The Tulu language- Tulu or ತುಳು ಬಾಸೆ or തുളു ബാസെ, Tuḷu bāse,  is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers (1997) mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue (2001), increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census. According to one estimate reported in 2009, Tulu is currently spoken by three to five million native speakers in the world. The native speakers of Tulu are referred to as Tuluva or Tulu people.