List of countries and territories where French is an official language

French is an official language in 28 independent nations. The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.

Sole official language

Countries

List of countries where French is the only official language:

Non-sovereign entities

Geneva, Switzerland
Jura, Switzerland
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Quebec, Canada
Vaud, Switzerland
Valais, Switzerland

Co-official use

Sovereign states

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:

National subdivisions

Aosta Valley,Aosta, Italy
Bern, Switzerland
Brussels, Belgium
Fribourg, Switzerland
New Brunswick, Canada
Northwest Territories, Canada
Nunavut, Canada
Valais, Switzerland
Wallonia, Belgium
Yukon, Canada

Officially recognized status

Although a non-official minority language, French is granted certain rights in the following countries and territories:

Intergovernmental organizations

French is an official language, mostly in conjunction with English, of 36 international organisations. These include:

Countries

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.

No.	Country	Continent	Population^[5]
1.	Democratic Republic of Congo	Africa	105,044,646
2.	France	Europe	68,051,000
3.	Canada	North America	38,653,740
4.	Madagascar	Africa	24,235,400
5.	Cameroon	Africa	23,345,200
6.	Côte d'Ivoire	Africa	22,701,600
7.	Niger	Africa	19,899,100
8.	Senegal	Africa	15,129,300
9.	Chad	Africa	14,037,500
10.	Guinea	Africa	12,608,600
11.	Rwanda	Africa	11,607,700
12.	Belgium	Europe	11,358,357
13.	Burundi	Africa	11,178,900
14.	Benin	Africa	10,879,800
15.	Haiti	Caribbean	10,711,100
16.	Switzerland	Europe	8,510,000
17.	Togo	Africa	7,304,600
18.	Central African Republic	Africa	4,900,300
19.	Congo	Africa	4,620,300
20.	Gabon	Africa	1,725,300
21.	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	1,221,490
22.	Djibouti	Africa	887,861
23.	Comoros	Africa	795,601
24.	Luxembourg	Europe	602,900
25.	Vanuatu	Oceania	264,652
26.	Seychelles	Africa	92,900
27.	Monaco	Europe	38,731
Total	All countries	World	c. 430,406,578

Dependent entities

Nr.	Entity	Continent	Population	Status
1.	French Polynesia	Oceania	284,060	Overseas collectivity of France
2.	New Caledonia	Oceania	267,000	Collectivity of France with special status
3.	Aosta Valley	Europe	128,000	Autonomous region of Italy
4.	Saint Martin	North America	37,264	Overseas collectivity of France
5.	Wallis and Futuna	Oceania	15,289	Overseas collectivity of France
6.	Saint Barthélemy	North America	9,131	Overseas collectivity of France
7.	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	North America	5,888	Overseas collectivity of France
8.	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	Africa, Antarctica	100	Overseas collectivity of France
9.	Clipperton Island	North America	0	Overseas collectivity of France

Note: Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Mayotte are classified as overseas departments and regions of France and are thus not a part of this list. While not de jure official, the U.S. states of Louisiana and Maine recognize the usage of French in law, governance, and commerce and allow state services and publicly funded education in the language, rendering it de facto official alongside English.^[6]^[4]

Non-official but significant language

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.

