For whatever reason, no language evokes a sense of mystique quite like French. Its prominent role in literature, film, diplomacy, and the culinary scene has given it immense visibility over the years. Furthermore, even though the English win the award for colonizing the heck out of the world, France was no slouch in this regard. As a result, its language has been inflicted upon humanity far and wide. But where exactly is French spoken? And how many speakers are there?
Prerequisite Knowledge
Languages are constantly morphing. In fact, the Latin (brought by the Romans) from which French was derived barely exists anymore. This changing nature of language can make answering the above question difficult. If French mixes with a regional language, is it still French? Is the resultant pidgin or creole a dialect or its own language? That’s one for the linguists to debate.
Also making the question a little murky is the fact that relationships with a language can differ in different places. As an example, French is spoken by essentially everyone in France. In contrast, Canada exhibits a wide range all the way from fluent speakers to partial speakers to people who can barely say “bonjour.” The same concept occurs in places like Switzerland and many African countries. Determining what qualifies as a speaker is thus not always straightforward. As such, some of the numbers provided below are clearly approximate.
The Numbers
French is an official language in 29 countries: Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu.
That amounts to five continents. (French Guiana in South America is part of France, making the total five.) French is also spoken to varying extents in several other countries, albeit not with official status. This fact brings into the mix a sixth continent, namely Asia, thanks to the residual effects of colonization in places like Lebanon, Syria, and Vietnam.
Depending on the source used and the definition of French, the number of speakers in the world is probably around 250-300 million, making it somewhere between the fifth and tenth most-spoken language worldwide.
The largest French-speaking city in the world is obviously…Kinshasa? Yes, that’s the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a metropolitan population of around 15 million, Kinshasa finds itself ahead of Paris, which takes the number two spot. Number three is Abidjan (Ivory Coast), and Montreal rounds out the top four. (Thanks to the upstate New York location of ComposeMD, a French immersion experience involves a full tank of gas, or perhaps a full charge, and a drive across the border.)
With the anticipated population growth in Africa, French is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Some estimates suggest that Africa will have 2.4 billion residents by 2050, translating into a worldwide total of French speakers in the range of 750 million (probably an overestimate). So if you’re searching for a second or third language, keep this one on your radar. After all, if you’re going to put in the time, you might as well reap the rewards.
2 Responses
I never would have guessed that Africa has the largest French speaking population. Good trivia fact, maybe a jeopardy question some day.
Yes, when people think Africa, they don’t immediately think French. But Africa’s growth will drive the growth of French. And we would love to be a part of helping the next Ken Jennings!