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~2% of the population speaks French as a foreign language as of 2014. Dominican Republic: 2010: Spanish: French colony from 1795 to 1808. Estonia: 2010: Estonian ~1% of the population speaks French as a foreign language as of 2014. Gambia: 2018: English: Border with Senegal, a French-speaking country. Georgia: 2004: Georgian
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 60 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. [1]
This category lists countries and territories where French is used as either a first or native language or an official language The main article for this category is Francophonie . See also: Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Countries are listed alphabetically by their most common name in English. Each English name is followed by its most common equivalents in other languages, listed in English alphabetical order (ignoring accents) by name and by language. Historical and/or alternative versions, where included, are noted as such. Foreign names that are the same as ...
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 167 million people in Africa in 2023 or 51% of the French-speaking population of the world [4] [5] [6] spread across 34 countries and territories.
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. [73] French was the language of literacy for 37.2% of the population in 2013, followed by Arabic at 11.1%.
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
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 ...