Ah France, its cheese, its wand, its wine and … its tongue. Recognized internationally to be the most beautiful language in the world, that of diplomacy, love, French is spoken on several continents, even in non -French -speaking countries.
France, of course, is the first French -speaking country in the world in terms of population. With 68 million inhabitants, it is slowly caught up by the Democratic Republic of Congo and its 55.4 million inhabitants speaking French. If we even follow its demographic progression, the country of Central Africa will even become, by way, the country with the most Francophones in the world.
In 2050, it is even estimated that French will be spoken by 8% of the world's population or 750 million people around the world. It is more than twice as much as today.
In addition to the DRC, ten other countries have French for official language:
- Benin
- in Congo
- In Ivory Coast
- in Gabon
- in Guinea
- in Niger
- in Senegal
- in Togo
But it doesn't stop there. Indeed, in many other countries, French shares its status of official language with another language:
- in Belgium (Dutch and German)
- In Burundi (English and Kirundi)
- in Cameroon (English)
- in Canada (English)
- In the Central African Republic (Sango)
- in the Comoros (Comorian and Arabic)
- in Djibouti (Arabic)
- in Equatorial Guinea (Spanish and Portuguese)
- in Haiti (Haitian Creole)
- in Luxembourg (Luxembourg and German)
- In Madagascar (Malagasy)
- In Rwanda (English, Swahili and Kinyarwanda)
- in Seychelles (English and Creole Seychellois)
- in Switzerland (Romanche, German and Italian)
- In Chad (Arabic)
- in Vanuatu (English and Bichelamar)
In total, you will therefore have counted 27 countries which have made French their official or co-official language worldwide. But in a non-official way we could also have three other countries, finally three territories to be precise which continue to practice French when their country is not at all French-speaking.
The irreducibles who speak French
Like Asterix and Obelix, the famous Gallic irreducible, we observe in certain countries, where French is absolutely not the official language, that there are native French speakers of these said countries.
In Italy, for example, in the Aosta Valley which is border with France and Switzerland, French is considered on the scale of the territory as an official language. Still in Europe, let's head on the side of England, our eternal rivals, and let us show our gaze on the island of Jersey.
On this small territory, which still has around 100,000 inhabitants, French is practiced by 15,000 of them, therefore making our language an official language of the island located in the English Channel.
Finally, let us turn on the side of Asia and more precisely on the side of India whose official languages are Hindi and English throughout the territory. All ? No, because the territory of Pondicherry, you know the one we hear about each year at the time of the baccalaureate, integrates French as an official language on its scale.
Even if we can boast of having a language spoken on four continents, we must not forget why this is the case. Indeed, many of the countries cited speak French because many of them have been colonized by France, therefore influencing the culture of these countries in depth and therefore the practice of language.
With an unwavering passion for local news, Christopher leads our editorial team with integrity and dedication. With over 20 years’ experience, he is the backbone of Wouldsayso, ensuring that we stay true to our mission to inform.
