Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

This is a list of the member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. These countries belong to an international organisation representing countries and regions where French is the first ("mother") or customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones (French speakers) or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.[1][2][3]

Map highlighting member states

List of member states

  Participation suspended

Country Joined LanguageNotes
 Albania1999AlbanianBrief French protectorate in Korçë between 1916 and 1920. Approximately 30% of young Albanians choose French as their first foreign language[4] Albania is home to 300,000 French speakers, and it's the second foreign language of education after English.
 Andorra2004Catalan
 Armenia2012ArmenianSee Armenia-France relations
 Belgium1970officially trilingual, French includedFrench is the native language of about 40% of the population[5] 48% are non-native speakers of French.[6] Belgium's French community is also a member separately. See also: Languages of Belgium and Belgian French
* French Community of Belgium1980French official languagea community of Belgium with its two components Wallonia (excluding the German-speaking community) and Brussels-Capital Region (its French-speaking majority)
 Benin1970Frenchformer French colony
 Bulgaria1993BulgarianFrench is spoken as a foreign language by 9% of the Bulgarian people, and taught as a main foreign language in about 25% of primary schools.[7]
 Burkina Faso1970Frenchformer French colony
 Burundi1970officially trilingual, Frenchformer Belgian UN-protectorate
 Cambodia1993Khmerformer French protectorate (as a part of former French Indochina)
 Cameroon1991officially bilingual, French includedover 90% of country was a French protectorate (1945–1959)
 Canada1970Officially bilingual, French included the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick are participating governments; much of eastern Canada was part of the first French colonial empire. As of 2004, a government representative from Ontario also attends as part of the Canadian delegation, although Ontario is not yet a participating government in its own right.
*  New Brunswick 1977 officially bilingual, French includedconsidered a "participating government", this province of Canada is officially bilingual English-French and home to the largest community of Acadians.
*  Quebec1971Frenchconsidered a "participating government", this province of Canada has French as its official language and is home to 85% of Canada's native francophones.
 Cape Verde1996Portuguese
 Central African Republic1973officially bilingual, French includedformer French colony. The Central African Republic was suspended for instances of la Francophonie at the 88th session of the CPF in March 2012.[8]
 Chad1970officially bilingual, French includedformer French colony
 Comoros1977officially trilingual, French includedformer French colony
 Democratic Republic of the Congo1977Frenchformer Belgian colony. See also: Languages of the DRC
 Republic of the Congo1981Frenchformer French colony
 Côte d'Ivoire1970Frenchformer French colony. See also: Languages of Côte d'Ivoire
 Djibouti1977officially bilingual, French includedformer French colony
 Dominica1979EnglishFrench and then British colony; Antillean Creole, a French-based creole language, is spoken by 90% of the population.
 Egypt1983Arabic(Foreign language and former French colony 1798)
 Equatorial Guinea1989(officially trilingual, French included)country surrounded by French-speaking countries. Former Spanish colony
 France1970French
 Gabon1970Frenchformer French colony
 Greece2004Greek
 Guinea1981Frenchformer French colony.
 Guinea-Bissau1979Portuguesecountry surrounded by French-speaking countries. Former Portuguese colony. Guinea-Bissau was suspended on 18 April 2012 following a coup d'état.[9]
 Haiti1970officially bilingual, French includedformer French colony
 Laos1991Lao; French is spokenformer French colony (as a part of former French Indochina)
 Lebanon1973Arabic and French; French is the secondary language.Under a French mandate from 1920–1943
 Luxembourg1970Officially trilingual, French included
 North Macedonia2001Macedonian
 Madagascar1970–1977,
1989		officially bilingual, French includedformer French colony
 Mali1970Frenchformer French colony. Mali's membership was suspended in March 2012 due to a coup.[10]
 Mauritania1980Arabicformer French colony, French is an administrative language. Mauritania's membership was suspended on 26 August 2008, pending democratic elections, after a military coup d'état,[11] then again in April 2009.[12]
 Mauritius1970Creole is the mother tongue. French and English are also widely usedDutch, French, and then British colony; French is widely used in commerce and by the media. French is also a language of instruction in schools.
 Moldova1996Russian, English
 Monaco1970Frenchindependent country enclaved in France
 Morocco1981Arabic and Berberformer French and Spanish protectorate
 Niger1970Frenchformer French colony
 Romania1993RomanianFrench is understood and spoken by 26% of the population.[13]
 Rwanda1970officially quadralingual with French includedformer Belgian UN-protectorate. In 2009, became a member of the Commonwealth, but remains a member within Francophonie.
 Saint Lucia1981EnglishFormer French and British colony. Antillean Creole, a French-based creole language, is spoken by 90% of the population.
 São Tomé and Príncipe1999Portuguese
 Senegal1970Frenchformer French colony
 Seychelles1976officially trilingual, French includedformer French colony (first empire), later British colony, French is commonly used
  Switzerland1996Officially quadrilingual, French includedFrench is the native language of about 20% of all Swiss.
 Togo1970Frenchformer French colony
 Tunisia1970Arabicformer French protectorate
 Vanuatu1979officially trilingualformer French and British condominium of New Hebrides
 Vietnam1970Vietnameseformer French protectorate

