What country in Africa has the most French speakers?
French Speaking Countries in Africa. There are approximately 434 million people throughout the world who speak French. However, the country with highest French speaking population is not France. Instead, an African nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tops the list with a total of more than 77 million people.
How many French speaking territories are there in Africa?
There are no French speaking territories in Africa, as most are located in the Americas, Oceania, and Europe. There are approximately 434 million people throughout the world who speak French. However, the country with highest French speaking population is not France.
How many people in the world speak French?
How Many People In The World Speak French? The simple answer is “about 300 million” — Ethnologue puts the number at a conservative 267 million — but this obscures a more complicated profile of the language. Within the 300 million are not only native speakers, but also partial speakers and speakers of numerous French dialects and creoles.
How many people speak French in the Maghreb?
Regarding numbers of the Observatory of the French language in 2018, out of the 90 million inhabitants who populate the 3 Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), 32.6 million are Francophones, i.e. a proportion of 36.3 % of French-speakers within the total Maghreb population. North Africa remains, in 2018, an important Francophony land.
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What percent of French is spoken in Africa?
Owing to population growth in Africa, where approximately 50 percent of native French speakers live, the total number of French speakers could rise to as much as 700 million by 2050, according to demographers.
How many French speakers are there in Africa?
141 million peopleAfrican French (French: français africain) is the generic name of the varieties of the French language spoken by an estimated 141 million people in Africa in 2018, spread across 34 countries and territories.
Are there French speakers in Africa?
French is a global language, spoken by 300 million people around the world. Africa, a region of strategic global importance, is home to the largest number of French speakers. French is the sole official language in 11 African countries and the second official language in an additional 10 countries in Africa.
What percentage of French speakers are black?
There are 300 million French speakers worldwide today, up almost 10% since 2014, and a recent survey showed that 44% of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Do more Africans speak French or English?
Of the Africans who were surveyed by the francophone organization, between 80% and 100% expressed the desire to would want to pass the language on to their children. French remains the sole official language in 11 African countries, and the second official language in 10.
Why is French so popular in Africa?
Africa has the most French speakers of any continent. The French language was introduced to the African continent due to colonialism. France and Belgium lost control of their African colonies in the 1950s and 1960s. However, French is still spoken in at least 29 African countries.
What are 3 African countries that still speak French?
French is the official language in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, the Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, the Seychelles, and Togo.
Do they speak French in Morocco?
French is one of the languages spoken in Morocco. The use of French is a colonial legacy of the French protectorate (1912–1956).
What country has the most French speakers?
FranceWith a population of 67 million, France has the largest number of French speakers in the world. It is also the country of origin of the language, and the country most commonly associated with French.
Do Egyptians speak French?
Most educated Egyptians are fluent in English or French or both, in addition to Arabic. There are also other minor linguistic groups. The Beja of the southern section of the Eastern Desert use an Afro-Asiatic language of the Cushitic branch known as To Bedawi (though some speak Tigre and many use Arabic).
What percentage of Niger speaks French?
Languages by number of speakers (according to Ethnologue)RankLanguageSpeakers in Niger2Zarma3,590,0003French2,506,0004Fulfulde, Central-Eastern Niger450,0005Fulfulde, Western Niger450,00019 more rows
What percentage of the U.S. is French?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau of 2000, 5.3 percent of Americans are of French or French Canadian ancestry. In 2013 the number of people living in the US who were born in France was estimated at 129,520.
What countries in Africa speak French?
Below is the list of French-speaking countries in Africa where there is the highest percentage of people who speak French: Mauritius: 72.7%. São Tomé and Príncipe: 65% (as a foreign language as the official language is Portuguese)
Where is French spoken in Africa?
West and Central Africa French – (spoken by 75 million people as either a first or second language). The French variety used in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The French variety used in Creoles in the Indian Ocean (Réunion, Mauritius and Seychelles), which has around 1.6 million first and second language speakers.
Which country has the closest French speaking?
