Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

Did you know?

1. No African country names begin with the letters F, H, I, J, O, P, Q, V, W, X, or Y.

2. Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent.

3. The Republic of the Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa.

French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries

French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries
French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries




French language was introduced to Africa due to colonialism.

French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries
French Africa

French is the official language in 19 African countries. France and the forced assimilation of language, food, colonized Africa and culture has lasting results on her people. French is the official language in 19 African countries because the French language was the language of the authoritarians.

French is the Official Language in 19 African Countries.


List of French Speaking African Countries.

There are 19 French-speaking African countries. In Africa, the French language in Africa is usually the lingua franca or the language for business and education. Lingua franca definition is any language that is widely used as a means of communication among speakers of other languages.

Hence, French is the official language of 19 countries in Africa but it does not mean French is widely spoken in French-speaking Africa. The 19 countries of Africa where French is the official language are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, and Togo.

Madagascar grandmother.

The French Colonial Domain

Throughout the latter part of the fifteenth century, the French and other Colonials began to establish their presence in Africa. The French Colonialists established a trade port on the West African coast as early as 1659 at St. Louis, present-day Senegal. Assimilation lay at the base of French Colonial practice in Africa and many regions in Africa would become a part of France.

By the early years of the twentieth century, the French held most of what would come to be their colonial territory in West Africa including present-day Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, and Niger.

By the close of the Second World War, the African peoples of French Colonial West Africa were making their discontent with the French Colonial structure heard. West Africans had participated in the Napoleonic Wars and other World Wars for France and the mounting opposition to French Colonial rule and its exploitative nature, resulted in an African protest movement that would ultimately lead to independence for the French-speaking African territories.

Did You Know?
The Anglophone Problem is increasingly dominating the political agenda of Cameroon but, the Anglophone problem, what is it? In 2016 and 2017 protests by English-speaking Cameroonians, who have complained of marginalization in the largely French-speaking country are growing in number.

French is the official language in 19 African countries

 Benin
 Burkina Faso
 Burundi
 Cameroon
 Central African Republic
 Chad
Cote d’Ivoire
 The Democratic Republic of the Congo
 Djibouti
 Equatorial Guinea
 Gabon
 Guinea
 Madagascar
 Mali
 Niger
 Republic of the Congo
 Rwanda
 Senegal
 Seychelles
 Switzerland
 Togo
Wise men in Afataranga Benin Africa

In Africa the French language is usually the lingua franca or the language for business and education. 

Africa is surrounded by water but is not an island, here are a few African Island facts.

Madagascar is the 4th large island in the world and is located in the Indian Ocean supporting a unique biology, about 90% of its plants and animals are found nowhere else on earth.

Composed of 155 islands, Seychelles is Africa's smallest country. By far the largest island is Mahe, home to about 90% of the population and the site of its capital city of Victoria.

Cabo Verde has a strategic location 310 miles or 500 km from the west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site.

Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent. Continents can not be considered islands because of their size and also by historic definition since many people who study geography define islands and continents as two different things.

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Being African in America I have grown up learning about different ethnic cultures. My father and mother are historians of African culture and history and their influence expanded my activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded products, and a popular African culture and food blog.

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