Country	Continent	Population (2023)^[7]	Usage of French
Algeria	Africa	44,758,398	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational, de facto official language^[8]
Burkina Faso	Africa	22,489,126	Administrative, educational^[9]^[10]
Cambodia	Asia	16,891,245	Administrative (particularly judicial and diplomacy), cultural, some educational^[11]^[12]
Laos	Asia	7,852,377	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational^[13]^[14]
Lebanon	Asia	5,331,203	De jure second language^[1]
Mali	Africa	21,359,722	Administrative (de facto official), educational^[15]^[16]
Mauritania	Africa	4,244,878	De facto second official language, educational^[17]
Mauritius	Africa	1,309,448	Administrative (de facto official), cultural, educational^[2]
Morocco	Africa	37,067,420	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational, de facto official language^[18]^[19]
Tunisia	Africa	11,976,182	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational, de facto official language^[20]
Vietnam	Asia	99,460,000	Administrative (diplomatic), cultural, some educational, working language in medicine, science, and law^[21]^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b Axel Tschentscher, LL.M. "Article 11 of the Lebanese Constitution". Servat.unibe.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Article 49 in the Constitution of Mauritius. ilo.org
^ French's Legal Status In Louisiana, Conseil pour le développement du Français en Louisiane (CODOFIL)
^ ^a ^b "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
^ "Google Public Data Explorer". World Bank. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
^ Ward, Roger K. The French Language in Louisiana Law and Legal Education: A Requiem, Louisiana Law Review, 1997
^ World Population 2023, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency
^ "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
^ "Burkina Faso - Ibrahim Traoré promulgue la loi révisant la Constitution". LibreExpress. 27 January 2024.
^ "DÉCRET N° 2024-0040/PRES-TRANS promulguant la loi constitutionnelle n° 045-2023/ALT du 30 décembre 2023 portant révision de la Constitution" (PDF). minute.bf. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
^ Aménagement linguistique dans le monde - Cambodge, Université Laval (in French)
^ Richardson, Michael (16 October 1993). "French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
^ Aménagement linguistique dans le monde - Laos, Université Laval (in French)
^ Richardson, Michael (16 October 1993). "French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
^ Mali's new constitution adopted after court validation, Radio France Internationale, 22 July 2023.
^ "Journal Officiel de la République du Mali Secretariat du Général du Governement - Decret DECRET N°2023-0401/PT-RM du 22 Juillet 2023 pourtant promulgation de la Constitution" (PDF). sgg-mali.ml. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
^ "Mauritania". Ethnologue.
^ "Morocco". World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 14 July 2023.
^ "Présentation du Maroc". Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères (in French).
^ Samy Ghorbal, «Le français a-t-il encore un avenir ? », Jeune Afrique, 27 April 2008, pp. 77-78
^ Duc Tri-Quê Anh. Promouvoir l’enseignement du français au Vietnam, Le Courrier du Vietnam, 7 March 2022. (in French)
^ Kirkpatrick, Andy and Anthony J. Liddicoat, The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia., Routledge, 2019, p. 192

[Liban-1] Axel Tschentscher, LL.M. "Article 11 of the Lebanese Constitution". Servat.unibe.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2013.

[Mauritius-2] Article 49 in the Constitution of Mauritius. ilo.org

[3] French's Legal Status In Louisiana, Conseil pour le développement du Français en Louisiane (CODOFIL)

[Ici_on_parle-4] "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

[PublicData2016-5] "Google Public Data Explorer". World Bank. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

[6] Ward, Roger K. The French Language in Louisiana Law and Legal Education: A Requiem, Louisiana Law Review, 1997

[7] World Population 2023, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency

[8] "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

[9] "Burkina Faso - Ibrahim Traoré promulgue la loi révisant la Constitution". LibreExpress. 27 January 2024.

[10] "DÉCRET N° 2024-0040/PRES-TRANS promulguant la loi constitutionnelle n° 045-2023/ALT du 30 décembre 2023 portant révision de la Constitution" (PDF). minute.bf. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.

[11] Aménagement linguistique dans le monde - Cambodge, Université Laval (in French)

[12] Richardson, Michael (16 October 1993). "French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2018-11-18.

[13] Aménagement linguistique dans le monde - Laos, Université Laval (in French)

[14] Richardson, Michael (16 October 1993). "French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2018-11-18.

[15] Mali's new constitution adopted after court validation, Radio France Internationale, 22 July 2023.

[16] "Journal Officiel de la République du Mali Secretariat du Général du Governement - Decret DECRET N°2023-0401/PT-RM du 22 Juillet 2023 pourtant promulgation de la Constitution" (PDF). sgg-mali.ml. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.

[17] "Mauritania". Ethnologue.

[18] "Morocco". World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 14 July 2023.

[19] "Présentation du Maroc". Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères (in French).

[20] Samy Ghorbal, «Le français a-t-il encore un avenir ? », Jeune Afrique, 27 April 2008, pp. 77-78

[21] Duc Tri-Quê Anh. Promouvoir l’enseignement du français au Vietnam, Le Courrier du Vietnam, 7 March 2022. (in French)

[22] Kirkpatrick, Andy and Anthony J. Liddicoat, The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia., Routledge, 2019, p. 192

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List of countries and territories where French is an official language

Sole official language

Countries

Non-sovereign entities

Co-official use

Sovereign states

National subdivisions

Officially recognized status

Intergovernmental organizations

Countries

Dependent entities

Non-official but significant language

See also

References

Stasiun Kai-Ōshima

Robert E. Wood

Gustav Waldau

Daftar keuskupan di Hungaria

Kalisari, Rowokele, Kebumen

Alexander Rendell

Communitas perfecta

Eriophora edax

Anatoli Belyakov

Agung Widiyantoro

David Alexandre Winter

Whisper of the Heart

Adlène Guedioura

Scottish Government

Kalkar

Distrik Futami, Hokkaido

Cape Cod Times

Enid Blyton

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Guntur Simbolon