Burkina Faso. Mauritania. Among all the French-speaking countries in West Africa mentioned above, Senegalese French is said to be the closest to standard French speech. Cote d’Ivoire, on the other hand, has a spiced up form of speech called “broken French, which is laced with some sort of slang.
Who colonized Africa?
Africa was mostly colonized by Britain, France and Portugal during the scramble for Africa and after a prolonged stay in the continent, the colonized nations adopted the colonizers’ language as the official language, hence, there a lot of French-speaking African countries.
Is French the official language of African countries?
It is necessary to note that there is a proportional distribution of those who can speak English, French and Portuguese in accordance with the number and population of territories colonized by these nations. There are also French-speaking African countries where French is not the primary or official language and some of these countries have joined ...
How many French speakers are there in Africa?
the French variety spoken by Maghrebis and Berbers in Northwest Africa (see Maghreb French ), which has about 33 million first and second language speakers in 2018. the French variety spoken in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, which has about 0.5 million first and second language speakers in 2018.
How many people speak African French?
Help:IPA/French. v. t. e. African French ( French: français africain) is the generic name of the varieties of the French language spoken by an estimated 141 million people in Africa in 2018 spread across 34 countries and territories.
What are the three phenomena of African French?
In terms of vocabulary, there exist three phenomena in African French. First, the presence of words which do not exist in standard French. These words were either coined locally or borrowed from local African languages. As a consequence, each regional variety of African French has its own local words that are not the same as in other varieties of African French, although this local vocabulary only constitutes a small part of the overall vocabulary which for the most part is identical to standard French. When talking to people from other regions or countries, African French speakers often switch to a more standard form of French avoiding this local vocabulary. However, there also exist some African French words that are found across many African countries (see for example chicotter in the Abidjan French vocabulary section below) .
What is the largest francophone city in the world?
With more than 11 million inhabitants, Kinshasa is the largest francophone city in the world, recently passing Paris in population. It is the capital of the most populous francophone country in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an estimated 43 million people (51% of the total population) can speak French (essentially as a second language). Contrary to Abidjan where French is the first language of a large part of the population, in Kinshasa French is only a second language, and its status of lingua franca is shared with Lingala. Kinshasa French also differs from other African French variants, for it has some Belgian French influences, due to colonisation. People of different African mother tongues living in Kinshasa usually speak Lingala to communicate with each other in the street, but French is the language of businesses, administrations, schools, newspapers and televisions. French is also the predominant written language.
Which continent has the most French speakers?
This includes those who speak French as a first or second language in these 34 African countries and territories (dark and light blue on the map), but it does not include French speakers living in other African countries. Africa is thus the continent with the most French speakers in the world.
How many people will live in Tunisia in 2050?
In 2050 their population is forecast to reach between 845 million and 891 million. French-language graffiti on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, in March 2012. The graffiti says: "LONG LIVE TUNISIA ( Vive la Tunisie ), free and democratic". African French ( French: français africain) is the generic name of the varieties of ...
How many people use French daily in Africa?
The OIF states that despite a decline in the number of learners of French in Europe, the overall number of speakers is rising, largely because of its presence in high-fertility African countries: of the 212 million who use French daily, 54.7% are living in Africa.
Which territory has the most French speakers?
French is also an official language of all three territories ( Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon ), along with English and, in Northwest Territories and Nunavut, multiple Aboriginal languages. Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, comprising just under 4% of the population.
How many French immigrants were there in Argentina?
Between 1857 and 1946 Argentina received 239,503 French immigrants – of whom 105,537 permanently settled in the country.
What is the official language of Benin?
French is the sole official language of Benin. According to a 2014 survey, 57.3% of residents of Cotonou over the age of 15 could read and write French. Knowledge of French is considered important for employment, bureaucracy, education but also in everyday life. 34% of the population was Francophone in 2002, up from 23% in 1992. There are strong regional differences, with the ability to speak French being more common in the south of the country. The Atlantique and Littoral departments have a French -speaking majority. French speakers are more commonly men than women, owing to a disparity in access to education.
What is the language of Tunisia?
