List of countries where French is an official language

Countries where French is an official language [edit]

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: Languages of Belgium.

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 1554. 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 (2010)^[2]^[3]	French-speakers (2005 estimation)^[4]^[5]	Partial-French speakers (2005 estimation)	French-speakers, full and partial combined^[6]
#	-	World	7,045,000,000	NA	NA	223,010,000
#	-	Francophone World	367,428,669^{[citation needed]}	NA	NA	194,790,000
1.	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	67,827,000	70066080000000000006,080,000	700725110000000000025,110,000	31,190,000
2.	France	Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania	65,447,000	700762492900000000062,492,900	NA	65,057,790
3.	Canada	North America	34,207,000	70067741955000000007,741,955	2,848,745	10,590,700
4.	Madagascar	Africa	21,146,551	7005865000000000000865,000	70062664200000000002,664,200	4,020,200
5.	Cameroon	Africa	19,958,692	70062950300000000002,950,300	70064393100000000004,393,100	7,200,000
6.	Ivory Coast	Africa	21,571,060	700712740000000000012,740,000	NA	1,600,000
7.	Burkina Faso	Africa	16,287,000	7005695000000000000695,000	NA	3,260,000
8.	Niger	Africa	15,891,000	70061260000000000001,260,000	NA	1,910,000
9.	Senegal	Africa	12,861,259	70061170000000000001,170,000	2,457,000	3,630,000
10.	Mali	Africa	14,517,029	70061107000000000001,107,000	NA	2,390,000
11.	Rwanda	Africa	10,277,282	7005609000000000000609,000	174,000	310,000
12.	Belgium	Europe	10,827,951	70064300000000000004,300,000	2,000,000	6,830,000
13.	Guinea	Africa	10,324,437	70062000000000000002,000,000	4,000,000	2,270,000
14.	Chad	Africa	11,274,337	70061940000000000001,940,000	NA	1,610,000
15.	Haiti	North America	10,188,000	70065664000000000005,664,000	5,622,500	4,280,000
16.	Burundi	Africa	8,519,005	7005390000000000000390,000	234,000	680,000
17.	Benin	Africa	9,212,000	7005739200000000000739,200	1,402,800	2,940,000
18.	Switzerland	Europe	7,782,520	70061509600000000001,509,600	2,072,000	5,400,000
19.	Togo	Africa	6,780,000	70062000000000000002,000,000	NA	2,240,000
20.	Central African Republic	Africa	4,410,873	7005945000000000000945,000	NA	1,310,000
21.	Republic of the Congo	Africa	4,043,318	70061200000000000001,200,000	1,200,000	2,130,000
22.	Gabon	Africa	1,501,000	70061120000000000001,120,000	NA	NA
23.	Comoros	Africa	734,750	7005312200000000000312,200	NA	150,000
24.	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	700,401	7005100000000000000100,000	200,000	190,000
25.	Djibouti	Africa	888,716	7005159800000000000159,800		450,000
26.	Luxembourg	Europe	506,953	7005430000000000000430,000	20,000	440,000
27.	Vanuatu	Oceania	239,651	700499000000000000099,000	NA	99,000^{[not in citation given]}
28.	Seychelles	Africa	86,525	70034000000000000004,000	44,000	90,000
29.	Monaco	Europe	35,407	700423400000000000023,400	NA	30,000

In addition to this, the Vatican City registers itself as a French-speaking country in the international organisations with which it has relationships.

Dependent entities where French is an official language [edit]

N24	E	Continent	Population	Status
1.	French Polynesia	Oceania	7005267000000000000267,000	Overseas Collectivity of France
2.	New Caledonia	Oceania	7005224824000000000224,824	Overseas Collectivity of France
3.	Aosta Valley	Europe	7005128000000000000128,000	Autonomous Region of Italy
4.	Jersey	Europe	700491533000000000091,533	British Crown dependency
5.	Guernsey	Europe	700466000000000000066,000	British Crown dependency
6.	Saint Martin	North America	700429376000000000029,376	Overseas Collectivity of France
7.	Wallis and Futuna	Oceania	700416448000000000016,448	Overseas Collectivity of France
8.	Saint Barthélemy	North America	70037492000000000007,492	Overseas Collectivity of France
9.	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	North America	70037044000000000007,044	Overseas Collectivity of France
10.	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	Antarctica, Africa	7002140000000000000140	TAAF districts
11.	Clipperton	North America	50000000000000000000	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 [edit]

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. Additionally, 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 revival of the French language in these three countries and French is used for international relations and is at times used as an administrative language.^[7]

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 (2010)^[2]^[8]	Fluent French-speakers (2005 estimation)^[4]^[9]	Partial-French speakers	French-speakers, Fluent and partial combined (2010)^[6]
1.	Algeria	Africa	35,423,000	700721000000000000021,000,000	NA	17,450,000
2.	Morocco	Africa	31,892,000	70064144500000000004,144,500	5,986,500	10,390,000
3.	Tunisia	Africa	10,432,500	70066360000000000006,360,000	NA	6,660,000
4.	Lebanon	Asia	4,228,000	7005684000000000000684,000	7005760000000000000760,000	1,630,000
5.	Mauritania	Africa	3,460,000	7005167400000000000167,400	7005155000000000000155,000	440,000
6.	Mauritius	Africa	1,281,000	7005180000000000000180,000	7005692500000000000692,500	950,000
7.	Andorra	Europe	84,864	700434200000000000034,200	16,400	60,000