What is French?

Facts and Figures About the French Language

How many French speakers are there? Where is French spoken? How many French-speaking countries are there? In which international organizations is French an official language? Read this introduction to some facts and figures about the French language.

  
How many French speakers?

According to La Francophonie dans le monde 2006-2007 (1) there are

• 128 million Francophones - Speak French (as a native or adopted language) fluently and use it on a regular basis.
• 72 million "partiel" Francophones - Live in a francophone country but do not speak French regularly, due to limited knowledge.
• 100-110 million students of all ages - Do not live in a francophone country, but have learned/are learning French in order to communicate with Francophones.

In 1999, French was the 11th most common first language in the world, with 77 million first language speakers and another 51 million second language speakers, according to the Ethnologue Report. (2)

French is the second most commonly-taught second language in the world (after English).

  
Where is French spoken? (3)

There are 33 French speaking-countries - French is the or an official language in 33 countries, second only to English (spoken officially in 45). French and English are the only languages spoken as a native language on 5 continents and the only languages taught in every country in the world.

I. French is the official language of France and its overseas territories* as well as Bénin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Congo (Republic of), Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Luxembourg, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Sénégal, and Togo.

II. French is one of two or more official languages in Belgium, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Channel Islands (Guernsey and Jersey), Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti (the two official languages are French and French Creole), Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Switzerland, and Vanuatu.

In Belgium, Canada, and Switzerland, French is the official language of the region of Wallonie; the province of Québec; and the districts of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Genève, and Jura, respectively.

III. In many countries, French plays an important role, either as an administrative, commercial, or international language or simply due to a significant French-speaking population: Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Dominica (French patois), Egypt, Greece, Grenada (French patois), Guinea-Bissau, India, Italy (Valle d'Aosta), Laos, Lebanon, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Poland, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Kingdom (Channel Islands), United States (Louisiana, New England), Vatican City, and Vietnam.

IV. Although I haven't found any official information about what role French plays in them, the following countries are members of or associated with la Francophonie: Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldovia, Romania, and Slovenia.

  
Where is French used?

French is one of the official working languages in dozens of international organizations, including:

  
Useful vocabulary related to speaking French

  
Related links and further information

  
References

(1) La Francophonie dans le monde (Synthèse pour la Presse). Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, Paris, Éditions Nathan, 2007.

(2) Ethnologue Report for Language Code: FRN

(3) I consulted four respected references in compiling the data for this section, and unfortunately some of the information was contradictory. If you feel that there are any mistakes and can provide a definitive reference, please let me know on the forum.

• The CIA World Factbook: Languages
• Ethnologue Report
• The Languages of the World, by Kenneth Katzner
• Le Quid (encyclopédie française)