While French is the second most spoken language in Europe, the continent of Africa actually has the most French speakers in the world due to colonisation. And with an estimated 321million French speakers globally, one city in the Ivory Coast has even more Francophone speakers than each city in France, bar Paris.
French remained the official language of 21 countries after many gained independence from France and Belgium during the 1950s to 60s, and the huge African city of Abidjan now has one of the largest French-speaking populations. With an estimated 7.1 million living in the city, it is the third-most populated city in the world by the number of French speakers, compared to the France’s capital Paris with a population of around 12million people.
In fact another African city, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic Of Congo, tops the list with around 12.6million speakers, making the prominent port city of Abidjan the second most populated city in Africa for French speakers.
In addition to French which is taught in schools, the Ivory Coast boasts about 69 languages, with some of the most widely spoken including Yacouba, Dioula and Agni.
Fourth position marks a significant drop from the population of 7.1million in Abidjan, at around 3million less speakers in the city of Montreal in Canada which is estimated to have 3.8million French speakers.
Coming in fifth is the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, whose urban area has a French-speaking population of 2.4million people.
The huge city of Abidjan started to expand in 1931 when a new pier was constructed, before it was designated as the capital city in 1933.
Fifty years later in 1983, the capital was switched to Yamoussoukro, but Abidjan remains known as the economic capital due to its sheer size, important business district, and foreign embassies.
Made into a French colony in 1893, Abidjan gained independence in 1960 under President Felix Houphouet-Boigny.
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