View source for French language

{{Infobox Language
 |name          = French
 |nativename    = français
 |pronunciation = {{IPA|[fʁɑ̃sɛ]}}
 |official      = [[List of countries where French is an official language|30 countries where used officially]]
 |states        = see [[#Geographic distribution|below]]
 |speakers      = native speakers: 190 million,<ref name="tlfq">[http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm Francophonie<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> total (both native and second language) speakers: 265 million-<ref> [http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm The World's 10 Most Influential Languages] ''Top Languages'' Retrieved 2011-04-11</ref> 270 million<ref> [http://www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/Synthese-Langue-Francaise-2010.pdf La langue francaise dans le monde 2010] ''[[La Francophonie]]'' Retrieved 2010-04-14</ref>
 |iso1          = fr 
 |iso2          = fri
 |iso2b         = fre
 |iso2t         = fra
 |iso3          = fra
 |lingua=51-AAA-i
 |familycolor   = Indo-European
 |fam1          = [[Indo-European]]
 |fam2          = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
 |fam3          = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
 |fam4          = [[Italo-Western]]
 |fam5          = [[Western Romance]]
 |fam6          = [[Gallo-Iberian]]
 |fam7          = [[Gallo-Romance]]
 |fam8          = [[Gallo-Rhaetian]]
 |fam9          = [[Oïl]]
 |script        = [[Latin alphabet]] ([[French alphabet|French variant]])
 |nation        = {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries where French is an official language|30 countries]]|
{{flag|Belgium}}|
{{flag|Benin}}|
{{flag|Burkina Faso}}|
{{flag|Burundi}}|
{{flag|Cameroon}}|
{{flag|Canada}}|
{{flag|Central African Republic}}|
{{flag|Chad}}|
{{flag|Comoros}}|
{{flag|Côte d'Ivoire}}|
{{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}|
{{flag|Djibouti}}|
{{flag|Equatorial Guinea}}|
{{flag|France}}|
{{flag|Gabon}}|
{{flag|Guinea}}|
{{flag|Haiti}}|
{{flag|Luxembourg}}|
{{flag|Madagascar}}|
{{flag|Mali}}|
{{flag|Monaco}}|
{{flag|Niger}}|
{{flag|Republic of the Congo}}|
{{flag|Rwanda}}|
{{flag|Senegal}}|
{{flag|Seychelles}}|
{{flag|Switzerland}}|
{{flag|Togo}}|
{{flag|Vanuatu}}|
}}
<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries where French is an official language#Administrative and/or cultural|Administrative/cultural]]|
{{flag|Algeria}}|
{{flag|Morocco}}|
{{flag|Mauritius}}|
{{flag|Mauritania}}|
{{flag|Tunisia}}|
}}
<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries where French is an official language#Dependent entities|14 dependent entities]]|
{{flag|Aosta Valley}}|
{{Flag icon|France}} [[Clipperton]]|
{{flag|French Southern and Antarctic Lands}}|
{{flag|French Polynesia}}|
{{flag|Guernsey}}|
{{flag|Jersey}}|
{{flag|Mayotte}}|
{{flag|New Caledonia}}|
{{Flag icon|India}} [[Puducherry]]|
{{flag|Saint-Barthélemy}}|
{{flag|Saint-Martin}}|
{{flag|Saint-Pierre and Miquelon}}|
{{flag|Wallis and Futuna}}|
}}<br />[[List of international organisations which have French as an official language|Numerous international organisations]]
 |agency        = [[Académie française]] (French Academy)
|map=[[File:New-Map-Francophone World.PNG|center|250px|border]]
{{legend|#0049a2|Regions where it is mother tongue}}
{{legend|#006aFF|Regions where it is official language}}
{{legend|#8ec3ff|Regions where it is second language}}
{{legend|#00ff00|Regions where it is a minority language}}
}}

{{French language}}

'''French''' ({{lang|fr|''français''}}, {{IPA-fr|fʁɑ̃sɛ|IPA}}) is a [[Romance language]] spoken as a first language by most people from [[France]], French-speaking [[Switzerland]], [[Wallonia]] and [[Brussels]] in [[Belgium]], [[Monaco]], and the regions of [[Quebec]] and [[Acadia]] in [[Canada]], as well as minorities elsewhere. Second language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts of the world, the largest numbers of which reside in [[African French|Francophone Africa]],<ref name=2007_report>{{fr icon}} [http://www.amazon.fr/dp/2098821778 ''La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007''] published by the [[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]]. [http://www.nathan.fr Nathan], [[Paris]], 2007.</ref> and the highest proportions being situated in [[Gabon]] (80%)<ref name=2007_report /> [[Mauritius]] (72.7%)<ref name=2007_report /> and [[Côte d'Ivoire]] (70%).<ref name=2007_report /> French is estimated as having 110 million<ref name="tlfq">[http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm Francophonie<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> native speakers and 190 million second language speakers.<ref> [http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm The World's 10 Most Influential Languages] ''Top Languages'' Retrieved 2011-04-11</ref> Additionally, French is the second-most studied foreign language in the world, after English.

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