French Speaking Countries in World – Complete Information

Are you thinking of questions like what are the total number of French speaking countries in the world?  

How many countries have French as their official language, and how many have French as their co-official language? In which countries French is spoken mostly?  

Do not worry; we have got you covered! In this article we are going to answer all your questions.  

French is one of the languages most often spoken in around the world, with over 30 nations speaking it. It is the only language other than English that is spoken on all five continents. The language is spoken on almost all continents outside of Europe, including Africa, North America, South America, and even the Caribbean.  

It is the only language used for discussions at the EU Court of Justice and the official language of 29 nations. It is also the language of procedure for the EU.

Furthermore, a number of international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization, NATO, and the UN, recognize French as an official language.

Now let’s find out the list French speaking countries in world where one can find major French speakers. 

List of French Speaking Countries in the World 

French is the official language of 29 different countries in the world. Furthermore, thirteen nations declare French as their official language. However, in 15-16 nations, French is a co-official language. Canada is one of the countries in which French is the second official language after English. The list of French speaking countries in the world is as follows: 

1. Belgium 
2. Benin 
3. Burkina Faso 
4. Burundi 
5. Cameroon 
6. Canada 
7. Chad 
8. The Ivory Coast 
9. The Democratic Republic of the Congo 
10. Djibouti 
11. Equatorial Guinea 
12. France 
13. Haiti 
14. Luxembourg 
15. Madagascar 
16. Mali 
17. Monaco 
18. Niger 
19. Rwanda 
20. Senegal, 
21. Seychelles 
22. Switzerland 
23. Togo 
24. Vanuatu 
25. Central African Republic 
26. Gabon 
27. Comoros 
28. Congo (RC 
29. Congo (DRC) 

French Speakers in Africa

Several African nations, mostly in North and Central Africa, have French as their official language because France once controlled a sizable portion of the continent.

African French (français Africain) is another name for the French-speaking nations of Africa. Various French dialects are used by the estimated 120 million Africans living in 24 countries that speak French.

French as it is spoken in Africa differs greatly from Standard French as it is spoken in Europe. However, formal African French is widely used in legal documents, media, and education.

French frequently serves as a second or third official language in many Francophone African countries.

French-Speaking European Countries

The majority of French-speaking people live in Europe, where this percentage is around 40%. After German and English, French is the third most widely used mother tongue in the European Union.

There are several countries in Europe that speak French. France, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, and the Italian territory of the Aosta Valley all have it as their official language.

The country having the highest percentage of French speakers is Belgium (45%), followed by Switzerland (20%). The most often taught foreign language in British schools is also French.

French Speakers in India

Indians in the former colonies of Mahe, Pondicherry, Karaikal, Chandernagore, and Yanam in Southern India also speak an Indian French dialect.

Dravidian languages like Tamil (Pondicherry Tamil dialect), Telugu (Yanam Telugu dialect), and Malayalam had a significant influence on this dialect (Mahe Malayalam dialect).

French is the most widely spoken foreign language in India, and this is due to the wide range of employment prospects it offers.

French-Speaking Population in US and Canada

The only official language in Quebec is French (Canada). 20 percent of the population of Canada speaks French, with almost 95 percent of residents in Quebec doing so either as a first or second language.

The largest city in Quebec, Montreal, is also the fourth-largest city in the world with a Francophone population. 7.66 percent of people in the world speak French, mostly in the Caribbean and America. There are also a lot of immigrants from Africa who speak French.

After English, Spanish, and Chinese, the U.S. Census Bureau (2011) reports that French is the fourth most spoken language in the country.

Additionally, it serves as the official tongue of French Guiana, a French overseas territory on the continent of South America.

French Speakers in Asia-Oceanic

The French language is the official dialect of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, which has a population of over 500,000. It is also widely spoken across French Polynesia and in the French collectivities of New Caledonia, Wallis, and Futuna.

Even if only 1.1 percent of people in Asia and Oceania speak French, the percentage will skyrocket if we include those who are learning the French language.

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Réunion, Mayotte, and other overseas territories in the Indian Ocean all have it as their official tongue.

Many French speakers might be found in Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon, and Syria due to historical factors. The number is, however, dwindling.

