List of countries and territories where French is an official language

French is an official language in 26 independent nations. It is the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken by total number of speakers, and one of the most geographically widespread languages worldwide, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language.^[1] In 2017 it was among the top five most studied languages worldwide with about 120 million learners.^[2] The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.

  Regions where French is a majority native language

  Regions where French is an official or administrative language but not a majority native language

  Regions where French is an unofficial secondary language

Sole official language

Countries

List of countries where French is the only official language:

Country	Continent
Benin	Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa
Republic of the Congo	Africa
France and Overseas France	Europe, Africa, Oceania
Gabon	Africa
Ivory Coast	Africa
Togo	Africa
Guinea	Africa
Monaco	Europe
Senegal	Africa

Non-sovereign entities

Region	Country
Canton of Geneva	Switzerland
Canton of Jura
Canton of Neuchâtel
Vaud
Quebec	Canada

Co-official use

Countries in the world with French as an official language.

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:

Country	Alongside
Belgium	Dutch, German
Burundi	Kirundi, English, Swahili
Cameroon	English
Canada	English
Chad	Arabic
Central African Republic	Sango
Comoros	Comorian, Arabic
Djibouti	Arabic
Equatorial Guinea	Spanish, Portuguese
Haiti	Haitian Creole
Luxembourg	Luxembourgish. German
Madagascar	Malagasy
Rwanda	Kinyarwanda, English, Swahili
Seychelles	English, Seychellois Creole
Switzerland	German, Italian, Romansh
Vanuatu	Bislama, English

National subdivisions

Region	Country	Alongside
Aosta Valley, Aosta	Italy	Italian
Flanders	Belgium	Dutch
Wallonia		French, German
Canton of Bern	Switzerland	German
Canton of Fribourg
Valais
New Brunswick	Canada	English
Yukon
Northwest Territories		English and several indigenous languages
Nunavut		Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English
Puducherry	India	Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, English
Sark	United Kingdom	English

Officially recognized status

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

• Lebanon^[3]
• Louisiana (United States)^[4]
• Maine (United States)^[5]
• Mauritius^[6]

Intergovernmental organizations

The Francophonie flag flying at the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa

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

• Francophonie
• United Nations
• International Olympic Committee
• European Union
• African Union
• NATO
• World Trade Organization
• Council of Europe

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[7]
1.	Democratic Republic of Congo	Africa	115,403,027
2.	France	Europe	68,374,591
3.	Canada	North America	38,794,813
4	Cameroon	Africa	30,966,105
5.	Côte d'Ivoire	Africa	29,981,758
6.	Madagascar	Africa	29,452,714
7.	Chad	Africa	19,093,595
8.	Senegal	Africa	18,847,519
9.	Benin	Africa	14,697,052
10.	Guinea	Africa	13,986,179
11.	Rwanda	Africa	13,623,302
12.	Burundi	Africa	13,590,102
13.	Belgium	Europe	11,977,634
14.	Haiti	Caribbean	11,753,943
15.	Togo	Africa	8,917,994
16.	Switzerland	Europe	8,860,574
17.	Congo	Africa	6,097,665
18.	Central African Republic	Africa	5,650,957
19.	Gabon	Africa	2,455,105
20.	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	1,795,834
21.	Djibouti	Africa	994,974
22.	Comoros	Africa	900,141
23.	Luxembourg	Europe	671,254
24.	Vanuatu	Oceania	318,007
25.	Seychelles	Africa	98,187
26.	Monaco	Europe	31,813
Total	All countries	World	c. 467,334,839

Dependent entities

Nr.	Entity	Continent	Population[7]	Status
1.	New Caledonia	Oceania	304,167	Collectivity of France with special status
2.	French Polynesia	Oceania	303,540	Overseas collectivity of France
3.	Saint Martin	North America	32,996	Overseas collectivity of France
4.	Wallis and Futuna	Oceania	15,964
5.	Saint Barthélemy	North America	7,0899
6.	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	North America	5,132
7.	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	Africa, Antarctica	100
8.	Clipperton Island	North America	0

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.^[8][5]

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)[9]	Usage of French
Algeria	Africa	44,758,398	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational, de facto official language[10]
Burkina Faso	Africa	22,489,126	Administrative (de facto official), educational[11][12]
Cambodia	Asia	16,891,245	Administrative (particularly judicial and diplomacy), cultural, some educational[13][14]
Laos	Asia	7,852,377	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational[15][14]
Lebanon	Asia	5,331,203	De jure second language[3]
Mali	Africa	21,359,722	Administrative (de facto official), educational[16][17]
Mauritania	Africa	4,244,878	De facto second official language, educational[18]
Mauritius	Africa	1,309,448	Administrative (de facto official), cultural, educational[6]
Morocco	Africa	37,067,420	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational, de facto official language[19][20]
Niger	Africa	26,342,784	Administrative[21]
Tunisia	Africa	11,976,182	Administrative, commercial, cultural, educational, de facto official language[22]
Vietnam	Asia	99,460,000	Administrative (diplomatic), cultural, some educational, working language in medicine, science, and law[23][24]

See also

• Francophonie
• Geographical distribution of French speakers
• List of international organisations which have French as an official language
• French-based creole languages
• Geolinguistics
• Language geography