Nepali or Nepalese (नेपाली, pronounced [‘nepalɪ]), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately around 17 million people in Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and India. The language was first called the Khas language, then Gorkhali or Gurkhali before the term Nepali was taken. It is written with the Devanāgarī alphabet, derived from the Brahmi script in the 11th century AD. In use from the 7th century onward, Devanāgarī is characterized by long, horizontal strokes at the tops of the letters, usually joined to form a continuous horizontal line through the script when written. Writing system: Devanagari script (Nepali alphabet) Official language in: Nepal, India (in Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal)