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French-Speaking Countries Quiz

Can you name the countries where more than 25% of people speak French (not necessarily as a first language).
2018, according to the Francophonie via Wikipedia
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: July 11, 2021
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First submittedDecember 19, 2011
Times taken192,067
Average score55.2%
Rating4.78
4:00
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 / 29 guessed
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%
Country
97%
France
97%
Monaco
92%
Luxembourg
75%
Belgium
73%
Mauritius
70%
Andorra
67%
Switzerland
66%
Gabon
63%
Algeria
59%
Rep. of the Congo
%
Country
53%
Seychelles
52%
Tunisia
51%
D.R. Congo
50%
Djibouti
42%
Haiti
41%
Cameroon
40%
Togo
38%
Lebanon
35%
Morocco
33%
Benin
%
Country
33%
Ivory Coast
32%
Vanuatu
29%
Canada
29%
Equatorial Guinea
28%
Central African Republic
26%
Comoros
26%
Senegal
25%
Guinea
25%
Portugal
+5
Level 47
Sep 9, 2017
Well Switzerland with 77% is absolutely wrong. Burkina Faso is missing ; Niger as well (not Nigeria... but Niger is largely french speaking).
+5
Level 59
Oct 11, 2017
Have you even looked at the source given at the top (I suspect not). And the quiz is not about first language speakers, so the stat about Switzerland is likely to be correct (the Swiss being famed multi-linguists).
+15
Level 37
Oct 11, 2017
Just about all Europeans and a surprising number of Africans and Latin Americans are multi-lingual. We seem to be one of the few "civilized" countries which tenaciously clings to our mono-lingualism as if it were a badge of honor.
+1
Level 59
Dec 17, 2020
They were just saying that Switzerland has 4 official languages jeez.
+1
Level 79
Mar 22, 2022
I wouldn't say that all Europeans are multilingual. Most Europeans still only speak their language and maybe English fluently. Many older generations in most European countries don't speak English at all. Also, most people who come from non-English countries need English (the world language) to co-exist with other cultures in this world.
+1
Level 83
Mar 4, 2024
A lot of Europeans speak a standard language and a dialect or non-standard language. Then a vehicular language as well as that, English in many cases, but also German, French or Russian sometimes, depending on the country.

Although it is also the case that in supposedly bilingual regions, like in Switzerland, it's more the case that people speak one language fluently and one only a little, because the schools and things tend more towards monolingualism.

+4
Level 47
Sep 9, 2017
And Chad, Chad is also French speaking.
+4
Level 68
Oct 24, 2018
You are absolutely right. Also I do not believe that the percentage of french speakers in some of these countries like Equatorial Guinea for example are more than in a country like Guinea (formerly known as French Guinea)
+1
Level 59
Dec 17, 2020
Or you could just believe that despite Colonial Times, sometimes places that aren't France stop being like France? Maybe?

And sometimes stuff is weird in Geopolitical history and the complicated network of foreign influence across time and different nation, setting aside that it's with something as tangible as language?

