diff --git a/HelloWorld.erl b/HelloWorld.erl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d327f1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/HelloWorld.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+% hello world program
+-module(helloworld). 
+-export([start/0]). 
+
+start() -> 
+   io:fwrite("Hello, world!\n").
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4bfca610..a271c6d4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ Dart is a general-purpose programming language originally developed by Google an
 
 - [x] **Elixir**
 
+- [x] **Erlang**
+
+Erlang is a general purpose or you might say a functional programming language and runtime environment. It was built in such a way that it had inherent support for concurrency, distribution and fault tolerance. Erlang was originally developed to be used in several large telecommunication systems. But it has now slowly made its foray into diverse sectors like ecommerce, computer telephony and banking sectors as well.
+
 - [x] **F#**
 
 - [x] **Fortran**