Associate states
Country Joined LanguageNotes
 Cyprus2006Greek, TurkishCyprus was ruled by the French-origin Lusignan dynasty from 1192 until 1489. About 12% of the Cyprus population speaks and understands French.
 Ghana2006EnglishAll land borders with French-speaking countries (all former colonies of French West Africa) and trade partners. Study of French is being made compulsory at the basic educational level and certain subjects will be taught in both English and French. Became Associate Member in 2006.[14]
 Kosovo2014Albanian, SerbianTraditional diplomatic and commercial ties with France; French is taught as a third language in most secondary schools. (See further: France-Kosovo relations.)
 New Caledonia2016French, New Caledonian languagesSpecial collectivity of France; former French colony (1853–1946) and overseas territory (1946–1999)
 Serbia2006SerbianTraditional diplomatic, military and cultural ties with France; French is widely taught as a second foreign language in schools. See France-Serbia relations.
 United Arab Emirates2010ArabicMilitary and cultural ties with France (see further:France-United Arab Emirates relations)
 Qatar2012ArabicStrong military ties with France (see further:France-Qatar relations)

Observers
Country Joined LanguageNotes
 Argentina2016Spanish, othersArgentina has the largest French community in Latin America. Today more than 6 million Argentines have some degree of French ancestry (up to 17% of the total population).[15]
 Austria2004German
 Bosnia and Herzegovina2010Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
 Costa Rica2014Spanish
 Croatia2004CroatianPart of the Illyrian Provinces under Napoleon's French Empire.

(See further: Croatia-France relations.)

 Czech Republic1999Czech
 Dominican Republic2010SpanishFrench colony from 1795 to 1808.
 Estonia2010Estonian
 Gambia2018EnglishBorder with Senegal, a French-speaking country.
 Georgia2004Georgian
 Hungary2004Hungarian
 Ireland2018English, IrishFrench is the second most common foreign language spoken at home in Ireland (after Polish), and most commonly spoken by those born in Ireland [16]
 Latvia2008Latvian
 Lithuania1999Lithuanian
*  Louisiana2018English; French is an administrative language; Creole and Spanish are also spokenU.S. state with a francophone minority. Once part of the first French colonial empire, now it is home to a strong influence of Cajun, Creole and Haitian language and culture.
 Malta2018Maltese, English
 Mexico2014SpanishA large number of French immigrants.;[17] Second Mexican Empire, a puppet state of the Second French Empire under Napoleon III.[18]
 Montenegro2010Montenegrin
 Mozambique2006PortugueseTrading partner across Mozambique Channel with French-speaking and former French colony of Madagascar
*  Ontario2016English; French is a regional administrative languageProvince of Canada with a francophone minority, the Franco-Ontarians. Ontario is not officially bilingual in English and French, however the provincial government does provide services in the French language and the francophone minority has its own publicly funded school systems. Also formerly part of New France.
 Poland1996PolishLong-standing cultural and historic ties; Henry III of France was King of Poland from 1573–1574, and the Duchy of Warsaw was a client state allied with the First French Empire from 1807–1815; France was home to notable Polish émigrés, e.g. Adam Mickiewicz, Frédéric Chopin, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie.
 South Korea2016Korean
 Slovakia2002Slovak
 Slovenia1999SlovenePart of the Illyrian Provinces under Napoleon's French Empire
 Thailand2008ThaiSuspended on 27 June 2014 following the 2013–14 political crisis.[19][20]
 Ukraine2006Ukrainian
 Uruguay2012Spanish