Countries with the most French speakers

France is home to the greatest number of French speakers worldwide. It is also the nation from where the language originated and the one most frequently connected to French.

With an estimated population of 48 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second most populous French-speaking nation. The list of French speaking countries where one can find the majority of French speakers are as follows: 

• Democratic Republic of Congo  

• France 

• Canada  

• Madagascar 

• Cameroon

Countries in Which French is a Co-official Language 

There are 17 countries where French is a co-official language. These countries include Belgium, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Jersey, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Switzerland, and Vanuatu. 

Differences Between Canadian French and European French 

French is spoken by around 7.3 million Canadians now, with over 85% of them residing in Quebec. However, the languages spoken in Canada and Europe differ in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax.  

Due to its historical isolation following France’s 1763 handover of its North American possessions to Britain, Canadian French has a wider variety of vowel sounds. This isolation avoided the phonetic development that occurred in France during the French Revolution and helped maintain previous phonetic norms.  

Compared to European French, Canadian French is distinguished by longer vowel sounds and a softer pronunciation of shorter vowels. Furthermore, unlike in European French, consonants in Canadian French can produce affricates in certain circumstances.  

The spread of the French language worldwide  

French, with its rich history, has emerged as a global language since the Middle Ages, owing much to the influence of the Kingdom of France. By the 17th century, it supplanted Latin as the lingua franca of educated Europe, eventually becoming the principal language of diplomacy and European courts by the 18th century.  

Many French-speaking nations were originally colonies of France. Indeed, French colonialism played a significant role in disseminating the language across various regions during the 16th and 17th centuries. For instance, the Quebec region of Canada was a French colony from 1534 to 1760.  

Despite losing many colonies due to wars in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, France’s colonial ambitions revived in the 19th century, particularly with the Arab conquests. By the end of the 19th century, France had established control over territories like Senegal, the Ivory Coast, and the Republics of Congo and Mali, which still embrace French today.  

Although most French colonies gained independence after World War I, France’s influence persisted in Africa until the late 1960s. As a result, French remains the primary language in many former French colonies across the continent, reflecting the enduring legacy of French colonialism. 

Final Words

Let us inform you that French is the official language in 29 nations. Around the world, 275 million people speak French. France is one of the nations with French as the official language.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1- What are the 29 French-speaking countries in the world?

Answer- According to alphabetical order, the 29 nations are Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Vanuatu, Central African Republic, Gabon, Comoros, Congo (RC), Congo (DRC).

Question 2- How many countries speak French in the world?

Answer- There are in total 29 countries with French as their official language. Along with this, there are 275 million people in the world who speak French. Thus, a lot of countries speak French.

Question 3- What are the 7 Major French speaking countries in World?

Answer- There are 29 countries where French is the official language. The main seven countries are France, Congo, Canada, Camron, Belgium, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, and Haiti.

Question 4-  Do people of Asia speak French?

Answer- People of Southeast Asia, especially in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam widely speak French. During the Age of Exploration, the French made their way to Asia as French adventurers staked claims in French Indochina.

Question 5- Does Morocco speak French?

Answer- One of the languages used in Morocco is French. The French protectorate (1912–1956) left a colonial legacy with the use of French.

Question 6- Is Italy a French-speaking country?

Answer- People of Italy rarely speak French. Mainly, the people of the Aosta Valley of the country co-officially speak French.

Question 7- Does Canada speak French?

Answer- 22.8 percent of the population speaks French as their first language in the official sense. Over 1 million Francophones reside in other parts of the country, but Quebec is home to 85.4% of all Francophones in Canada.

Question 8- What’s easier French or Spanish?

Answer- French has a less flexible grammar than Spanish, and students will find it simpler to master a language with regular grammar and predictable patterns.

The two languages differ greatly in many other ways, but neither is more difficult than the other.

Question 9- What top 3 languages do the people of France speak?

Answer- People of France majorly speak French, Occitan and German.

Question 10- Does Paris speak French?

Answer- French is the official language of Paris and all of France. English is not as extensively spoken as it is in other nations.

The majority of hotels, restaurants and stores accept English as a method of communication, despite the fact that Parisians don’t typically speak it or enjoy it.