillion (one hundred trilliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1025 | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | ten septillion (ten quadrillion) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1027 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one octillion (one quadrilliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1029 | 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one hundred octillion (one hundred quadrilliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1031 | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | ten nonillion (ten quintillion) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1033 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one decillion (one quintilliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1035 | 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one hundred decillion (one hundred quintilliard) |
|
| 1,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1037 | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | ten undecillion (ten sextillion) |
|
| 100,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,000 | 1041 | 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | one hundred duodecillion (one hundred sextilliard) |
Neel, Padma, Shankh are more commonly found in old sections of Indian Mathematics
Indian mathematics
Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics , important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II. The decimal number system in use today was first...
.
Instead of saying the higher numbers, it is more common to use lakh and crore repeatedly or in combination, saying 1 lakh crore for 1012 or one trillion.
The term crore ( [Korur] in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
) was also used in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
until recent decades, but with the meaning of 500,000.
Usage in different languages
- In GujaratiGujarati languageGujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
a Lakh is called લાખ and Karod or Crore is called કરોડ. - In MarathiMarathi languageMarathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
a crore is called Koti or and an arab (109) is called as Abja or .
- In TeluguTelugu languageTelugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
a crore is called Koti or and a lakh is called Laksha or .
- In TamilTamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
a crore is called Kodi or and a lakh is called laksham or .
- In Malayalam a crore is called Kodi or and a lakh is called laksham or .
- In Kannada a Lakh is called Laksha or and a Crore is called Koti or .
- In MandarinStandard ChineseStandard Chinese, or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
, lakhLakhA lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
and croreCroreA crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
are used.
- Lakh has entered the SwahiliSwahili languageSwahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
language as "laki" and is in common use.
- In BurmeseBurmese languageThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
, crore is called ɡədè. Lakh is used in Burmese EnglishBurmese EnglishBurmese English is an English language dialect used in Burma , spoken by an estimated 2.4 million people, about 5% of the population .-History:...
.