Other candidates

Some countries could also join the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie on the basis of being part of the French colonial empire including: Algeria,[21][22][23] Syria, and Pondicherry and Chandannagar regions of India. In 2016, Saudi Arabia applied to join the organisation despite having no historical colonial ties with France.[24] However, the Saudis withdrew their bid in October 2018 due to the pressure over their human rights record.[25]

See also
  • List of countries where French is an official language

References
  1. "Welcome to the International Organisation of La Francophonie's website". Archived from the original on 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  2. Radio France International, 16 February 2006
  3. "La France à l'heure de la francophonie culturelle " Saisir du français pour l'imprégner de sa singularité ! "". RFI. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  4. "Visit to Albania – Statements by Michel Barnier, Minister of Foreign Affairs". Embassy of France in the US. 7 September 2004. Archived from the original on 2004-10-12.
  5. Ginsburgh, Victor, Université Catholique de Louvain; Weber, Shlomo, Professor Economy and Director of the Center for Economic Studies of the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA, and having a seat in the expert panel of the International Monetary Fund (June 2006). "La dynamique des langues en Belgique" (PDF). Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'Université Catholique de Louvain (in French). 19 (Numéro 42): 282–9. doi:10.1159/000013462. PMID 10213829. Archived from the original on 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2007-05-07. Les enquêtes montrent que la Flandre est bien plus multilingue, ce qui est sans doute un fait bien connu, mais la différence est considérable : alors que 59 % et 53 % des Flamands connaissent le français ou l'anglais respectivement, seulement 19 % et 17 % des Wallons connaissent le néerlandais ou l'anglais. ... 95 pour cent des Bruxellois déclarent parler le français, alors que ce pourcentage tombe à 59 pour cent pour le néerlandais. Quant à l’anglais, il est connu par une proportion importante de la population à Bruxelles (41 pour cent). ... Le syndrome d’H (...) frappe la Wallonie, où à peine 19 et 17 pour cent de la population parlent respectivement le néerlandais et l’anglais.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  6. "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  7. "България | Кой и колко учи чужд език в Европа". Dnevnik.bg. 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  8. "Centrafrique – Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  9. "Guinée-Bissau – Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  10. "Mali – Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  11. "L’OIF suspend la Mauritanie", Radio France Internationale, 27 August 2008
  12. "Madagascar – Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  13. "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
  14. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-joins-la-francophonie.html
  15. "Canal Académie: Les merveilleux francophiles argentins–1". Il faut savoir qu’en 2006, 17% d’Argentins ont un ancêtre venu de France. Près de 6 millions d’Argentins ont donc des origines françaises.
  16. "CSO - Census 2016 - Summary - Chapter 5 (Diversity)" (PDF). Central Statistics Office.
  17. Venayre, Sylvain (1998). "Le moment mexicain dans l'histoire française de l'aventure (1840-1860)" (PDF). Histoire et sociétés de l'Amérique latine (in French) (7): 131. ISSN 1245-1517. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2014. La conséquence de cette émigration fut que, en 1849, les Français représentaient la deuxième nationalité étrangère au Mexique, derrière les Espagnols.
  18. Jones, Howard (2002). Crucible of Power:A History of American Foreign Relations to 1913. Lanham, Maryland: SR Books. p. 212. ISBN 0-8420-2916-8.
  19. "L'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) suspend la Thaïlande et réintègre la Guinée-Bissau dans ses instances" (PDF). Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  20. "THAÏLANDE". International Organization of the Francophonie. Archived from the original on 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
  21. "Alger boycotte la francophonie". la-croix.com (in French). 27 November 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  22. "L'Algérie refuse d'adhérer à la Francophonie, mais participe aux assises de l'OIF depuis 2002". dia-algerie.com (in French). 24 November 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  23. "À quand une Algérie membre de la Francophonie ?". bvoltaire.fr (in French). 3 December 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  24. "Saudi Arabia's embarrassing bid to join the Francophonie family". France24. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  25. "Saudi Arabia withdraws bid to join Francophonie group". France24. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
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