List of countries and territories where French is an official language
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[]
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
- Togo
Non-sovereign entities[]
Co-official use[]
Sovereign states[]
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 :
- Belgium
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Chad
- Central African Republic
- Comoros
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Haiti
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Switzerland
- Vanuatu
Non Countries[]
- Aosta Valley
- Bern
- Brussels
- Fribourg
- Jersey
- New Brunswick
- Northwest Territories
- Nunavut
- Ontario
- Puducherry
- Valais
- Wallonia
- Yukon
Officially recognized status[]
List of countries and dependencies that grant certain constitutional rights to the French language :
Intergovernmental organizations[]
French is an official language, mostly in conjunction with English, of 36 international organisations. These include :
- Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
- United Nations
- International Olympic Committee
- EU
- AU
- NATO
- WTO
- Council of Europe
Countries[]
This table shows the populations of the countries, not the number of French speakers.
No. | Country | Continent | Population[1] |
---|---|---|---|
1. | DR Congo | Africa | 105,044,646 |
2. | France | Europe | 68,051,000 |
3. | Canada | North America | 38,279,800 |
4. | Madagascar | Africa | 24,235,400 |
5. | Cameroon | Africa | 23,345,200 |
6. | Ivory Coast | 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. 507160000 |
Dependent entities[]
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 Island | 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.
French[]
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 | significant minority | |
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[2] | |
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[]
- Geographical distribution of French speakers
- Francophonie
- List of international organisations which have French as an official language
References[]
- ^ "Google Public Data Explorer". World Bank. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ [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
- French-speaking countries and territories