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Concept
Geographical distribution of French speakers
Summary
The French language became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the language of European diplomacy and international relations.
According to the 2022 report of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), 409 million people speak French. The OIF states that despite a decline in the number of learners of French in Europe, the overall number of speakers is rising, largely because of its presence in African countries: of the 212 million who use French daily, 54.7% are living in Africa. The OIF figures have been contested as being inflated due to the methodology used and its overly broad definition of the word francophone. According to the authors of a 2017 book on the world distribution of the French language, a credible estimate of the number of "francophones réels" (real francophones), that is, individuals who speak French on a daily basis either as their mother tongue or as a second language, would be around 130 million.
The following figures are from a 2022 report of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). No distinctions are made between native speakers of French and those who learnt it as a foreign language, between different levels of mastery or how often the language is used in daily life. For African countries where French is the main language of education, the number of French speakers is derived from the average number of schooling years.
It is estimated that 80 million people worldwide speak French as a main or first language.
French language in Algeria
In Algeria, 69.1% of the population over 15 in Alger, Constantine, Oran and Annaba can read and write French. According to a survey conducted in 2012, fewer than four in 10 Algerians identified with a Francophone identity. Conversely, speaking French was seen as essential by seven in 10, though a third of the population felt that the use of French is declining.
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