French is the only language other than English spoken on five continents. leonid iastremskyi / Pixel-Shot – stock.adobe.com
Present on five continents, French is the official or co-official language of 29 countries.
It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. For a long time, France has transcended national borders. About history, but also political influence on the world stage. It is the 5th world language based on the number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi and Spanish, with 321 million people who are able to express themselves in French. A figure that is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades to reach one billion in 2065, according toFrancophonie international organization.
Further evidence of its international power: French is the only language, along with English, that exists on five continents. Thus, this language has become an official or co-official language in 29 countries. If we think of Belgium, Madagascar or even Canada, certain regions have also made French their official language, even though the country they are in does not speak French. This is especially true in the Aosta Valley, a region of Italy located on the border with France and Switzerland.
Regularly attached to France throughout its history, this region with special status is distinguished by its particular linguisticism: the official languages are French and Italian. Some newspapers are even published in our language. The Aosta Valley is a member of the International Association of French-Speaking Regions and the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie, a structure made up of parliaments and inter-parliamentary organizations that share our language in common.
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France was founded in a different region
In Pondicherry, French remains one of the official languages. Prasanth – stock.adobe.com
Other territorial entities have also adopted our expression. French is one of Jersey’s three official languages, along with English and Jersey. This small island, although located approximately 50 km from Granville (Manche), was already attached to the British Empire. Of the island’s approximately 100,000 inhabitants, just over 15,000 speak Molière. In 2016, a program in French was even launched “Tour in Francebroadcast on BBC Radio Jersey.
More than 8,400 km away, the Pondicherry region of India has made French one of its official languages, along with Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and English. A remnant of colonial rule, this region is equivalent to four of the five former territories of French India. But unlike the Aosta Valley or the Isle of Jersey, French never really took root there. This is mainly related to the fragmented regional structure, which is spread across the southern and eastern parts of India. It is estimated that there are still nearly 7,000 French citizens living in Pondicherry.
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