List of countries and territories where French is an official language

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  Regions where French is a majority native language
  Regions where French is an official or administrative language but not a majority native language
  Regions where French is an unofficial secondary language
  Regions where French is a minority language[clarification needed]

French is an official language in 29 independent nations. The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.

Only official language[edit]

Countries[edit]

List of countries where French is the only official language :

Non-sovereign entities[edit]

Co-official use[edit]

Sovereign states[edit]

In many countries, French is used as a co-official language alongside one or more other languages. List of countries where French is a co-official language :

Countries in the world with French as an official language.

National subdivisions[edit]

Officially recognized status[edit]

List of countries and dependencies that grant certain constitutional rights to the French language :

Intergovernmental organizations[edit]

The Francophonie flag flying at the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa.

French is an official language, mostly in conjunction with English, of 36 international organisations. These include :

Countries[edit]

This table shows the total populations of the countries, not the number of French speakers (some of these countries such as Canada have a majority that do not speak French).

No. Country Continent Population[2]
1.  DR Congo Africa 105,044,646
2.  France Europe 68,051,000
3.  Canada North America 38,653,740
4.  Madagascar Africa 24,235,400
5.  Cameroon Africa 23,345,200
6.  Côte d'Ivoire Africa 22,701,600
7.  Niger Africa 19,899,100
8.  Burkina Faso Africa 18,105,600
9.  Mali Africa 17,599,700
10.  Senegal Africa 15,129,300
11.  Chad Africa 14,037,500
12.  Guinea Africa 12,608,600
13.  Rwanda Africa 11,607,700
14.  Belgium Europe 11,358,357
15.  Burundi Africa 11,178,900
16.  Benin Africa 10,879,800
17.  Haiti Caribbean 10,711,100
18.  Switzerland Europe 8,510,000
19.  Togo Africa 7,304,600
20.  Central African Republic Africa 4,900,300
21.  Congo Africa 4,620,300
22.  Gabon Africa 1,725,300
23.  Equatorial Guinea Africa 1,221,490
24.  Djibouti Africa 887,861
25.  Comoros Africa 795,601
26.  Luxembourg Europe 602,900
27.  Vanuatu Oceania 264,652
28.  Seychelles Africa 92,900
29.  Monaco Europe 38,731
Total All countries World c. 507,160,000

Dependent entities[edit]

Nr. Entity Continent Population Status
1.  French Polynesia Oceania 284,060 Overseas collectivity of France
2.  New Caledonia Oceania 267,000 Collectivity of France with special status
3.  Aosta Valley Europe 128,000 Autonomous region of Italy
4.  Saint-Martin North America 37,264 Overseas collectivity of France
5.  Wallis and Futuna Oceania 15,289 Overseas collectivity of France
6.  Saint-Barthélemy North America 9,131 Overseas collectivity of France
7.  Saint-Pierre and Miquelon North America 5,888 Overseas collectivity of France
8.  Clipperton North America 0 Minor territory of France directly held by the government
9.  French Southern and Antarctic Lands Africa and Antarctica 0 Overseas collectivity of France

Note: Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Mayotte are classified as overseas regions of France and are thus not a part of this list.

Minority in other countries[edit]

Regions Country Status
Europe  Andorra spoken, not official
 Belgium co-official with Dutch and German
 Bulgaria minority
 Czech Republic minority
 Cyprus significant minority
 Denmark minority
 France official
 Greece significant minority
 Hungary minority
 Ireland minority
 Italy rarely spoken; co-official in the Aosta Valley
 Luxembourg co-official with Luxembourgish and German
 Monaco official
 Norway minority, from immigration from DRC
 Poland minority
 Portugal minority
 Romania minority
 Spain minority in Basque Country and Catalonia
  Switzerland co-official with German, Italian, and Romansh
 United Kingdom minority in London, Southern England, South East England, Scotland and Wales (as spoken by Huguenots); official in Channel Islands
Africa  Algeria unofficial, but widely used
 Benin official
 Burkina Faso official
 Burundi co-official with Kirundi
 Cameroon co-official with English
 Central African Republic co-official with Sango
 Chad co-official with Arabic
 Comoros co-official with Arabic and Comorian
 Dem. Rep. Congo official
 Congo official
 Ivory Coast official
 Djibouti co-official with Arabic
 Equatorial Guinea co-official with Spanish and Portuguese
 Gabon official
 Ghana minority language; majority in Bono Region, Oti Region, Upper East Region, Upper West Region, Western North Region, Western Region and the rest of Western Togoland
 Guinea official
 Madagascar co-official with Malagasy
 Mali official
 Mauritania de facto
 Mauritius de facto
 Morocco de facto
 Niger official
 Nigeria minority language; majority in Adamawa State, Cross River State and Taraba State
 Réunion official
 Rwanda co-official with English, Kinyarwanda and Swahili
 Senegal official; Wolof most widely spoken
 Seychelles co-official with English and Seychellois Creole
 Togo official
 Tunisia unofficial, but widely used
Asia  Cambodia minority
 Vietnam minority
 Laos administrative language
 Lebanon unofficial, but spoken by the majority
 India in Puducherry, co-official with Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, spoken in Chandannagar with Bengali
 Singapore minority
 Jordan minority
 Syria minority
North America  Canada co-official with English; majority in Quebec, minority in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia
 Guadeloupe official
 Haiti co-official with Haitian Creole
 Mexico minority
 Martinique official
 Saint Barthélemy official
 Saint Martin official
 Saint Pierre and Miquelon official
 United States minority language, spoken mainly in Louisiana, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire[3]
Oceania  French Polynesia official
 New Caledonia official
 Vanuatu co-official with English and Bislama
 Wallis and Futuna official
South America  Argentina minority
 Brazil minority, significantly in RJ/ES and other coastal states; see French, Belgian and Swiss Brazilians
 Chile minority
 French Guiana official
 Uruguay minority

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Animesh Rai (2020). The Legacy of French Rule in India (1674-1954): An investigation of a process of Creolization. Institut français de Pondichéry. ISBN 9791036549892.
  2. ^ "Google Public Data Explorer". World Bank. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  3. ^ [1] Johnson, Fern L. "Speaking culturally: language diversity in the United States," Table 1.5: "Speakers age 5 years and older of top 25 languages other than English." Sage Publications, Inc., 1999. Page 12. ISBN 978-0-8039-5912-5. Retrieved 5 August 2011
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