List of countries and territories where French is an official language
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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 languageEdit
CountriesEdit
List of countries where French is the only official language:
Non-sovereign entitiesEdit
Co-official useEdit
Sovereign statesEdit
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:
National subdivisionsEdit
Officially recognized statusEdit
List of countries and dependencies that grant certain constitutional rights to the French language:
Intergovernmental organizationsEdit
French is an official language, mostly in conjunction with English, of 36 international organisations. These include:
| No. | Organization |
|---|---|
| 1 | Francophonie |
| 2 | United Nations |
| 3 | International Olympic Committee |
| 4 | European Union |
| 5 | African Union |
| 6 | NATO |
| 7 | World Trade Organization |
| 8 | Council of Europe |
CountriesEdit
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. | Democratic Republic of 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. 507,444,060 |
Dependent entitiesEdit
| Nr. | Entity | Continent | Population | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | French Polynesia | Oceania | 284,060 | Overseas collectivity and overseas country of France. |
| 2. | New Caledonia | Oceania | 267,000 | Collectivity of France with special status |
| 2. | Aosta Valley | Europe | 128,000 | Autonomous region of Italy |
| 3. | Saint-Martin | North America | 37,264 | Overseas collectivity of France |
| 4. | Wallis and Futuna | Oceania | 15,289 | Overseas collectivity of France |
| 5. | Saint-Barthélemy | North America | 9,131 | Overseas collectivity of France |
| 6. | Saint-Pierre and Miquelon | North America | 5,888 | Overseas collectivity of France |
| 7. | Clipperton Island | North America | 0 | Minor territory of France directly held by the government |
| 8. | 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 countriesEdit
| Regions | Country | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | official | |
| Republic of Congo | 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 | |
| Ivory Coast | 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, in Chandannagar co-official with Bengali | |
| Singapore | minority | |
| Jordan | minority | |
| Syria | minority | |
| 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 | |
| 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 Barthelemy | 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 alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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
https://ekosh.org/in-which-of-these-countries-is-french-an-official-language/