French is an official de jure language in 26 independent nations and 10 subnational territories, making it one of the most geographically widespread languages after English and tied with Arabic. Overall, it is also used as a de jure or de facto official, secondary, or cultural language in about 50 states and territories.[1] It is the 22nd most natively spoken language in the world,[2] and the 6th most spoken by total number of speakers;[3] this disparity reflects the fact that in most countries French serves primarily as a lingua franca or administrative language rather than as a native tongue, which is widespread in only five countries and territories[c].[1][5] The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official language.
Sole official language
Countries
List of countries where French is the only official language:
In many countries, French is used as a co-official language alongside one or more other languages. List of countries where French is a co-official language:
This table shows the total populations of the countries, not the number of French speakers – most of these countries have a majority that do not speak French.
While French is not an official language in these countries, it is widely used in administration and many professional sectors, as well as being highly influential as a cultural language in the local society and has certain privileges in the education system.
Formerly used as a second language during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, particularly among educated urban elites; now limited to education and minor use. [18]
12"Ici on parle français", Report of the Commission to Study the Development of Maine's Franco-American Resources, Maine State Legislature Law and Legislative Reference Library, December 1997
↑"Le dénombrement des francophones"(PDF). Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Archived from the original(PDF) on 12 October 2013. () p. 9 "Nous y agrégeons néanmoins quelques données disponibles pour des pays n'appartenant pas à l'OIF mais dont nous savons, comme pour l'Algérie (11,2 millions en 20081
↑French is spoken as a mother tongue by the majority of the population, in descending order, in France, Canada (Quebec), Belgium (Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region), western Switzerland (Romandy) and Monaco.[4]
