• What? World Hindi Day 2026 (Vishwa Hindi Diwas)
• When? 10 January (annually)
• First Celebration: 10 January 2006
• January 10: Marks the first use of Hindi in the UNGA (1949); commemorates the first World Hindi Conference (1975).
• Organiser: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
• Purpose: Promotion of Hindi globally
• National Observance: Hindi Diwas (14 September)

Background:
Decision: The follow-up committee of the World Hindi Conference decided to designate January 10 as World Hindi Day during its meeting on 8 June 2005.
Approval: The decision was officially approved by the then Prime Minister(PM) of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
First Celebration: The first-ever World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10 January 2006.

• Since then, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been organising annual events and activities to promote Hindi globally.

Why January 10?
UN Milestone: January 10 marks the first use of Hindi in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1949.
Conference Legacy: The date commemorates the first World Hindi Conference held from 10–12 January 1975 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, inaugurated by former PM Indira Gandhi.
National Observance:
In India, Hindi Diwas, or Hindi Day, is observed annually on 14 September to mark the 1949 decision of the Constituent Assembly to adopt Hindi in the Devanagari script as one of the 22 official languages of India.
About Hindi Language:
Language Family: Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages.
Constitutional Status: Under Article 343 of the Constitution of India, Hindi in the Devanagari script became the official language of the Government of India (GoI) in 1950 and is listed among the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule.
State Usage: Hindi serves as the official language in several Indian states, including Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Worldwide Speakers: Hindi is among the top four most spoken languages globally, with over 600 million speakers, and is widely used in countries such as Mauritius, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Nepal.
Hindi in Fiji: Fiji is the only country outside India where Hindi is an official language alongside English and Fijian, with “Fiji Hindi” originating from Indian laborers under the indentured system and formally recognized in the 1997 Constitution of Fiji.