Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a "Classical Language of India" in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala, Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep and is spoken by 35 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with a significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali Diaspora worldwide, especially in the Persian Gulf countries, due to the large populations of Malayali expatriates there. They are a significant population in each city in India including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune etc. Malayalam is closely related to the Tamil language.

मलयालम् या मलयाळम् भारत के केरला प्रान्त में बोली जाने वाली प्रमुख भाषा है। ये द्रविड़ भाषा-परिवार में आती है। केरला के अलावा ये तमिलनाडु के कन्याकुमारी तथा उत्तर में कर्नाटक के दक्षिण कन्नड़ जिला, लक्षद्वीप तथा अन्य कई देशों में बसे मलयालियों द्वारा बोली जाती है।