Maithili (; ; "Maithilī") is an Indo-Aryan language. It is spoken in Nepal and northern India. It is spoken by 34.7 million people. Of those, 2.8 million are Nepalese people. It is the second largest national language of Nepal. In ancient times, Maithili language was written in Mithilakshar. Now it is written in Devanagari script.