diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index ac4be384..1b8564dc 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ gulp.task('release', ['clean-release','compile'], function() {
 			bundleOne('src/jade'),
 			bundleOne('src/java'),
 			bundleOne('src/lua'),
+			bundleOne('src/markdown'),
 			bundleOne('src/objective-c'),
 			bundleOne('src/powershell'),
 			bundleOne('src/python'),
diff --git a/src/markdown.ts b/src/markdown.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9e4199c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/markdown.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+'use strict';
+
+import IRichLanguageConfiguration = monaco.languages.LanguageConfiguration;
+import ILanguage = monaco.languages.IMonarchLanguage;
+
+const TOKEN_HEADER_LEAD = 'entity.name.tag';
+const TOKEN_HEADER = 'entity.name.tag';
+const TOKEN_EXT_HEADER = 'entity.other.attribute-name';
+const TOKEN_SEPARATOR = 'meta.separator';
+const TOKEN_QUOTE = 'comment';
+const TOKEN_LIST = 'keyword';
+const TOKEN_BLOCK = 'string';
+const TOKEN_BLOCK_CODE = 'variable.source';
+
+const DELIM_END = 'punctuation.definition.meta.tag.end.html';
+const DELIM_START = 'punctuation.definition.meta.tag.begin.html';
+const DELIM_ASSIGN = 'meta.tag.assign.html';
+const ATTRIB_NAME = 'entity.other.attribute-name.html';
+const ATTRIB_VALUE = 'string.html';
+const COMMENT = 'comment.html.content';
+const DELIM_COMMENT = 'comment.html';
+const DOCTYPE = 'entity.other.attribute-name.html';
+const DELIM_DOCTYPE = 'entity.name.tag.html';
+
+const TAG_PREFIX = 'entity.name.tag.tag-';
+
+function getTag(name: string) {
+    return TAG_PREFIX + name;
+}
+
+export var conf: IRichLanguageConfiguration = {
+    comments: {
+        blockComment: ['<!--', '-->',]
+    },
+    brackets: [['{', '}'], ['[', ']'], ['(', ')'], ['<', '>']],
+    autoClosingPairs: []
+};
+
+export var language = <ILanguage>{
+    defaultToken: '',
+    tokenPostfix: '.md',
+
+    // escape codes
+    control: /[\\`*_\[\]{}()#+\-\.!]/,
+    noncontrol: /[^\\`*_\[\]{}()#+\-\.!]/,
+    escapes: /\\(?:@control)/,
+
+    // escape codes for javascript/CSS strings
+    jsescapes: /\\(?:[btnfr\\"']|[0-7][0-7]?|[0-3][0-7]{2})/,
+
+    // non matched elements
+    empty: [
+        'area', 'base', 'basefont', 'br', 'col', 'frame',
+        'hr', 'img', 'input', 'isindex', 'link', 'meta', 'param'
+    ],
+
+    tokenizer: {
+        root: [
+
+            // headers (with #)
+            [/^(\s{0,3})(#+)((?:[^\\#]|@escapes)+)((?:#+)?)/, ['white', TOKEN_HEADER_LEAD, TOKEN_HEADER, TOKEN_HEADER]],
+
+            // headers (with =)
+            [/^\s*(=+|\-+)\s*$/, TOKEN_EXT_HEADER],
+
+            // headers (with ***)
+            [/^\s*((\*[ ]?)+)\s*$/, TOKEN_SEPARATOR],
+
+            // quote
+            [/^\s*>+/, TOKEN_QUOTE],
+
+            // list (starting with * or number)
+            [/^\s*([\*\-+:]|\d+\.)\s/, TOKEN_LIST],
+
+            // code block (4 spaces indent)
+            [/^(\t|[ ]{4})[^ ].*$/, TOKEN_BLOCK],
+
+            // code block (3 tilde)
+            [/^\s*~{3}\s*((?:\w|[\/\-#])+)?\s*$/, { token: TOKEN_BLOCK, next: '@codeblock' }],
+
+            // github style code blocks (with backticks and language)
+            [/^\s*```\s*((?:\w|[\/\-#])+)\s*$/, { token: TOKEN_BLOCK, next: '@codeblockgh', nextEmbedded: '$1' }],
+
+            // github style code blocks (with backticks but no language)
+            [/^\s*`{3}\s*$/, { token: TOKEN_BLOCK, next: '@codeblock' }],
+
+            // markup within lines
+            { include: '@linecontent' },
+        ],
+
+        codeblock: [
+            [/^\s*~{3}\s*$/, { token: TOKEN_BLOCK, next: '@pop' }],