French is a working language in many sectors in Tunisia, including healthcare, commerce or communication. In coastal areas and the more developed neighbourhoods of the capital, it is also a common language of communication for all social groups, either in its standardised form or hybridized with Arabic. In the inland regions and the south it remains a foreign language. French is introduced from the third grade at 8 hours per week. In high school French is the language of instruction for mathematics, science and computing. Teachers are not always sufficiently trained for this usage, however.
Why is French important in Madagascar?
In Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, French is seen as important for work, education and administrative matters, but not in everyday life, where Malagasy dominates. Less than half feel solidarity with other Francophone countries or consider knowledge of French as essential. Education in primary schools is bilingual in Malagasy and French. The latter is used as medium of education for mathematics and scientific subjects. French is the language of instruction in secondary and tertiary education. It is also the main language of government, alongside Malagasy.
What is the official language of Aosta Valley?
The Aosta Valley was the first government authority to adopt Modern French as working language in 1536, three years before France itself. French has been the official language of the Aosta Valley since 1561, when it replaced Latin. In the 1861 census, the first held after the unification of Italy, 93% declared being Francophone; in 1921, the last census with a question about language found that 88% of the population was French -speaking. The suppression of all French-language schools and institutions and violence against French speakers during the forceful Italianisation campaign of the Fascist government irretrievably damaged the status of French in the region. Italian and French are nowadays the region's official languages and are used for the regional government's acts and laws, though Italian is much more widely spoken in everyday life, and French is mostly used within cultural events. Though French was re-introduced as an official language after World War II, and by 2003 just 0.99% reported speaking French natively. French remains widely known as a second language, but it is no longer spoken as part of daily life. In 2001, 75.41% of the Valdostan population declared to know French, 96.01% declared to know Italian, 55.77% Franco-Provençal, and 50.53% all of them. School education is delivered equally in both Italian and French so that everyone who went to school in Aosta Valley can speak French to at least a medium-high level.
Which country has the most French speakers?
Unsurprisingly, France boasts the highest number of native French speakers, although it’s not the most populous country to have French as an official language. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 77 million, compared to 62 million in France.
Where are French speakers located?
Although the overwhelming majority of French speakers are in Europe, Africa and North America, there are also pockets of speakers in Asia, the Middle East, South America and Oceania. French Guiana in South America borders northern Brazil and is technically a department of France. It’s home to over a quarter of a million people, ...
How many French speakers will be there in 2050?
Owing to population growth in Africa, where approximately 50 percent of native French speakers live, the total number of French speakers could rise to as much as 700 million by 2050, according to demographers.
How many people speak French in Luxembourg?
It’s also widely spoken in Luxembourg (543,000 speakers). If you add all these French speakers together, you come to around 80 million, which makes French the third most widely spoken mother tongue in Europe after Russian and German.
What is the seventh most spoken language in the world?
Through colonization and diaspora, French is the seventh most widely spoken language in the world, following English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic and Bengali. It’s an official language in countries across five different continents and is also the second most studied language in the world, after English: 120 million students are ...
What is the language of the European Union?
French is also the procedural language for the European Union, the only language used for deliberations at the Court of Justice for the EU, and one of the recognized working languages of the United Nations.
What is the Romance language?
Romance languages are descended from Vulgar Latin, which was the everyday language of the Romans. It was spread far and wide by Roman colonists, but following the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, many conquered lands became culturally and linguistically isolated.
What is the slang of Nouchi?
In Ivory Coast, the slang dialect of Nouchi borrows heavily from French and several other languages to create a street patois that has slowly made its way into more rarefied circles. In 2013, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara told former Senegalese leader Abdou Diouf "Président, nous sommes enjaillés de toi," using a Nouchi-French phrase ...
What does "ndank ndank" mean?
Its literal translation is "second office", but it means "mistress". Ça avance ndank-ndank - a phrase used in Senegal meaning "it's moving forward slowly", using "ndank-ndank", a Wolof word for "little by little".
