Countries where French is the official language:
- France
- Congo (DRC)
- Canada
- Cameroon
- Belgium
- Ivory Coast
- Madagascar
- Haiti
What countries speak French officially?
French is the official language of the following countries: France (60 million native speakers) Canada (7 million native speakers) Belgium (4 million native speakers) Switzerland (2 million native speakers) Congo-Kinshasa (300,000 native speakers). The Congo-Brazzaville region is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What are the five French speaking countries?
What are the top 5 French speaking countries?
- France (60 million native speakers)
- Canada (7 million native speakers)
- Belgium (4 million native speakers)
- Switzerland (2 million native speakers)
- Congo-Kinshasa.
- Congo-Brazzaville.
- Côte d’Ivoire.
- Madagascar.
What country has the most French speakers?
Countries where French is the official language:
- France
- Congo (DRC)
- Canada
- Cameroon
- Belgium
- Ivory Coast
- Madagascar
- Haiti
- Senegal
- Burkina Faso
Where in the world French is an official language?
Only official language Countries. List of countries where French is the only official language : Benin Burkina Faso Congo DR Congo, the most populated French-speaking country in the world. Ivory Coast France (Metropolitan France and Overseas France) Gabon Guinea Mali Monaco Niger Senegal Non-sovereign entities. French Community
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Where is French spoken most?
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.
How many countries is French spoken in?
29 countriesHow many French speaking countries are there in the world? Formally, 29 countries use French as the national or official language. Additionally, France has 11 Overseas Territories, which are administrative subdivisions of France outside of the mainland. These are similar to what Puerto Rico is to the United States.
Where are countries that speak French?
CountriesNo.CountryContinent1.DR CongoAfrica2.FranceEurope3.CanadaNorth America4.MadagascarAfrica26 more rows
What is the easiest language to learn?
15 of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers - rankedFrisian. Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. ... Dutch. ... Norwegian. ... Spanish. ... Portuguese. ... Italian. ... French. ... Swedish.More items...•
Is French hard to learn?
The FSI scale ranks French as a “category I language”, considered “more similar to English” compared to categories III and IV “hard” or “super-hard languages”. According to the FSI, French is one of the easiest languages to learn for a native English speaker.
Which language is most spoken in the world?
The most spoken languages in the worldMandarin (1,117 million speakers)Hindi (615 million speakers)Spanish (534 million speakers)French (280 million speakers)Arabic (274 million speakers)Russian (258 million speakers)Portuguese (234 million speakers)Indonesian (198 million speakers)More items...•
Why do Africans speak French?
The French language was brought to the African continent through colonialism. During the 1950s and 60s, France and Belgium lost control of their African colonies, however, French is still spoken in at least 29 African countries.
Who speaks French in the world?
The 29 countries are, in alphabetical order: Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo and Vanuatu.
How many French speakers are there in the world in 2022?
According to the 2022 report of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), 409 million people speak French.
Which language is closest to French?
Jèrriais is the closest language to French a Romance language spoken and native to the island of Jersey. However, Catalan is the closest widely spoken language to French followed very closely by Italian and Portuguese.
What percent of the world speaks French?
Where in the world are the French speaking countries and speakers ?ContinentsTotal number of Francophones (2018)ProportionSouth America & Caribbean5,743,0001.91%Near & Middle East3,180,0001.06%Asia & Oceania2,552,0000.85%Total301,096,000100%3 more rows
Which language is most spoken in the world?
The most spoken languages in the worldMandarin (1,117 million speakers)Hindi (615 million speakers)Spanish (534 million speakers)French (280 million speakers)Arabic (274 million speakers)Russian (258 million speakers)Portuguese (234 million speakers)Indonesian (198 million speakers)More items...•
Co-official use
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 :
Officially recognized status
List of countries and dependencies that grant certain constitutional rights to the French language :
Countries
This table shows the populations of the countries, not the number of French speakers.
French Speaking countries – Francophone
French is an official language in 29 countries, with most of these being part of the community of French-speaking countries in the world known as la francophonie.
Learning French as a Foreign Language
Of the 130 million people learning French in different parts of the world, close to 50 million learn French as a foreign language.
French Dialects & Creole around the world
The French Academy, an institution created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, is the French language’s official custodian.
Learn More About the French Speaking Countries
There are approximately 444 million people in the world who come from a country where French is the official language. In addition, 98 million people come from a country where French is commonly used. It is the official language of 29 countries.
What are the Main French Speaking Countries?
People who are fluent in French are commonly referred to as “Francophones”. With 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.
List of French-speaking countries
French is recognized as an official language in 29 countries around the world, listed below in descending order of the number of people speaking the language. Most of the French-speaking countries are part of La Francophonie, and many of them are former French colonies.
How French is spreading around the world
The French language emerged as an international language during the Middle Ages, thanks to the influence of the Kingdom of France. From the 17th century, it replaced Latin as the lingua franca of educated Europe, and became the main language of diplomacy and the European Court in the 18th century.
A Brief History Of The French Language
French, like Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish, is a 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.
