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French is still a lingua franca in most Western and Central African countries and an official language of many, a remnant of French and Belgian colonialism. These African countries and others are members of the Francophonie. French is the official language of the Universal Postal Union, with English added as a working language in 1994. [46
French is also the second most geographically widespread language in the world after English, with about 60 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. [1] The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.
The term francophonie was invented by Onésime Reclus in 1880: "We also put aside four large countries, Senegal, Gabon, Cochinchina and Cambodia, whose future from a "Francophone" point of view is still very doubtful, except perhaps for Senegal" (in French « Nous mettons aussi de côté quatre grands pays, le Sénégal, le Gabon, la Cochinchine, le Cambodge dont l’avenir au point de vue ...
A language that uniquely represents the national identity of a state, nation, and/or country and is so designated by a country's government; some are technically minority languages. (On this page a national language is followed by parentheses that identify it as a national language status.) Some countries have more than one language with this ...
Manitoba has a particular French Language Services Policy [73] and bilingual in capital city Winnipeg, as well as a special law on recognition of seven indigenous languages. [74] Nova Scotia has a governmental agency for Scots Gaelic language and culture affairs. [75] French is regionally spoken, with a special law on French-language services. [76]
French sees use as foreign language in education and the country was a French colony for a short period from 1798 to 1801 Equatorial Guinea: 1989: officially trilingual, French included: Country surrounded by French-speaking countries. Former Spanish colony France: 1970: French: Founder, origin of the French language Gabon: 1970: French: Former ...
The following chart lists countries and dependencies along with their capital cities, in English and non-English official language(s). In bold : internationally recognized sovereign states The 193 member states of the United Nations (UN)
Only half of Dakar residents identify with a Francophone status or feel solidarity with French-speaking countries, but the French language is seen as essential for everyday affairs and education. [72] French was the language of literacy for 37.2% of the population in 2013, followed by Arabic at 11.1%.