ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ

In 2022, the most populous French-speaking city in the world was Kinshasa, the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It had nearly 13 million inhabitants. In second place was Paris, with 11 million inhabitants, followed by Abidjan, with just over 5 million inhabitants.

In the cities listed in this ranking, French has the status of an official language or is spoken by the majority of the inhabitants. However, the cities are ranked based on their total population and not on the number of French speakers.

In 2022, Kinshasa was among the three largest cities in Africa. Only Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria, had a higher population.

The presence of French in French-speaking cities

The 5th most spoken language in the world in 2022, French remains an important language in these urban contexts. It is often used in the fields of public administration, education, business, and culture. The proportion of French speakers in African countries is significant. Beyond the cities mentioned, other large French-speaking urban areas worldwide, including Montreal, Brussels, Dakar, and Geneva, also play a significant role as economic, political, and cultural centers. The presence of French in these cities reflects its status as an international language and its ongoing influence in various regions of the world.

Kinshasa: one of the largest in Africa

With its relatively young population, the country will face many demographic challenges in the coming decades. Like almost the entire African continent, where those under 15 years old represent a very large share of the population, there is an unprecedented dynamic in French-speaking countries. With a median age under 15 years, Niger is the French-speaking country with the youngest population, ahead of Mali (16 years), the DRC (about 17 years), Benin (17 years), Burkina Faso (nearly 18 years), and Cameroon (about 18 years). The global French-speaking population will therefore increasingly focus on the African continent in the future.