How Many Francophone Countries & Places That Speak French In The World – 5th world language by the number of its speakers, after Mandarin, English, Spanish, and Arabic, the French language is the only one, with English, to be present on 5 continents. In 2018, out of 106 countries and territories, 300 million (Country statistics – LFDM-2018) are able to express themselves in French.
Table of Contents
What Countries Speak French As An Official Language
List Of Countries That Speak French As An Official Language – French is spoken in many countries, especially in Africa. This is mainly due to the legacy of the French colonial empire, which developed in the late nineteenth century.
Canada’s Language – How Much of Canada Speaks French
What Countries Speak French
| Country | Capital city | Continent |
| Belgium | Brussels | Europe |
| Benign | Porto-Novo | Africa |
| Burkina Faso | Ouagadougou | Africa |
| Burundi | Bujumbura | Africa |
| Cameroon | Yaounde | Africa |
| Canada | Ottawa | America |
| Comoros | Moroni | Africa |
| Congo | Brazzaville | Africa |
| Ivory Coast | Yamoussoukro | Africa |
| Djibouti | Djibouti | Africa |
| France | Paris | Europe |
| Gabon | Libreville | Africa |
| Guinea | Conakry | Africa |
| Equatorial Guinea | Malabo | Africa |
| Haiti | Port Au Prince | America |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg | Europe |
| Madagascar | Antananarivo | Africa |
| Mali | Bamako | Africa |
| Monaco | Monaco | Europe |
| Niger | Niamey | Africa |
| The central African Republic | Bangui | Africa |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | Kinshasa | Africa |
| Rwanda | Kigali | Africa |
| Senegal | Dakar | Africa |
| Seychelles | Victoria | Africa |
| Swiss | Bern | Europe |
| Chad | N’Djamena | Africa |
| Togo | Lome | Africa |
| Vanuatu | Port Vila | Oceania |
Places That Speak French
List Of Francophone and French Speaking Countries where French is commonly used, without being The Official Language Of The Country
| Country | Associate Capital | Continent |
| Algeria | Algeria | Africa |
| Andorra | Andorra la Vella | Europe |
| Mauritius | Port Louis | Africa |
| Lebanon | Beirut | Asia |
| Morocco | Rabat | Africa |
| Mauritania | Nouakchott | Africa |
| Tunisia | Tunis | Africa |
List Of Countries With French As An Official Language & Places That Speak French
French Is Spoken In How Many Countries where It is an official or co-official language
| States:
57 Countries 29 Bilingual |
Continent | Status | Population
(in millions) |
Francophone
proportion |
Number of Francophones *
l. kindergarten / |
Official languages) |
| Belgium: French Community | Europe | Sovereign community | 3.3M | 100% | 3.3M | French |
| Federal Belgium + | Europe | country | 10.5 M | 41% | 4.3M | French / Dutch / German |
| Benign | Africa | country | 8.4M | 13% | 552,000 | French |
| Bern + (Switzerland) | Europe | federated canton | 951,000 | 8.1% | 77,031 | French German |
| Burkina Faso | Africa | country | 13.9 M | 4.7% | 813,000 | French |
| Burundi + | Africa | country | 7.8 M | 4% | 50,000 | French / Kirundi |
| Cameroon + | Africa | country | 16.4M | 67% (reputed) | 2.7M | French English |
| Canada + | America | country | 32.2M | 22.1% | 6.8 M | English French |
| Central | Africa | country | 4.2M | 3.7% | 650,000 | French / Sango |
| Comoros + | Africa | country | 670,000 | 0.3% | 312,000 | French Arab |
| Congo Brazzaville | Africa | country | 4.0M | 1.2% | 1M | French |
| Congo – Kinshasa | Africa | country | 60.8M | 6% | 2M | French |
| Ivory Coast | Africa | country | 18.2M | 1% | 3.5M | French |
| Djibouti + | Africa | country | 799,000 | 2.8% | 50,000 | French Arabic |
| la France | Europe | country | 61.4M | 82% | 58.9M | French |
| Friborg + (Switzerland) | Europe | federated canton | 241,700 | 61% | 147,400 | French German |
| Gabon | Africa | country | 1.4M | 6% | 1.1 M | French |