+            [/^\s*`{3}\s*$/, { token: TOKEN_BLOCK, next: '@pop' }],
+            [/.*$/, TOKEN_BLOCK_CODE],
+        ],
+
+        // github style code blocks
+        codeblockgh: [
+            [/```\s*$/, { token: '@rematch', switchTo: '@codeblockghend', nextEmbedded: '@pop' }],
+            [/[^`]*$/, TOKEN_BLOCK_CODE],
+        ],
+
+        codeblockghend: [
+            [/\s*```/, { token: TOKEN_BLOCK_CODE, next: '@pop' }],
+            [/./, '@rematch', '@pop'],
+        ],
+
+        linecontent: [
+
+            // escapes
+            [/&\w+;/, 'string.escape'],
+            [/@escapes/, 'escape'],
+
+            // various markup
+            [/\b__([^\\_]|@escapes|_(?!_))+__\b/, 'strong'],
+            [/\*\*([^\\*]|@escapes|\*(?!\*))+\*\*/, 'strong'],
+            [/\b_[^_]+_\b/, 'emphasis'],
+            [/\*([^\\*]|@escapes)+\*/, 'emphasis'],
+            [/`([^\\`]|@escapes)+`/, 'variable'],
+
+            // links
+            [/\{[^}]+\}/, 'string.target'],
+            [/(!?\[)((?:[^\]\\]|@escapes)*)(\]\([^\)]+\))/, ['string.link', '', 'string.link']],
+            [/(!?\[)((?:[^\]\\]|@escapes)*)(\])/, 'string.link'],
+
+            // or html
+            { include: 'html' },
+        ],
+
+        // Note: it is tempting to rather switch to the real HTML mode instead of building our own here
+        // but currently there is a limitation in Monarch that prevents us from doing it: The opening
+        // '<' would start the HTML mode, however there is no way to jump 1 character back to let the
+        // HTML mode also tokenize the opening angle bracket. Thus, even though we could jump to HTML,
+        // we cannot correctly tokenize it in that mode yet.
+        html: [
+            // html tags
+            [/<(\w+)\/>/, getTag('$1')],
+            [/<(\w+)/, {
+                cases: {
+                    '@empty': { token: getTag('$1'), next: '@tag.$1' },
+                    '@default': { token: getTag('$1'), bracket: '@open', next: '@tag.$1' }
+                }
+            }],
+            [/<\/(\w+)\s*>/, { token: getTag('$1'), bracket: '@close' }],
+
+            [/<!--/, 'comment', '@comment']
+        ],
+
+        comment: [
+            [/[^<\-]+/, 'comment.content'],
+            [/-->/, 'comment', '@pop'],
+            [/<!--/, 'comment.content.invalid'],
+            [/[<\-]/, 'comment.content']
+        ],
+
+        // Almost full HTML tag matching, complete with embedded scripts & styles
+        tag: [
+            [/[ \t\r\n]+/, 'white'],
+            [/(type)(\s*=\s*)(")([^"]+)(")/, [ATTRIB_NAME, DELIM_ASSIGN, ATTRIB_VALUE,
+                { token: ATTRIB_VALUE, switchTo: '@tag.$S2.$4' },
+                ATTRIB_VALUE]],
+            [/(type)(\s*=\s*)(')([^']+)(')/, [ATTRIB_NAME, DELIM_ASSIGN, ATTRIB_VALUE,
+                { token: ATTRIB_VALUE, switchTo: '@tag.$S2.$4' },
+                ATTRIB_VALUE]],
+            [/(\w+)(\s*=\s*)("[^"]*"|'[^']*')/, [ATTRIB_NAME, DELIM_ASSIGN, ATTRIB_VALUE]],
+            [/\w+/, ATTRIB_NAME],
+            [/\/>/, getTag('$S2'), '@pop'],
+            [/>/, {
+                cases: {
+                    '$S2==style': { token: getTag('$S2'), switchTo: '@embedded.$S2', nextEmbedded: 'text/css' },
+                    '$S2==script': {
+                        cases: {
+                            '$S3': { token: getTag('$S2'), switchTo: '@embedded.$S2', nextEmbedded: '$S3' },
+                            '@default': { token: getTag('$S2'), switchTo: '@embedded.$S2', nextEmbedded: 'text/javascript' }
+                        }
+                    },
+                    '@default': { token: getTag('$S2'), next: '@pop' }
