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{{also|Francophone}}
{{also|Francophone}}
The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.
The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official language.


==Countries where French is an official language==
==Countries where French is an official language==

Revision as of 22:42, 10 October 2013

See also: Francophone

The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official language.

Countries where French is an official language

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
2.  Democratic Republic of the Congo Africa 67,827,000 28,000,000 25,110,000 31,190,000
1.  France Europe 65,350,000 64,000,000 64,000,000 65,350,000
3.  Canada North America 34,207,000 7,741,955 2,848,745 10,590,700
4.  Madagascar Africa 21,146,551 865,000 2,664,200 4,020,200
5.  Cameroon Africa 19,958,692 2,950,300 4,393,100 7,200,000
6.  Ivory Coast Africa 21,571,060 12,740,000 NA 1,600,000
7.  Burkina Faso Africa 16,287,000 695,000 NA 3,260,000
8.  Niger Africa 15,891,000 1,260,000 NA 1,910,000
9.  Senegal Africa 12,861,259 1,170,000 2,457,000 3,630,000
10.  Mali Africa 14,517,029 1,107,000 NA 2,390,000
11.  Rwanda Africa 10,277,282 609,000 174,000 310,000
12.  Belgium Europe 10,827,951 4,300,000 2,000,000 6,830,000
13.  Guinea Africa 10,324,437 2,000,000 4,000,000 2,270,000
14.  Chad Africa 11,274,337 1,940,000 NA 1,610,000
15.  Haiti North America 10,188,000 5,664,000 5,622,500 4,280,000
16.  Burundi Africa 8,519,005 390,000 234,000 680,000
17.  Benin Africa 9,212,000 739,200 1,402,800 2,940,000
18.  Switzerland Europe 7,782,520 1,509,600 2,072,000 5,400,000
19.  Togo Africa 6,780,000 2,000,000 NA 2,240,000
20.  Central African Republic Africa 4,410,873 945,000 NA 1,310,000
21.  Republic of the Congo Africa 4,043,318 1,200,000 1,200,000 2,130,000
22.  Gabon Africa 1,501,000 1,120,000 NA NA
23.  Comoros Africa 734,750 312,200 NA 150,000
24.  Equatorial Guinea Africa 700,401 100,000 200,000 190,000
25.  Djibouti Africa 888,716 159,800 450,000
26.  Luxembourg Europe 506,953 430,000 20,000 440,000
27.  Vanuatu Oceania 239,651 99,000 NA 99,000[failed verification]
28.  Seychelles Africa 86,525 4,000 44,000 90,000
29.  Monaco Europe 35,407 23,400 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

Nr. Entity Continent Population Status
1.  French Polynesia Oceania 267,000 Overseas Collectivity of France
2. New Caledonia New Caledonia Oceania 224,824 Overseas Collectivity of France
3. Aosta Valley Aosta Valley Europe 128,000 Autonomous Region of Italy
4.  Jersey Europe 91,533 British Crown dependency
5. Guernsey Guernsey Europe 66,000 British Crown dependency
6.  Saint Martin North America 29,376 Overseas Collectivity of France
7.  Wallis and Futuna Oceania 16,448 Overseas Collectivity of France
8.  Saint Barthélemy North America 7,492 Overseas Collectivity of France
9.  Saint Pierre and Miquelon North America 7,044 Overseas Collectivity of France
10.  French Southern and Antarctic Lands Antarctica, Africa 140 TAAF districts
11. France Clipperton North 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 American state of 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, 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, French influence and the linguistic similarity between Catalan (the close relative of Occitan into the Iberian Peninsula) and French.

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.  Morocco Africa 31,892,000 4,144,500 5,986,500 10,390,000
2.  Tunisia Africa 10,432,500 6,360,000 NA 6,660,000
3.  Lebanon Asia 4,228,000 684,000 760,000 1,630,000
4.  Mauritania Africa 3,460,000 167,400 155,000 440,000
5.  Mauritius Africa 1,281,000 180,000 692,500 950,000
6.  Andorra Europe 84,864 34,200 16,400 60,000
Map showing countries where French is an official language.

Alphabetical list

Notes and references

  1. ^ Bbiloa, E. (2004), La langue française au Cameroun, Peter Lang SA, Bern (Germany).
  2. ^ a b "World Atlas". World Atlas. 2010 estimates. Retrieved 2012-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Google Public Data Explorer". World Bank. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  4. ^ a b http://20mars.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/FICHE_03_Nombre_de_francophones.pdf
  5. ^ Wolff, Alexandre (2010). La langue française dans le monde (PDF). Paris: Nathan. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  6. ^ a b members of OIF[dead link] and other countries[dead link]
  7. ^ La Francophonie in Asia, France-Diplomatie, 2005, retrieved 2010-10-14
  8. ^ "Google Public Data Explorer". World Bank. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  9. ^ Algérie: situation géographique et démolinguistique

See also

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