| Geneva (Switzerland) | Europe | federated canton | 413,700 | 76% | 314 400 | French |
| Guadeloupe (F) | America | overseas department | 422 222 | 4% | 360,900 | French |
| Guinea | Africa | country | 9.5M | 2% | 400,000 | French |
| Equatorial Guinea + | Africa | country | 500,000 | 1% | 500 | Spanish / French |
| French Guiana (F) | America | overseas department | 200,000 | 7% | 146,000 | French |
| Haiti | America | country | 8.3M | 1,5% | 1M | French / Creole |
| Jura (Switzerland) | Europe | federated canton | 68 149 | 90% | 61,350 | French |
| Luxembourg + | Europe | Grand Duchy | 460 000 | 4.1% | 430,000 | French / German / Luxembourgish |
| Madagascar + | Africa | country | 18.0 M | 1% | 88,000 | Malagasy / French |
| Mali | Africa | country | 13.5M | 0.1% | 885,000 | French |
| Martinique (F) | America | overseas department | 400,000 | 4% | 320,800 | French |
| Mauritania + | Africa | country | 2.8M | 2% | 146,000 | Arabic / French ( de facto ) |
| Mayotte (France) | Africa | territorial collectivity (FR) | 184,770 | 0.1% | 54,000 | French |
| Monaco | Europe | principality | 30,000 | 58% | 25,000 | French |
| Neuchâtel (Switzerland) | Europe | canton | 167,850 | 85% | 142,700 | French |
| Niger | Africa | country | 13.5 M | 9% | 980,000 | French |
| New Brunswick + (CND) | America | province | 719,710 | 32.3% | 232 500 | English French |
| New Caledonia (F) | Peaceful | overseas countries | 196,000 | 37% | 184,000 | French |
| Nunavut + (CND) | America | federal territory | 26,665 | 2% | 535 | English / French / Inuktitut ( de facto ) |
| French Polynesia (F) | Peaceful | overseas countries | 259,800 | 5% | 208,000 | French |
| Pondicherry + (India) | Asia | autonomous territory | 808,000 | 0.02% | 15,000 | Tamil / French / English / Telugu / Malayalam |
| Quebec City (CND) | America | federated province | 7.2M | 81% | 5.8M | French |
| Meeting (F) | Africa | overseas department | 793,000 | 1% | 619,000 | French |
| Rwanda + | Africa | country | 7.7 M | 0.1% | 510,000 | Kinyarwanda / French / English |
| St. Barthelemy (F) | America | territorial collectivity (FR) | 8450 | 90% | 7,600 | French |
| St. Martin (F) | America | territorial collectivity (FR) | 33,000 | 25% | 10,000 | French |
| St. Pierre and Miquelon (F) | America | territorial collectivity (FR) | 6316 | 100% | 6316 | French |
| Senegal | Africa | country | 11.7M | 7% | 1M | French |
| Seychelles + | Africa | country | 80,000 | 0.1% | 6,000 | English / French / Creole |
| Swiss Federal + | Europe | country | 7.2M | 18.4% | 1.4M | German / French / Italian / (Romansh) |
| Chad | Africa | country | 9.7M | 5% | 1.5M | French Arabic |
| Territories North West + (CND) | America | federal territory | 437,105 | 2.3% | 10,000 | English French |
| Togo | Africa | country | 6.1 M | 2.4% | 907,000 | French |
| Aosta Valley + (Italy) | Europe | autonomous region | 120,600 | 17% | 20,500 | Italian / French |
| Valais + (Switzerland) | Europe | federated canton | 272,400 | 60% | 163,400 | French German |
| Vanuatu + | Peaceful | country | 220,000 | 3.8% | 50,000 | English / French / Bislama |
| Vaud (Switzerland) | Europe | federated canton | 644,600 | 95% | 615,000 | French |
| Wallis and Futuna (F) | Peaceful | Overseas collectivity | 14,944 | 0.75% | 14,000 | French |
| Yukon * (CND) | America | federal territory | 30,200 | 3.6% | 1,800 | French English |
* The number of Francophones whose mother tongue and as a second language are combined is determined by data extracted from La Francophonie in the world 2002-2003, Francophonie High Council, Larousse, Paris, 2003. “Francophone” refers to a person who can cope, in French, with the situations of the current communication.
If we widen the circle of countries or regions that do not have French as an official language but whose French is a language of instruction, the number of Francophones would exceed 200 million (including partial Francophones, those whose French is a foreign language ).