+                }
+            }],
+        ],
+
+        embedded: [
+            [/[^"'<]+/, ''],
+            [/<\/(\w+)\s*>/, {
+                cases: {
+                    '$1==$S2': { token: '@rematch', next: '@pop', nextEmbedded: '@pop' },
+                    '@default': ''
+                }
+            }],
+            [/"([^"\\]|\\.)*$/, 'string.invalid'],  // non-teminated string
+            [/'([^'\\]|\\.)*$/, 'string.invalid'],  // non-teminated string
+            [/"/, 'string', '@string."'],
+            [/'/, 'string', '@string.\''],
+            [/</, '']
+        ],
+
+        // scan embedded strings in javascript or css
+        string: [
+            [/[^\\"']+/, 'string'],
+            [/@jsescapes/, 'string.escape'],
+            [/\\./, 'string.escape.invalid'],
+            [/["']/, {
+                cases: {
+                    '$#==$S2': { token: 'string', next: '@pop' },
+                    '@default': 'string'
+                }
+            }]
+        ]
+    }
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/monaco.contribution.ts b/src/monaco.contribution.ts
index 4a2a5471..0075fc25 100644
--- a/src/monaco.contribution.ts
+++ b/src/monaco.contribution.ts
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ registerLanguage({
 	aliases: [ 'Lua', 'lua' ],
 	module: './lua'
 });
+registerLanguage({
+    id: 'markdown',
+    extensions: ['.md', '.markdown', '.mdown', '.mkdn', '.mkd', '.mdwn', '.mdtxt', '.mdtext'],
+	aliases: ['Markdown', 'markdown'],
+    module: './markdown'
+});
 registerLanguage({
 	id: 'objective-c',
 	extensions: [ '.m' ],
diff --git a/test/all.js b/test/all.js
index ab083722..b796afa6 100644
--- a/test/all.js
+++ b/test/all.js
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ requirejs([
 		'out/test/jade.test',
 		'out/test/java.test',
 		'out/test/lua.test',
+		'out/test/markdown.test',
 		'out/test/objective-c.test',
 		'out/test/powershell.test',
 		'out/test/python.test',
diff --git a/test/markdown.test.ts b/test/markdown.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5538ac24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/markdown.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+'use strict';
+
+import {testTokenization} from './testRunner';
+
+testTokenization('markdown', [
+
+    [{
+        line: '# Some header',
+        tokens: [
+            { startIndex: 0, type: 'entity.name.tag.md' }
+        ]
+    }],
+
+    [{
+        line: '* Some list item',
+        tokens: [
+            { startIndex: 0, type: 'keyword.md' },
+            { startIndex: 2, type: '' }
+        ]
+    }],
+
+    [{
+        line: 'some `code`',
+        tokens: [
+            { startIndex: 0, type: '' },
+            { startIndex: 5, type: 'variable.md' }
+        ]
+    }],
+
+    [{
+        line: 'some ![link](http://link.com)',
+        tokens: [
+            { startIndex: 0, type: '' },
+            { startIndex: 5, type: 'string.link.md' },
+            { startIndex: 7, type: '' },
+            { startIndex: 11, type: 'string.link.md' }
+        ]
+    }]
+]);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 69b3885c..77b2eb67 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     "src/jade.ts",
     "src/java.ts",
     "src/lua.ts",
+    "src/markdown.ts",
     "src/monaco.contribution.ts",
     "src/objective-c.ts",
     "src/powershell.ts",
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@
     "test/jade.test.ts",
     "test/java.test.ts",
     "test/lua.test.ts",
+    "test/markdown.test.ts",
     "test/mocha.d.ts",
     "test/objective-c.test.ts",
     "test/powershell.test.ts",