French is as an official language in 30 countries and spoken by significant populations in over 50. A Romance language (descended from Latin),
you will find native speakers of French spanning five continents. Most of these countries are part of the wider-ranging
La Francophonie, an international organisation of French-speaking nations and governments; it comprises 55 member states, two associates
as well as 13 observers. Napoleon would be proud.
Below you'll find two lists: the first is of nations where French is listed as an official language, the second where it is spoken by a significant percentage of the population. Do you know your countries en français?
French-speaking Countries
| Official French-speaking | Significant populations | ||
| 1 | Belgium | 1 | Algeria |
| 2 | Benin | 2 | Andora |
| 3 | Burkina Faso | 3 | Camobodia |
| 4 | Burundi | 4 | Cape Verde |
| 5 | Cameroon | 5 | Dominica (French patois) |
| 6 | Canada | 6 | Egypt |
| 7 | Central African Republic | 7 | Grenada (French patois) |
| 8 | Chad | 8 | Guinea-Bissau |
| 9 | Channel Islands | 9 | Italy (Valle d'Aosta) |
| 10 | Comoros | 10 | Laos |
| 11 | Congo | 11 | Lebanon |
| 12 | Congo, Democratic Republic of | 12 | Mauritius |
| 13 | Cote d'Ivoire | 13 | Tunisia |
| 14 | Djibouti | ||
| 15 | France | ||
| 16 | Gabon | ||
| 17 | Guinea | ||
| 18 | Haiti | ||
| 19 | Luxembourg | ||
| 20 | Madagascar | ||
| 21 | Mali | ||
| 22 | Niger | ||
| 23 | Monaco | ||
| 24 | Rwanda | ||
| 25 | Senegal | ||
| 26 | Seychelles | ||
| 27 | Switzerland | ||
| 28 | Togo | ||
| 29 | Vanuatu | ||
| 30 | Vietnam |