+1
Level 66
Oct 9, 2017
Surprised not East Timor, given they (also) go by Timor Leste.
+19
Level 72
Aug 2, 2019
That name is Portuguese.
+12
Level 68
Nov 8, 2020
It is indeed not a French name. In French, we call it "Timor Oriental".
+2
Level 77
Oct 9, 2017
I missed CAR and Lebanon. I always forget the existence of CAR, but I am surprised about Lebanon.
+4
Level 67
Feb 3, 2019
In Lebanon, everyone knows either Arabic or French, or both. French influence still exists from before Lebanon became a country.
+4
Level 87
Jul 24, 2021
Actually, French seems to be on the way out in Lebanon, replaced by English. Virtually all signs, billboards etc. are in English. Only the old street-naming signs from colonial days seem to be in French. And in cafes etc., when you're clearly not a local, you'll be addressed in English, not French.
+2
Level 45
Oct 9, 2017
I got 26 but I missed France :'(
+1
Level 35
Jun 9, 2020
you got all of the french-speaking countries but FRANCE... bruh
+2
Level 59
Oct 9, 2017
3% actually missed France?
+2
Level 61
Oct 9, 2017
I CAN NOT believe I missed SEYCHELLES and VANUATU. To think, two countries so RENOWNED for speaking French completely slipped my mind.
+4
Level 79
Mar 22, 2022
Renowned? Vanuatu? Don't think many people have even heard about that country.
+2
Level 66
Nov 30, 2022
Is this some higher form of meta-sarcasm? Deep.
+1
Level 69
Oct 9, 2017
the 5 i missed are all from the middle column. is that weird?
+1
Level 39
Oct 23, 2017
What about Rwanda?
+3
Level 59
Jan 3, 2018
The source says 6% for Rwanda, so not even close to being included. English has been replacing French as the main international language in Rwanda since the war and genocide in the 1990s.
+1
Level 30
Feb 22, 2018
ROC for republic of congo?
+4
Level 79
Apr 20, 2020
Surely typing congo is easy enough?
+3
Level 79
Aug 6, 2020
ROC is accepted as a type-in for Taiwan (Republic of China) on JetPunk.
+2
Level 62
Apr 16, 2018
I knew Andorra didn’t speak Spanish!
+12
Level 44
May 6, 2018
Correct, they speak Catalan as their primary language!
+6
Level 68
Nov 8, 2020
And there's also like four of them, so if just one took French in high school, the whole country already qualifies for this quiz!
+1
Level 83
Mar 4, 2024
At university I knew someone studying French who decided to go to Andorra for their year abroad... they didn't have a lot of success lol
+2
Level 50
Nov 25, 2021
People in Andorra speak Catalan and Spanish not much french.
+1
Level 66
Jul 10, 2018
I was sure Niger and Burundi would be on this list, since French is an official language in both countries...
+2
Level 32
Jan 14, 2019
The number for Switzerland is not what the source says
+4
Level 67
Feb 7, 2019
Very surprising not to find Rwanda, Burundi, Mali or Burkina Faso here... In those countries the education starting from high school is often only in French, so even if it's only a minority I was expecting an highest turnout. Same for Madagascar
+2
Level 57
Mar 1, 2019
Same here. I travelled quite extensively in Africa and there's no way Equatorial Guinea or CAR are up there while Burkina Faso isn't... But hey those are figures from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. I guess they didn't do they job properly.
+1
Level 79
Aug 6, 2020
their*
+5
Level ∞
Mar 1, 2019
As a casual observer you likely have sampling bias. The people you are most likely to encounter are going to have better language skills than average. Only about 15% of Rwandans attend high school. Also, Rwanda is switching to English, so it will probably never make this list.
+3
Level 87
Jul 24, 2021
Yes, my first thought on this was, good golly, you missed Mali.
+1
Level 57
Mar 1, 2019
Following the Wikipedia source, new countries should be included if the chosen cut-off is 25%: Portugal, Guinea and Sénégal.
+3
Level ∞
Mar 1, 2019
I'll take a look next time we update. I imagine that more African countries will be added to the list over time as formal schooling increases. Although there's also a chance that schools would choose to teach in English instead, which is the no-brainer move in terms of making your economy more competitive.
+1
Level 48
Mar 20, 2019
I expected Vietnam to be here. Guess the language has been on the decline there.
+4
Level 82
May 21, 2019
Yeah not even close. Fewer than 1% of Vietnamese people speak French. There are more in Cambodia and Laos, but still not very many.
+2
Level 71
Mar 20, 2022
They still use the French (Latin) alphabet though. I've always found it weird that they chose to adopt that, given that they have a history of rejecting foreign influence (France, the US, China).
+1
Level 45
Apr 10, 2019
Anyone who didn't get France is 3
+2
Level 64
May 29, 2020
How about Burkina Faso, Niger, Burundi, Ghana and Rwanda ? Can't hardly believe these are under the 25% mark
+2
Level 20
Oct 15, 2021
ghana were not a french colony anyway
+1
Level 56
Jan 27, 2022
Neither were a lot of the answers in this quiz but Ghana is surrounded by French speaking nations and contains a lot of immigrants from those countries so while it isn't enough to make the list it would still be a perfectly reasonable guess.
+1
Level 67
May 29, 2020
Interesting quiz, I somehow decided to guess Vanuatu and it paid off haha
+2
Level 67
May 29, 2020
Pretty sure I tried Equatorial Guinea, but I usually think of that as Spanish to begin with so I generally wouldn't guess it.
+1
Level 41
Jun 16, 2020
Really fun quiz! Can't believe I forgot Canada :o

As a Belgian I can say that only 40/45% of the country has French as mother tongue, the other 55/60% speaks Dutch ;-)

+1
Level 26
Sep 5, 2020
So, where is French Polynesia on this quiz?
+5
Level 35
Sep 5, 2020
not a sovereign state
+1
Level 66
Oct 24, 2020
How is Morocco guessed more than Monaco?
+4
Level 89
Dec 20, 2020
The Vatican doesn't seem to like to keep records of anything, but I'm willing to bet 1/4 of their population can speak French. 100% of the population is at least bilingual. Easily the most polyglot nation on Earth.
+1
Level 43
Mar 16, 2021
I got 11 and I missed morocco
+1
Level 25
Jun 3, 2021
Me Monaco
+1
Level 25
Jun 3, 2021
I got 12 and I missed Monaco
+1
Level 70
Jul 12, 2021
Is this counting creoles?
+1
Level 64
Jul 12, 2021
only those from Créolie
+2
Level 64
Jul 12, 2021
so pissed I forgot about Senegal, Vanuatu and Lebanon!

didn't think so much in Portugal though

Thanks, QM!

