Did you know that they speak French in Africa? The French language was brought to the African continent through colonialism. During the 1950s and 60s, France and Belgium lost control of their African colonies, however, French is still spoken in at least 29 African countries.
Why do many African countries speak French?
More than 20 of the countries in Africa speak French, largely due to France’s vast colonization on the continent. These include countries such as Algeria, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Morocco, Rwanda, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia.
Why is French spoken in so many countries?
Many colonies gained independence after World War One and France still had a strong influence in some countries in Africa and South East Asia up until the 1960s. A result of the colonial era is that many countries still use French as a national language, even though they are no longer ruled by France.
When did Africa start speaking French?
As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa and Asia. Most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast.
Do most African countries speak French?
Africa is thus the continent with the most French speakers in the world. French arrived in Africa as a colonial language; these African French speakers are now a large part of the Francophonie. … In each of the francophone African countries, French is spoken with local variations in pronunciation and vocabulary.
Which country has the most French speakers?
Unsurprisingly, France boasts the highest number of native French speakers, although its not the most populous country to have French as an official language: The Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 77 million, compared to 62 million in France.
What is the fastest growing language in Africa?
French is spoken in many countries in Africa, which currently have some of the largest rates of population growth, and it’s this that makes French one of the fastest-growing languages in the world.
Is French dying?
It’s not that French is dead or even dying on the global stage. French is still one of the official languages of the UN, Nato, the International Olympic Committee and Eurovision. But the days of its global pomp, when it was the language of international diplomacy and spoken by much of the global elite, are long gone.
Which African country speaks French?
Like many African nations, Mali is a multilingual country. The official language is French, Bambara is the lingua franca, the national language, and the most widely spoken language. English and French are de facto official languages.
Which language is closest to French?
Arpitan (also known as Franco-Provençal) and Occitan (sometimes called Provençal) are the two geographically closest languages to French. In many ways, Occitan looks like a cross between French and Spanish.
Is French growing in Africa?
French is now the fifth most spoken world language and growing—thanks to Africans. … The number of people speaking French has shown a steady increase: up nearly 9.6% since 2014. Measuring from 2010 to today, 22.7 million more people speak French: 68% of these are sub-Saharan Africa, while 22% live in North Africa.
How many countries does Africa have?
How many countries are there in Africa? 48 countries share the area of mainland Africa, plus six island nations are considered to be part of the continent. All in all, there are 54 sovereign African countries and two disputed areas, namely Somaliland and Western Sahara (see the list of African countries below).
What percentage of Africa speaks French?
High birth rates. There are 300 million French speakers worldwide today, up almost 10% since 2014, and a recent survey showed that 44% of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Is French useful in Africa?
French is official language in most West African countries and it is spoken at national and functions as well as in the media. Each country may have its own way of pronouncing of some french words but on the whole French serve as a unifying factor among all these Francophone countries.
What percentage of Africa speaks English?
So, let’s review the top five: Of the 1 billion people in Africa (as of 2009), about 17% spoke Arabic, linguists say, while 13% spoke English, 11.5% spoke French, 10% spoke Swahili, and 5% spoke Hausa. And those languages only account for about half the population!
What is the most spoken language in the world?
English is the largest language in the world, if you count both native and non-native speakers. If you count only native speakers, Mandarin Chinese is the largest.