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A man from Labé, Guinea, speaking Pular and West African French. African French (French: français africain) is the generic name of the varieties of the French language spoken by an estimated 320 million people in Africa in 2023 or 67% of the French-speaking population of the world [1] [2] [3] spread across 34 countries and territories.
French is an official language in 27 independent nations. French is also the second most geographically widespread language in the world after English, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. [1]
See List of territorial entities where French is an official language and African French: Fulani: Niger–Congo: 25,000,000 [42] National language of Senegal: Ga:
There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages. [72] Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. [73]
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
Some linguists discuss a "second French language" [69] or even an "African French language". [70] Native Speakers in Africa. According to Paul Wald, "The notion of ownership of an imported language begins when – despite its identification as a foreign and/or vernacular language – its use does not imply a relationship with the foreigner."
French is an administrative language and is commonly but unofficially used in the Maghreb states, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.As of 2023, an estimated 350 million African people spread across 34 African countries can speak French either as a first or second language, mostly as a secondary language, making Africa the continent with the most French speakers in the world. [2]
The languages of media are predominantly French and Arabic. [16] Newspapers are only published in two languages, as in the Arabic language Al Watany, and the independent, French language, l’Archipel. [16] On social media, French is the predominant language, with 100% of Comorians in 2014 reported to have used French as their language on ...