French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is spoken by more than 200 million people living not only in Europe, but also in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In which countries is French used? Where is it official and why?
Spread around the world
French belongs to the Indo-European family and, together with Romanian, Italian, Portuguese, is included in the Romanesque group of languages. It comes from folk Latin, but compared to other languages of the group, it has moved much further away from it in grammatical and lexical terms.
It is widely used in the world and takes 14th place in terms of prevalence. The number of people for whom he is a native or second language totals about 100 million. Another 100-150 million people know him and are able to speak it easily.
As a working or diplomatic language, French is used in various international organizations and entities, for example, in the European Union, the Holy See, Benelux, UN, ICC, IOC, etc. It is spoken on all continents where there is a permanent population. In addition to France, he has official status in another 28 states. These include:
- Benin.
- Guadeloupe.
- Gabon.
- Burkina Faso.
- Tunisia.
- Monaco.
- Niger.
- Mali
- Burundi.
- Vanuatu.
- Madagascar.
- Comoros.
- Guiana and others.
Most modern French-speaking countries are former colonies. Since the 16th century, France has pursued an active foreign policy, capturing territories on other continents. In her history there were two colonial periods during which her possessions included regions of South and North America, Asia, Africa, islands in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Europe
The state of France is located in the European part of the world. She did not have colonies in these territories, however, there are several states that speak her language. This happened thanks to numerous aggressive wars and political upheavals. So, Monaco fell under its control in the 17th century, and today French is the only official language in this country. He had the same status in Belgium from 1830 to 1878.
Today, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland are only partly francophone countries. Several languages are considered to be state languages at once, each of which has equal status. In Switzerland, approximately 23% of the inhabitants speak French. It is especially common in the cantons of Wallis and Freiburg, and in the cantons of Vaud, Geneva, Jura and Neuchâtel is the only official. In Andorra, French is not official, but it is spoken by about 8% of the population. It is studied in schools and used as a spoken and administrative language.
America
France's colonization of the American continents begins in the 16th century and continues until about the middle of the 18th century. In North America, its lands were called New France and covered the territory from Quebec and Newfoundland to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Later, these colonies left Britain, and then completely gained independence.
Today, French is mainly distributed in Canada, where it is the second official language. It is spoken by a quarter of the country's population, which is approximately 9 million people. Most of them live in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick. The largest French-speaking cities in Canada are Montreal and Quebec. Here it is spoken by about 90% of citizens. In the United States, French is the fourth most common. It is spoken by 2-3 million people, mainly residents of the states of Louisiana, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.
Some French colonies were located in South America and on the islands. Some of them are still among its overseas territories and communities. So, it includes the islands of Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Saint-Barthelemy, Guadeloupe, Martinique, as well as the largest overseas region of the country, French Guiana, located on the continent.
Africa
The largest number of French-speaking countries is in Africa. The development of the continent by Europeans began in the XV-XVI century, but progressed rather slowly. In the XIX century, it reached a significant scale and was called the "race for Africa."
Many European empires participated in the colonization, constantly conflicting among themselves. France occupied mainly the western and equatorial territories. From here were taken ivory, horns, feathers and skins of valuable animals, gold, precious stones, wood and slaves.
Former African colonies have experienced different influences and have a very diverse population. Often, they have several official languages, and at the local level their number reaches several dozen. At the administrative level, exclusively French-speaking countries are Benin, Gabon, the Republic of Guinea, the DRC, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Togo. In Rwanda, English and Kinyaranda are also used along with it, in Mali and Burkina Faso - Banama, in Equatorial Guinea - Spanish and Portuguese.
In Mauritius, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia, French is an unofficial language and is often used in business and for international communication. In Morocco, it is regarded as the second national after the Berber. In Algeria, about 50% of the population speaks and writes in it, which is approximately 20 million people. The islands of Mayotte and Reunion are not only French-speaking, but also included in the list of overseas territories of France.
Asia and the Pacific
In Asia, French influence spread much less than in Africa or America. Here its colonies began to appear only in the 19th century, spreading mainly in the Southeast and Oceania. The country owned a small plot in India, the Middle East and Australia.
The official French-speaking countries today are Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Haiti, French Polynesia, located on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. As a colloquial and working language, this language is used in Lebanon, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Indian region of Pondicherry.