- List of countries where French is an official language
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See also: Francophone
The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.
Contents
Countries where French is an official language
The ten most populated French-speaking countries according to the CIA "World factbook". Please note that French is not a de jure official language in Morocco and Algeria.
The ten countries with the largest number of French speakers, 2005, according to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), full and partial speakers combined.The following is a list of the 29 countries where French is an official language. Note that in most of these countries, French is not the only language, and therefore the population does not indicate the number of French-speakers.
In Belgium, the official languages are French, Dutch, and German. The country is divided in four linguistic parts: Brussels (officially bilingual, de-facto French-speaking majority), Wallonia (French) and Flanders (Dutch) and the German-speaking Community. See further:[clarification needed]
French in Cameroon is another example of the heterogeneous Francophone world. It is different from the French spoken in France, Canada, or Gabon. There are different varieties of Cameroon French. French of Cameroon’s North part is different from French of the country’s South part. This is due to the fact that the country is neither socially nor culturally uniform. As a consequence, French will be different from one province/department to another.[1] See further: languages of Cameroon.
In Canada, French was introduced during the 17th century with the French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. Quebec was founded by the French Samuel de Champlain in 1608. There are high chances that French immigrants going to Nouvelle-France (New-France) had to have good knowledge of regional French before their departure. Nowadays, the official languages in Canada are English and French; however, only the province of Quebec has a French-speaking majority. Sizable French-speaking minorities exist in the provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba.
Nr. Country Continent Population (2008)[2] French-speakers (2005 estimation)[3] Partial-French speakers (2005 estimation) French-speakers, full and partial combined # - Francophone World 367,428,669 NA NA 162,348,020 1. 
Democratic Republic of the CongoAfrica 66,514,506 6,080,000 18,240,000 24,320,000 2. 
FranceEurope 65,057,790 60,578,6001 NA 60,578,600 3. 
CanadaNorth America 33,143,600 6,741,955 2,848,745 9,590,700 4. 
MadagascarAfrica 20,042,551 865,000 2,664,200 3,529,200 5. 
CameroonAfrica 18,467,692 2,950,300 4,393,100 7,343,400 6. 
Côte d'IvoireAfrica 18,373,060 12,740,000 NA 12,740,000 7. 
Burkina FasoAfrica 15,264,735 695,000 NA 695,000 8. 
NigerAfrica 13,272,679 1,260,000 NA 1,260,000 9. 
SenegalAfrica 12,853,259 1,170,000 2,457,000 3,627,000 10. 
MaliAfrica 12,324,029 1,107,000 NA 1,107,000 11. 
RwandaAfrica 10,473,282 609,000 174,000 783,000 12. 
BelgiumEurope 10,403,951 4,300,000 2,000,000 6,300,000 13. 
GuineaAfrica 10,211,437 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 14. 
ChadAfrica 10,111,337 1,940,000 NA 1,940,000 15. 
HaitiNorth America 8,924,553 5,664,000 5,622,500 6,286,500 16. 
BurundiAfrica 8,691,005 390,000 234,000 624,000 17. 
BeninAfrica 8,294,941 739,200 1,402,800 2,142,000 18. 
SwitzerlandEurope 7,581,520 1,509,600 2,072,000 3,582,120 19. 
TogoAfrica 5,858,673 2,000,000 NA 2,000,000 20. 
Central African RepublicAfrica 4,434,873 945,000 NA 945,000 21. 
Republic of the CongoAfrica 3,903,318 1,200,000 1,200,000 2,400,000 22. 
GabonAfrica 1,485,832 1,200,000 NA 1,200,000 23. 
ComorosAfrica 731,775 312,200 NA 312,200 24. 
Equatorial GuineaAfrica 616,459 100,000 200,000 300,000 25. 
DjiboutiAfrica 506,221 159,800 159,800 26. 
LuxembourgEurope 486,006 430,000 20,000 450,000 27. 
VanuatuOceania 215,446 99,000 NA 99,000 28. 
SeychellesAfrica 82,247 4,000 44,000 48,000 29. 
MonacoEurope 32,796 23,400 NA 23,400 In addition to this, the Vatican City registers itself as a French-speaking country in the international organisations with which it has relationship.
Dependent entities where French is an official language
Nr. Entity Continent Population Status 1. 
PondicherryAsia 973,829 Union Territory of India 2. 
French PolynesiaOceania 267,000 Overseas Collectivity of France 3. 
New CaledoniaOceania 224,824 Overseas Collectivity of France 4. 
Aosta ValleyEurope 128,000 Autonomous region of Italy 5. 
JerseyEurope 91,533 British Crown dependency 6. 