Where In The World Is French Spoken?
French is the official language in 29 countries, which makes it the second-most used official language behind English.
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 In Europe Speak French?
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. So how can it be that they have fewer French speakers?
How Many People In North America Speak French?
Canada’s commitment to bilingualism is written into its Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and both English and French are recognized as official languages. That said, the official status of both languages does differ from province to province. In Quebec, for example, French is the only official language.
How Many People In Africa Speak French?
Africa is home to more French speakers than any other continent. Although it is predominantly a second language for most speakers, there are some regions, such as Abidjan in Ivory Coast, where it has superseded local languages.
What About The Rest Of The World?
We mentioned that French is spoken across five continents, but we’ve only mentioned three. 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.
1. France
French, the official and national language of France and it is the first language of 88% of the population. In addition, because minority languages are not legally recognized, the majority of individuals who speak them also speak French.
2. Canada
In Canada, French is spoken by around 7 million native speakers. French is an essential language to know in Canada, with 17.9% of Canadians able to communicate in both English and French in 2016, the highest level ever.
3. Belgium
In terms of speaker numbers, it is Belgium’s second national language, with 4.5 million people speaking it as their first language. In addition, The majority of Belgians who speak French live in the southern Wallonia area, including in Brussels, the capital.
4. Switzerland
In Switzerland, the French-speaking population accounts for about a quarter of the total population. Since around 2018, around 1,912,135 Swiss people speak French, accounting for 22,9% of the population.
5. Congo-Kinshasa
The Congolese language is the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo is the world’s biggest Francophone country, with over 33 million Congolese educated in French, accounting for one-third of the country’s population.
6. Congo-Brazzaville
Thirty percent of the Congolese population speaks French. According to a survey by Omar Massoumou, 88 percent of individuals over the age of 15 in Brazzaville can write basic French sentences.In addition, the ordinary public did not speak French very well.
7.Madagascar
In Madagascar, French is the primary medium of education for better scores, and it is largely spoken as a second language by the educated people. Over 4 million Malagasy people speak French, with 5% of the population being totally Francophone and another 15.4% being somewhat Francophone.
Where In The World Is French Spoken, Then?
To answer this, I’m going to focus on the 29 countries where at least 25% of the population speaks French.
How French Became An International Language
As you might have been able to gather from the above, the French language is present all around the world. But how did the French language end up covering the planet?
And What The Future Might Hold for the French Language
The story about how the Romans conquered a big part of the world, dominated it with their language and then saw their empire collapse reminds me of the French Colonial Empire.
To Sum Up: How Many Countries Speak French?
It’s not easy to pinpoint how many countries are actually “French speaking”. How do you define a French speaking country? There are 29 countries which consider French their official language, yet some of these countries have very few French speakers. On the other hand some big French-speaking countries haven’t got French as an official language.
Why Learn French
This link pretty much sums it up nicely with seven top reasons. If you’re still not convinced, read more…
French in the Delaware Valley
The French-American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia reports significant French business investment in the Delaware Valley, and underscores the continuing globalization of American companies. In fact, the French-American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia has grown since 1989 to become the second largest chapter in the 23-city network.
French in America
What do Warren Buffet, Emeril Lagasse, Eva Larue, Madonna, Tony Parker, and Paul Revere all have in common? They all have French roots.
French in the World
French is a young, vibrant, international language. It is the only language other than English to be spoken on all five continents. In fact, among its 275 million speakers, more than 96 million live in Africa, yet it also represents the 2nd most widely spoken native language and foreign language in Europe.
French Speaking Countries – Francophone
Learning French as A Foreign Language
- Of the 130 million people learning Frenchin different parts of the world, close to 50 million learn French as a foreign language. Besides, it is the medium of instruction for a little over 76 million in the 159 countries studied: 19 in North Africa and the Middle East; 25 in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean; 34 in the Americas and the Caribbean; 37 in Asia and Oceania; 44 in Europe. T…
French Dialects & Creole Around The World
- The French Academy, an institution created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, is the French language’s official custodian. The Académie consists of forty members, known informally as les Immortels (the immortals). They have the official authority on the usages, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language. The Académie Française Dictionaryhas grown from 40,000 to 60,000 words in …
Learn More About The French Speaking Countries
What Are The Main French Speaking Countries?
- People who are fluent in French are commonly referred to as “Francophones”. With 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. The DRC is the second most French-speaking country with an estimated 37 mi...
List of French-Speaking Countries
- French is recognized as an official language in 29 countries around the world, listed below in descending order of the number of people speaking the language. Most of the French-speaking countries are part of La Francophonie, and many of them are former French colonies. It is important to note that some of these countries, like Canada, have more than one official langua…
How French Is Spreading Around The World
- The French language emerged as an international language during the Middle Ages, thanks to the influence of the Kingdom of France. From the 17th century, it replaced Latin as the lingua franca of educated Europe, and became the main language of diplomacy and the European Court in the 18th century. Most French-speaking countries were originally French colonies. Indeed, French co…