by Taka » February 6th, 2011, 1:47 pm
French (Français, IPA: [fʁɑ̃sɛ]) is a Romance language spoken as a first language by around 136 million people worldwide. A total of 500 million speak it as either a first, second, or foreign language. Moreover, some 200 million people learn French as a foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 56 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in France, the rest live essentially in Canada, particularly the province of Quebec, with minorities in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, and Western Canada, as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, and the U.S. state of Louisiana. Most second-language speakers of French live in Francophone Africa, arguably exceeding the number of native speakers.