+1
Level 68
Jul 13, 2021
Lol, 24/29 but forgot Canada
+1
Level 56
Jul 29, 2021
Aren't most of these former french colonies?
+1
Level 68
Jul 29, 2021
LMAO How could I forget my own country!!!!! Sorry Portugal!
+2
Level 45
Jul 29, 2021
didn't get portugal :(
+4
Level 69
Jul 29, 2021
I wonder why Portugal has so many french spealing people
+6
Level 52
Jul 31, 2021
During the dictatorship, many Portuguese went into exile in France. I am guessing they retained their French when they returned.
+1
Level 53
Jul 29, 2021
I even got Portugal, but not BELGIUM....??? idk how
+2
Level 40
Jul 29, 2021
Was really surprised Burkina Faso isn't on there! But after looking it up: despite it being the official language of business only 15% of the population speak French.
+2
Level 67
Jul 30, 2021
Portugal is an interesting one, for Lebanon I was thinking there was a country in that region that spoke a bit of French but I couldn't get it
+4
Level 69
Aug 4, 2021
Portugal? That's new... How is Portugal so proficient in French?
+1
Level 28
Oct 3, 2021
NZ You Forgot New Zealand
+2
Level 20
Oct 15, 2021
all the countries in this list but france are victims! Such a shame they still speak the language of the occupying force!
+1
Level 34
Nov 12, 2022
The famous occupying force of Portugal 🤡
+6
Level 20
Oct 15, 2021
A very sad list of france victims
+1
Level 85
Oct 19, 2021
I'm sure they appreciate your opinion of them as "sad" countries.
+2
Level 22
Oct 23, 2021
Fun, the President of the "victims" still says it was better when the French were there, because at least they had infrastructures, railways, roads and hospitals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRmYeVJ58Fk

+6
Level 77
Jan 12, 2022
There are many countries who suffered at the hands of colonial France. Anyway, your point is silly. Creating public infrastructure in your colonies because you want to create new trade markets does not forgive the various massacres, genocides, and lack of human rights during the Age of Imperialism. Heck, France committed atrocities as late as the 1960s whilst trying to hold onto Algeria. Putting victims in quotation marks makes it sound like you think it's OK to do awful things to thousands of human being as longs as you make the economy better.
+1
Level 22
Oct 23, 2021
What about Burkina Faso? :(
+2
Level 74
Jun 2, 2022
It's official, but apparently only 15% of the people actually use it on day-to-day basis. As it is part of the education system, I think you could argue it's likely more than 25% would be able to speak/understand French?
+1
Level 67
Jul 8, 2023
Insanely close to making it, 24.5%.
+2
Level 72
Feb 5, 2022
Portugal ? Really ?
+2
Level 27
Mar 9, 2022
Andorra 70%? I think you are wrong, there are maybe 7% speaking french in Andorra, while most of them use Catalan and Spanish.
+2
Level 27
Mar 20, 2022
I am portuguese and I can guarantee that the number in this quiz is wrong. There is just no way 25% of the population speaks french.
+1
Level 36
May 6, 2022
Cant belive that i forgot Monaco !!!!!!
+1
Level 20
Jun 2, 2022
portugal?
+1
Level 46
Jun 29, 2022
got all but Portugal
+1
Level 23
Nov 10, 2022
24/29 but i am french
+1
Level 55
Dec 6, 2022
No way, In Equatorial Guinea they do not speak French, they speak Spanish, and Bantu languages.
+1
Level 67
Feb 16, 2023
I think Spanish has a much higher percentage but French is still common
+1
Level 67
Feb 16, 2023
Portugal's an easy one to miss
+2
Level 75
Mar 21, 2023
ah yes, Portugal, my favorite French speaking country
+2
Level 57
Apr 22, 2023
I find it remarkable that The Gambia doesn't speak that much French even though it is surrounded by a French-speaking nation.
+1
Level 67
Jul 8, 2023
It's pretty close, 20%.
+1
Level 40
Apr 28, 2023
i write comores, but thats comoros :(
+1
Level 46
Jul 7, 2023
Mali is missing
+1
Level 67
Jul 8, 2023
Mali is at around 17%.
+2
Level 32
Nov 24, 2023
Portugal???
+1
Level 50
Dec 19, 2023
Portugal and Lebanon threw me. Rest of them make sense cos of the whole empire thing.
+1
Level 25
Feb 9, 2024
i feel like the percentages are really inaccurate, as an ivorian i can tell you that every ivorian i have ever met can speak french and are even losing the village languages. definetly need to check the statistics because i really disagree that more people speak french in portugal than mali, burkina faso etc.
+1
Level 83
Mar 5, 2024
While it could well be the case as the numbers are likely not entirely accurate, self-reporting is famously unreliable where linguistic studies are concerned.