---
name: locale-bn-in
description: Use when working with the Bengali (India) locale (`bn-IN`) — its endonym বাংলা (ভারত), Bengali script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.
---

# Locale: Bengali (India) (bn-IN)

Reference data for the **Bengali (India)** locale — endonym **বাংলা (ভারত)**, written in the Bengali script, left-to-right (LTR).

## Identifiers

- **BCP 47 tag:** `bn-IN`
- **ISO 639-1:** `bn`
- **ISO 639-3:** `ben`
- **Script:** Beng (Bengali)
- **Region:** IN (India)
- **Text direction:** ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

## Speakers (approximate)

- **L1 (native):** 85,000,000
- **L2 (additional):** 38,000,000
- **L1+L2 (total):** 123,000,000

## Base locale

This is a regional variant of [[locale-bn-001]] (Bengali), the base/macro locale for this language.

## Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: **one**, **other** (2 forms).

- **one** — `i = 0 or n = 1` (e.g. 0, 1)
- **other** — everything else (e.g. 2~17, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural messages using these categories.

## Translating into this locale

Apply [[locale-bn-001]] with the conventions of India, mostly West Bengal and Tripura. Bengali is one of the scheduled languages of India.

- **Vocabulary:** Indian Bengali uses more Sanskrit-origin words: জল (water), স্নান (bath), নিমন্ত্রণ (invitation).
- **Currency and calendar:** rupee (₹); Gregorian dates in business and the Bengali calendar for festivals; Indian grouping.
- **Standards:** the Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi sets the West Bengal spelling.
- **Tone:** polite and a bit more formal than colloquial speech; English loans are common.

## Common pitfalls

- Using Bangladeshi vocabulary (পানি, গোসল) for an Indian audience.
- Using the taka symbol or Bangladesh institution names.
- The general pitfalls in [[locale-bn-001]] also apply.

## Learn more

- [[locale]] for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
- [[unicode-messageformat]] for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
- Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi, Akademi Banan Abhidhan