Francophone Africa
The Francophone Africa or French-speaking Africa designates all African countries where the French language as an official language or lingua franca is used. African French is understood to mean all variants of the French language, which in 2014 was spoken by over 116 million Africans in 31 African countries. The term includes all people who have mastered French as a first or second language. Africa is now the continent on which most of the speakers of French live and thus represents the most important part of Francophonie . French arrived in Africa through the French and Belgian colonization.
The French-speaking countries make up almost half of the African countries and a third of the population of Africa.
French is mostly used as a second language in Africa, in some regions - such as Abidjan in the Ivory Coast - it is used as the first or main language.
In 2010 it is estimated that there were 120 million French speakers living in Africa. This number is increasing rapidly, with only 79 million speakers in 1997 and 115 million in 2006. In 2014, according to the Organization Internationale de la Francophonie , of the 212 million French speakers worldwide, 54.7% lived in Africa. The organization estimates that by 2050, 85% of the 715 million French speakers in the world would be living in Africa if French continued to be used as an educational language.
Individual evidence
- ^ Organization internationale de la francophonie (ed.): La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007: Nathan, Paris 2007.
- ↑ Rapport 1997-1998 du Haut Conseil de la Francophonie, “État de la francophonie dans le monde” , La Documentation française, 1999. ladocfrancaise.gouv.fr (PDF).
- ↑ La langue française réunit 274 millions de personnes dans le monde , November 12, 2014, RTBF .
- ↑ Martine Jacot and Nathalie Brafman, “L'Afrique, phare de l'avenir”, Le Monde géo et politique , August 3, 2012, online .