Assamese is the language spoken by some of the natives of the state of Assam in northeast India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Small pockets of Assamese speakers can be found in Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Immigrants from Assam have carried the language with them to other parts of the world. The easternmost of Indo-European languages, it is spoken by over 20 million people. The English word "Assamese" is built on the same principle as "Japanese", "Taiwanese", etc. It is based on the English word "Assam" by which the tract consisting of the Brahmaputra valley is known. But the people themselves call their state Ôxôm and their language Ôxômiya.