Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

Map highlighting member states

This is a list of the member states of the International Organization of the Francophonie. Currently the Central African Republic and Thailand are suspended from the organization.^[1]

List of member states

      Participation suspended

Country	Joined	Language	Notes
Albania	1999	Albanian	approximately 30% of young Albanians choose French as their first foreign language[2] Albania is home to 300,000 French speakers, notably second language.
Andorra	2004	Catalan
Armenia	2012	Armenian
Belgium	1970	officially trilingual, French included	French is the native language of about 40% of the population [3] 48% are non-native speakers of French.[4] Belgium's French community is also a member separately. See also: Languages of Belgium and Belgian French
* French Community of Belgium	1980	French official language	a community of Belgium with its two components Wallonia (excepting the German-speaking community) and Brussels-Capital Region (its French-speaking majority)
Benin	1970	French	former French colony
Bulgaria	1993	Bulgarian	French 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.[5]
Burkina Faso	1970	French	former French colony
Burundi	1970	French	former Belgian UN-protectorate
Cambodia	1993	Khmer	former French protectorate (as a part of former French Indochina)
Cameroon	1991	officially bilingual, French included	over 90% of country was a French protectorate (1945-1959)
Canada	1970	Officially 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 included	considered a "participating government," this province of Canada is officially bilingual English-French and home to the largest community of Acadians.
*  Quebec	1971	French	considered a "participating government," this province of Canada has French as its official language and is home to 85% of Canada's native francophones.
Cape Verde	1996	Portuguese
Central African Republic	1973	officially bilingual, French included	former French colony. The Central African Republic was suspended for instances of la Francophonie at the 88th session of the CPF in March 2012.[6]
Chad	1970	French	former French colony
Comoros	1977	officially trilingual, French included	former French colony
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1977	French	former Belgian colony. See also: Languages of the DRC
Republic of the Congo	1981	French	former French colony
Côte d'Ivoire	1970	French	former French colony. See also: Languages of Côte d'Ivoire
Djibouti	1977	officially bilingual, French included	former French colony
Dominica	1979	English	French and then British colony; Antillean Creole, a French-based creole language, is spoken by 90% of the population.
Egypt	1983	Arabic	(Foreign language and former French colony 1798)
Equatorial Guinea	1989	(officially trilingual, French included)
France	1970	French
Gabon	1970	French	former French colony
Greece	2004	Greek
Guinea	1981	French	former French colony.
Guinea-Bissau	1979	Portuguese	country surrounded by French-speaking countries. Former Portuguese colony. Guinea-Bissau was suspended on April 18, 2012 following a coup d'état.[7]
Haiti	1970	officially bilingual, French included	former French colony
Laos	1991	Lao	former French colony (as a part of former French Indochina)
Lebanon	1973	Arabic; French is an administrative language	Under a French mandate from 1920–1943
Luxembourg	1970	Officially trilingual, French included
Macedonia	2001	Macedonian
Madagascar	1970–1977, 1989	officially bilingual, French included	former French colony
Mali	1970	French	former French colony. Mali's membership was suspended in March 2012 due to a coup.[8]
Mauritania	1980	Arabic	former French colony, French is an administrative language. Mauritania's membership was suspended on August 26, 2008, pending democratic elections, after a military coup d'état,[9] then again in April 2009.[10]
Mauritius	1970	Creole is the mother tongue. French and English are also widely used	Dutch, French, and then British colony; French is widely used in commerce and by the media. French is also a language of instruction in schools.
Moldova	1996	Romanian
Monaco	1970	French	independent country enclaved in France
Morocco	1981	Arabic	former French protectorate
Niger	1970	French	former French colony
Romania	1993	Romanian	French is understood and spoken by 26% of the population.[11]
Rwanda	1970	officially trilingual with French included	former Belgian UN-protectorate. In 2009, became a member of the Commonwealth, but remains a member within Francophonie.
Saint Lucia	1981	English	Former French and British colony. Antillean Creole, a French-based creole language, is spoken by 90% of the population.
São Tomé and Príncipe	1999	Portuguese
Senegal	1970	French	former French colony
Seychelles	1976	officially trilingual, French included	former French colony (first empire), later British colony, French is commonly used
Switzerland	1996	Officially quadrilingual, French included	French is the native language of about 20% of all Swiss.
Togo	1970	French	former French colony
Tunisia	1970	French	former French protectorate
Vanuatu	1979	officially trilingual	former French and British condominium of New Hebrides
Vietnam	1970	Vietnamese	former French protectorate

Associate states

Country	Joined	Language	Notes
Cyprus	2006	Greek, Turkish
Ghana	2006	English
Qatar	2012	Arabic

Observers

Country	Joined	Language	Notes
Austria	2004	German
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2010	Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Costa Rica	2014	Spanish
Croatia	2004	Croatian
Czech Republic	1999	Czech
Dominican Republic	2010	Spanish	French colony from 1795 to 1808.
Estonia	2010	Estonian
Georgia	2004	Georgian
Hungary	2004	Hungarian
Kosovo	2014	Albanian, Serbian	Has applied for observer status, decision to be taken in the November Summit in Dakar. Traditional diplomatic and commercial ties with France; French is taught as a third language in most secondary schools. (See further: France-Kosovo relations.)
Latvia	2008	Latvian
Lithuania	1999	Lithuanian
Mexico	2014	Spanish	A large number of French immigrants.;[12] Second Mexican Empire, a puppet state of the Second French Empire under Napoleon III;[13]
Montenegro	2010	Montenegrin
Mozambique	2006	Portuguese
Poland	1996	Polish
Serbia	2006	Serbian
Slovakia	2002	Slovak
Slovenia	1999	Slovene
Thailand	2008	Thai	Suspended on 27 June 2014 following the 2013–14 political crisis.[14] [15]
Ukraine	2006	Ukrainian
United Arab Emirates	2010	Arabic
Uruguay	2012	Spanish

See also

• Member states of the Latin Union
• List of countries where French is an official language

References

1. "80 ÉTATS ET GOUVERNEMENTS". International Organization of the Francophonie. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
2. "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.
3. 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 0.7 MB). 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. 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.
4. "Europenas and their Languages" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
5. "България | Кой и колко учи чужд език в Европа". Dnevnik.bg. 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
6. "Centrafrique - Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
7. "Guinée-Bissau - Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
8. "Mali - Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
9. "L’OIF suspend la Mauritanie", Radio France Internationale, August 27, 2008
10. "Madagascar - Organisation internationale de la Francophonie". Francophonie.org. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
11. "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF). Ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2015-06-20.
12. "Le moment mexicain dans l'histoire française de l'aventure" (PDF). La conséquence de cette émigration fut que, en 1849, les Français représentaient la deuxième nationalité étrangère au Mexique, derrière les Espagnols.
13. 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.
14. "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.
15. "THAÏLANDE". International Organization of the Francophonie. Retrieved 2014-12-01.