GuernseyEurope 65,726 British Crown dependency 7. Saint MartinNorth America 29,376 Overseas Collectivity of France 8. Wallis and FutunaOceania 16,448 Overseas Collectivity of France 9 Saint BarthélemyNorth America 7,492 Overseas Collectivity of France 10. Saint Pierre and MiquelonNorth America 7,044 Overseas Collectivity of France 11. 
French Southern and Antarctic LandsAntarctica, Africa 140 TAAF districts 12. 
ClippertonNorth America 0 French state private property Sub-national regions located within countries where French is the official national language are not included in this list. The five overseas regions of France (Départements d'Outre-Mer, or DOM): Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion, have the same status as metropolitan France and are not listed here. French has a certain legal status in the US-Louisiana but it's not considered de-jure official.
Countries where French is commonly used but not official
Countries that are usually considered as Francophone Africa.After gaining independence in the 1950s and 1960s, the Arabic-speaking countries of the Maghreb: Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, strived to reduce the use of French by implementing different arabisation policies. However, the language switch was difficult because competence in Standard Arabic (which is different from the Maghrebi varieties) was far behind competence in French. French remains the language of the private sector and close contacts with France and other French-speaking countries ensures the language's survival. Mauritania, also an Arabic-speaking country, abolished French as a de jure official language in 1991, but has like its northern neighbours kept it as the de facto second language.
In Mauritius, English is considered the official language, however French is the dominant language of mass communications and business, the French-based Mauritian Creole is the main native language and serves as the country's lingua franca.
In the United States, French is de facto co-official with English in the states of Louisiana and Maine and is widely spoken in New England but speakers can be found nationwide. French is the second most widely studied foreign language after Spanish in the nation and along with English and Spanish, is also used in government notices and services.
French is spoken in small amounts mainly by the elderly and elite populations in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. This is due to the heavy French influence on the former territory known as French Indochina, which included these countries. However, since the early 1990s and 2000s, there has been a revivial of the French language in these three countries and French is used for international relations and is at times used as an administrative language.[4]
Lebanon is officially Arabic-speaking, but French is commonly spoken, especially by Christians, and the language receives some government recognition. Lebanon does not only count an important number of French speakers; it is also Francophile. The linguistic plurality of Lebanon is due to its important place in the business world. This explains why so many Lebanese speak fluent French and/or English. Until the civil war, some Christian communities refused to speak Arabic. Christians used to go to high schools where lessons were given in French. Thus theses communities became French speaking. French is generally more spoken by wealthy classes of the population. Although English developed these last years in the country, French stays the first foreign language in Lebanon. Indeed, 45% of the population is French speaking (against 30% of English speakers).
Catalan is the official language of Andorra, a small country which lies along the French-Spanish border, French is also commonly used and understood due to the country's proximity to France and French influence.
Location of Maghreb (French is a second language in all countries of the Grand Maghreb except Libya)Nr. Country Continent Population French-speakers (2005 estimation)[5][6] Partial-French speakers French-speakers, real and partial combined 1. 
MoroccoAfrica 34,343,219 4,144,500 5,986,500 10,131,001 2. 
AlgeriaAfrica 33,769,669 21,000,000 NA 21,000,000 3. 
TunisiaAfrica 10,383,577 6,360,000 NA 6,360,000 4. 
LebanonAsia 4,088,941 684,000 760,000 1,444,000 5. 
MauritaniaAfrica 3,364,940 167,400 155,000 322,400 6. 
MauritiusAfrica 1,274,189 180,000 692,500 872,500 7. 
AndorraEurope 72,413 34,200 16,400 50,600 Map showing countries where French is an official language
Map showing countries where French is an official language.Alphabetical list
- Belgium
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo (Brazzaville)
- Congo (Kinshasa)
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- France
- Gabon
- Guinea
- Haiti
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Monaco
- New Caledonia
- Niger
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Switzerland
- Tahiti
- Togo
- Vanuatu
References
- ^ Biloa, E. (2004), La langue française au Cameroun, Peter Lang SA, Bern (Allemagne).
- ^ "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. July 2008 estimates. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ^ http://20mars.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/FICHE_03_Nombre_de_francophones.pdf
- ^ La Francophonie in Asia, France-Diplomatie, 2005, http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-30_4398/feature-francophonie-in-asia_4517/tour-of-asia-french-speaking-countries_7349.html, retrieved 2010-10-14
- ^ http://20mars.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/FICHE_03_Nombre_de_francophones.pdf
- ^ http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/algerie-1demo.htm
See also
- French language
- Francophonie
- List of international organisations which have French as an official language
Countries and languages lists Languages by continent Languages by country Unions based on language Arab League (Arabic) · Dutch Union (Dutch) · Francophonie (French) · Latin Union (Romance languages) · Hispanosphere, Hispanidad (Spanish) · CPLP, PALOP (Portuguese) · TÜRKSOY/Turkic Council (Turkic languages)Countries by language Languages by population Languages by family Categories:- Countries-languages-related lists
- French language
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