Assamese language in the past. There are also significant Assamese-speaking communities in Australia, Dubai, the United Kingdom, Canada, Nepal and the United States. Assamese is the official language of Assam, and one of the 23 official languages recognised by the Republic of India. The Assam Secretariat functions in Assamese. The Assamese phonemic inventory consists of eight vowels, ten diphthongs, and twenty-three consonants (including two semivowels). Consonant clusters in Assamese include thirty three pure consonant letters in the Assamese alphabet. Each letter represents a single sound with an inherent vowel, the short vowel . The first twenty-five consonants letters are called "sparxa barna"
Assamese people on April 10, 2000 which was based on residency with a temporal limit: "All those whose names appeared in the 1951 National Register of Citizens and their progenies should be considered as Assamese. " Difficulty in definition is rooted in the heterogeneous nature of inhabitants of the Assam State. According to 2011 census, Out of (13,257,272) Assamese people, majority of (10,013,013) or (75.52%) Assamese people are Hindus, largest minority of (2,830,072) or (21.34%) Assamese people are Muslims, and very few (414,187) or (3.14%) Assamese people are Christians and Sikhs by religion. The first usage of the English word "Assamese" is