A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac
) is a unit in the
Indian numbering system equal to
one hundred thousand (100,000;
scientific notation: 10
5).
In the
Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000.
For example, in India, 150,000
rupees becomes 1.5 ''lakh'' rupees, written as 1,50,000 or INR 1,50,000.
It is widely used both in official and other contexts in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
,
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. It is often used in
Bangladeshi,
Indian,
Pakistani
Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
, and
Sri Lankan English.
Usage
In
Indian English, the word is used both as an
attributive and non-attributive noun with either an unmarked or marked ("-s") plural, respectively. For example: "1 ''lakh'' people"; "''lakhs'' of people"; "20 ''lakh''
rupee
Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of
Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...
s"; "''lakhs'' of rupees". In the abbreviated form, usage such as "5L" or "5 lac" (for "5 ''lakh'' rupees") is common. In this system of numeration, 100 ''lakh'' is called one ''
crore''
[ and is equal to 10 million.
Formal written publications in English in India tend to use lakh/ crore for Indian currency and Western numbering for foreign currencies, such as dollars and pounds.
]
Silver market
The term is also used in the pricing of silver on the international precious metal
Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...
s market, where one ''lakh'' equals of silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
.
Etymology and regional variants
The modern word ''lakh'' derives from , originally denoting "mark, target, stake in gambling", but also used as the numeral for "100,000" in Gupta-era Classical Sanskrit ('' Yājñavalkya Smṛti'', '' Harivaṃśa'').Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
: ''lākh''
* Dhivehi: ''lakka''
* Gujarati: ''lākh''
* Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
: ''lakṣha''
* Kashmiri: ''lachh''
* Khasi:
* Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
: ''laksham''
* Marathi: ''lākh/laksha''
* Meitei: ꯂꯥꯛ ''lāk''
* Nepali: ''lākh''
* Odia: ''låkhyå''
* Punjabi: ( Shahmukhi: , Gurmukhi: ) ''lakkh''
* Sinhala:
* Tamil: ''latcham''
* Telugu: ''laksha''
* Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
: ''lākh''
See also
* Crore (100 lakh, or 10 million)
* English numerals
* Myriad
* Names of large numbers
References
External links
* {{Cite web, last=IINRG, first=Ranchi, title=Government Organisation, url=http://ilri.ernet.in/, access-date=22 February 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929175743/http://ilri.ernet.in/, archive-date=29 September 2018, url-status=dead
Powers of ten
Units of amount
Hindi words and phrases
Urdu-language words and phrases
Indian English idioms
Pakistani English idioms
Bengali words and phrases
Customary units in India
Nepali words and phrases