Bamako

Why French?

By 2050, French is likely to be among the top three most widely-spoken languages in the world. French is the official language of the International Olympic Committee and an official language of most international organizations, including the UN, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Court of Justice, and the International Red Cross.  

Why else?

  • 300 million

    people in our world speak French, a nearly 10% increase since 2014

  • 235 million

    people speak French every day as their main language

  • 106

    countries and territories on earth are French-speaking

  • 32

    states and governments use Frencha as an official language, and 23 of these are in Africa

  • 5th

    French is the fifth most-spoken language in the world, after Mandarin, English, Spanish, and Arabic

  • Kinshasa

    The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the most populous Francophone city in the world, with a population of 17.7 million

  • 30%

    of all English words have a French origin, thanks in part to William the Conqueror, who landed in England and became king in 1066

  • 16

    Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded to French writers, making it the country with the most Nobel laureates in Literature

Questions?