List of countries and territories where French is an official language

Wikimedia list article

French is an official language in 29 independent nations. The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.

  Regions where French is the main language
  Regions where it is an official language but not a majority native language
  Regions where it is a second language
  Regions where it is a minority language

Countries

This table shows the populations of the countries, not the number of French speakers.

NrCountryContinentPopulation[1]
1.  DR CongoAfrica84,004,989
2.  FranceEurope67,401,000
3.  CanadaNorth America36,879,800
4.  MadagascarAfrica24,235,400
5.  CameroonAfrica23,345,200
6.  Ivory CoastAfrica22,701,600
7.  NigerAfrica19,899,100
8.  Burkina FasoAfrica18,105,600
9.  MaliAfrica17,599,700
10.  SenegalAfrica15,129,300
11.  ChadAfrica14,037,500
12.  GuineaAfrica12,608,600
13.  RwandaAfrica11,607,700
14.  BelgiumEurope11,358,357
15.  BurundiAfrica11,178,900
16.  BeninAfrica10,879,800
17.  HaitiCaribbean10,711,100
18.  SwitzerlandEurope8,510,000
19.  TogoAfrica7,304,600
20.  Central African RepublicAfrica4,900,300
21.  CongoAfrica4,620,300
22.  GabonAfrica1,725,300
24.  Equatorial GuineaAfrica1,221,490
25.  DjiboutiAfrica887,861
23.  ComorosAfrica795,601
26.  LuxembourgEurope602,900
27.  VanuatuOceania264,652
28.  SeychellesAfrica92,900
29.  MonacoEurope38,731
TotalAll countriesWorldc. 443 million

Dependent entities

Nr.EntityContinentPopulationStatus
1.  RéunionAfrica777,000Overseas Department of France
2.  GuadeloupeNorth America360,188Overseas Department of France
3.  MartiniqueNorth America326,488Overseas Department of France
4.  MayotteAfrica318,044Overseas Department of France
5.  French GuianaSouth America301,200Overseas Department of France
6.  French PolynesiaOceania267,000Overseas Collectivity of France
7.  New CaledoniaOceania224,824Collectivity of France with special status
8.  Aosta ValleyEurope128,000Autonomous Region of Italy
9.  JerseyEurope91,533British Crown dependency
10.  Saint-MartinNorth America29,376Overseas Collectivity of France
11.  Wallis and FutunaOceania16,448Overseas Collectivity of France
12.  Saint-BarthélemyNorth America7,492Overseas Collectivity of France
13.  Saint-Pierre and MiquelonNorth America7,044Overseas Collectivity of France
14.  ClippertonNorth America0Minor territory of France directly held by the government
15.  French Southern and Antarctic LandsAfrica and Antarctica216Overseas Collectivity of France

Note: Louisiana, Maine and Quebec are classified as integral parts of the United States and Canada and are thus not a part of this list.

References