Language

French

Romance Languages

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family, natively spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Canada and much of Francophone Africa.

Facts

ISO 639-3 Code

fra 2

Speaker Count

312,000,000 2

Ethnologue total figure combining native and second-language speakers, 2012-2024.

Status

Living 2

Wikipedia article on French: a currently spoken living language with an active native-speaker population; checked 2026-09-27.

Attested From (Year)

from 842 6

Region

France, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Francophone Africa, Canada, and other Francophone locations 2

Classification

Language Kind

Safe 1

Official Status

Official Language 2

Wikipedia 'French language': French is an official language in 26 countries; checked 2026-09-27.

Browse and compare

Word Order

SVO 3

Tone

Not Tonal 4

Difficulty for an English Speaker

Category I 5

French

5 entries

Region

Variety Kind

Connections

Ancestor Of

Acadian French

Source Wikipedia: Acadian French

Belgian French

Source Wikipedia: Belgian French

Cajun French

Source Wikipedia: Louisiana French

Haitian Creole

Haitian Creole is a French-lexifier creole language, textbook-classified as descending from (colonial) French.

Quebec French

Source Wikipedia: Quebec French

Swiss French

Source Wikipedia: Swiss French

In Family

Indo-European

Source Wikipedia: French Language

Written In

Latin Script

In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Concordat of 1801

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Congo

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Laudato Si'

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Saint-Domingue

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Caribbean

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Edict of Fontainebleau

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Edict of Nantes

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Guianas

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Law of 9 December 1905 on the Separation of the Churches and the State

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

West Africa and the Caribbean

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Boxer Protocol

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Camp David Accords

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Charter of the United Nations

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, WikipediaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article

Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Declaration of Human and Civil Rights".

Edict of Nantes

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Entente Cordiale

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Kyoto Protocol

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Napoleonic Code

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Napoleonic Code, WikipediaLead

Quote, Lead

(French: Code Napoléon), officially the Civil Code of the French (French: Code civil des Français; simply referred to as Code civil)

North Atlantic Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Outer Space Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Paris Agreement

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Peace of Ryswick

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Rome Statute

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Statute of Westminster 1275

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Statuto Albertino

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Amiens

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Campo Formio

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of London (1915)

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Paris (1856)

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Portsmouth

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of San Francisco

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Tlatelolco

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Utrecht

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Universal Declaration of Human Rights, WikipediaArticle text

Quote, Article text

The Declaration was officially adopted as a French document, with official translations in English, Chinese, Russian and Spanish, all of which are official working languages of the UN.

Washington Naval Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Bretons

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Métis

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.