What does "enjailler" mean?
from the Algerian dialect of Arabic. Je suis enjaillé (e) de toi - a phrase used in Ivory Coast meaning "I really like you". "Enjailler" is a slang word from Nouchi, Ivorian patois, which some say derives from the English "enjoy". Deuxième bureau - a phrase used in DR Congo. Its literal translation is "second office", but it means "mistress".
What is the official language of Senegal?
Sources: International Organisation of La Francophonie and ODSEF. And as a result of that colonial history, French remains the official language of Senegal, as well as 19 other countries across Africa.
What does "je wanda" mean?
Je wanda - meaning "I wonder", "no way" or " I can't believe it", a popular expression in Cameroon and even the name of a gossip magazine, taken from the English word "to wonder" and reflecting the country's use of English, French and Pidgin.
How many French speakers are there in the world?
There are 300 million French speakers worldwide today, up almost 10% since 2014, and a recent survey showed that 44% of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2050, a full 85% of French speakers could live on the continent, according to an estimate by an organisation that monitors statistics on who speaks the language.
Is Wolof a French language?
These days, the local Wolof language is increasingly mixed with French in Senegalese schools, and La Francophonie provides training and support for teachers who sometimes struggle with the rigours of the language of Marcel Proust, the celebrated French writer.
Overview
Vocabulary
In terms of vocabulary, there exist three phenomena in African French. First, the presence of words which do not exist in standard French. These words were either coined locally or borrowed from local African languages. As a consequence, each regional variety of African French has its own local words that are not the same as in other varieties of African French, although this loca…
Varieties
There are many different varieties of African French, but they can be broadly grouped into five categories:
• the French spoken by people in West and Central Africa – spoken altogether by about 97 million people in 2018, as either a first or second language.
• the French variety spoken by Maghrebis and Berbers in Northwest Africa (see Maghreb French), which has about 33 million first and second la…
Pronunciation
Pronunciation in the many varieties of African French can be quite varied. There are nonetheless some trends among African French speakers; for instance, the letter R tends to be pronounced as the historic alveolar trill of pre-20th Century French instead of the now standard uvular trill or 'guttural R.' The voiced velar fricative, the sound represented by ⟨غ⟩ in the Arabic word مغرب Maghrib, is another common alternative. Pronunciation of the letters [d], [t], [l] and [n] may also vary, and in…
See also
• French colonial empire
• Belgian colonial empire
• Romance-speaking African countries
• Geographical distribution of French speakers
External links
• LE FRANÇAIS EN AFRIQUE - Revue du Réseau des Observatoires du Français Contemporain en Afrique(in French)
• Links for Afrique francophone
• Dictionaries of various French-speaking countries
Overview
This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the French language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken.
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside La…
Americas
French language is spoken in the overseas departments of French Guiana and the French Antilles, including Guadeloupe, Martinique, and the islands formerly attached to Guadeloupe. There are over a million people living in these departments and collectivities.
French Creoles are also spoken on the islands of Dominica, St. Lucia, and to a …
Africa
In Algeria, 69.1% of the population over 15 in Alger, Constantine, Oran and Annaba can read and write French. According to a survey conducted in 2012, fewer than four in 10 Algerians identified with a Francophone identity. Conversely, speaking French was seen as essential by seven in 10, though a third of the population felt that the use of French is declining. In urban areas, the ability to speak fluen…
Asia
In Myanmar, French is gaining popularity amongst university students and the tourism sector, as the country slowly opens up. French is taught in secondary school, as with other foreign languages aside from English, which is taught from primary school. Two universities in the country have French-language departments, for a total of 350 students.
Europe
Spoken by 12% of the EU population, French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, after German; it is also the third most widely known language of the Union, after English and German (33% of the EU population report to know how to speak English, whilst 22% of Europeans understand German and 20% French).
In Belgium, French is an official language in Wallonia and Brussels. French is the primary languag…
See also
• List of territorial entities where French is an official language
• Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
External links
• Observatoire démographique et statistique de l’espace francophone (ODSEF)
• Why French Matters
• Is French a Global Language?