|
|
Facts about the French Language
According to the Ethnologue Report, in 1999, French was the 11th most common first language in the world, with 77 million first language speakers and another 51 million second language speakers, according to the Ethnologue Report.
In the same year, 100-110 million students of all ages - Do not live in a francophone country, but have learned/are learning French in order to communicate with Francophones.
Spoken in: France and 53 other countries.
French is spoken as a native language on 5 continents.
In many countries, French plays an important role, either as an administrative, commercial, or international language or simply due to a significant French-speaking population: Algeria, , Cambodia, Egypt, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, India, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (Channel Islands), United States (Louisiana, New England), Vatican City, and Vietnam.
French is one of the official working languages in dozens of international organizations, including: Amnesty International, European Union(EU), Interpol, International Olympic Committee, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Org. for Economic Cooperation + Development (OECD), Red Cross and Red Crescent, United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO).
Official language of: France and 24 other countries.
Statistics:
France - 51,000,000
Canada - 6,000,000
Belgium - 4,000,000
Switzerland - 1,272,000
United States - 1,100,000
Haiti - 400,000
Italy - 100,000
New Caledonia - 53,400
Gabon - 37,500
Congo - 28,000
Madagascar - 18,000
Cote d'Ivoire - 17,470
Benin - 16,700
Djibouti - 15,440
French Polynesia - 15,338
Austria - 15,000
Luxembourg - 13,100
Monaco - 17,400
Central Africa - 9,000
Mali - 9,000
Vanuatu - 6,300
Niger - 6,000
St. Pierre and Miquelon - 5,114
Chad - 3,000
Togo - 3,000
Mayotte - 2,450
Andorra - 2,400
Reunion - 2,400