122-451: The Avalon Peninsula ( French : Péninsule d'Avalon ) is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland in Canada . It is 9,220.61 square kilometres (3,560.10 sq mi) in size. The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of Newfoundland's population, according to the 2016 Canadian census. The peninsula is the location of St. John's ,
244-576: A state of emergency due to a snowstorm that brought an estimated 76 cm (30 in)—a one-day snowfall record for St. John's—and hurricane force winds up to 130 km/h (81 mph). The following day, the Canadian Army was called in to aid snow removal. The state of emergency ended eight days later. The highest temperature ever recorded in St. John's was 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) on 14 August 1876. The coldest temperature ever recorded
366-477: A Canadian-manned battery of two Lend-Lease 10-inch M1888 guns was at Fort Cape Spear . The base was transferred to Canadian control in 1960 and is now known as CFS St. John's . The Knights of Columbus Hostel fire in December 1942 saw 99 military and civilian lives lost. St. John's, and the province as a whole, was gravely affected in the 1990s by the collapse of the northern cod fishery , which had been
488-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
610-459: A Portuguese map by Pedro Reinel in 1519. When the English mariner John Rut visited St. John's in 1527 , he found Norman , Breton and Portuguese ships in the harbour. On 3 August 1527, Rut wrote a letter to King Henry on the findings of his voyage to North America; this was the first known letter sent from North America. St. Jehan is shown on Nicolas Desliens's world map of 1541, and San Joham
732-563: A change of 2% from its 2016 population of 208,418. With a land area of 931.56 km (359.68 sq mi), it had a population density of 228.2/km (591.0/sq mi) in 2021. Apart from St. John's, the CMA includes 12 other communities: the city of Mount Pearl and the towns of Conception Bay South , Paradise , Portugal Cove-St. Philip's , Torbay , Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove , Pouch Cove , Flatrock , Bay Bulls , Witless Bay , Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove and Bauline . Also as of
854-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
976-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1098-483: A lack of hotel rooms and office space has seen proposals put forward that do not meet the current height regulations. Heritage advocates argue the current regulations should be enforced while others believe the regulations should be relaxed to encourage economic development. To meet the need for more office space downtown without compromising the city's heritage, the city council amended heritage regulations, which originally restricted height to 15 m (49 ft) in
1220-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1342-582: A population of 100, becoming the first successful permanent settlement on Newfoundland island. In 1623 Calvert was given a royal charter extending the royal lands and granting them the name Province of Avalon "in imitation of Old Avalon in Somersetshire wherein Glassenbury stands, the first fruits of Christianity in Britain as the other was in that party of America". Calvert wished to make
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#17327648818741464-438: A population of 110,525 living in 49,298 of its 54,067 total private dwellings, a change of 1.5% from its 2016 population of 108,860. With a land area of 446.02 km (172.21 sq mi), it had a population density of 247.8/km (641.8/sq mi) in 2021. At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the St. John's CMA had a population of 212,579 living in 89,999 of its 97,429 total private dwellings,
1586-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
1708-755: A seasonal lag in the climate. The city is also one of the areas of the country most prone to tropical cyclone activity, as it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, where tropical storms (and sometimes hurricanes) travel from the United States. With an annual average 60.58 inches of precipitation, the city is one of the wettest in Canada outside of coastal British Columbia. This is partly due to its propensity for tropical storm activity as well as moist, Atlantic air frequently blowing ashore and creating precipitation. Of major Canadian cities, St. John's
1830-669: A second Dutch attack in 1673, when it was defended by Christopher Martin, an English merchant captain. Martin landed six cannons from his vessel, the Elias Andrews , and constructed an earthen breastwork and battery near Chain Rock commanding the Narrows leading into the harbour. With only 23 men, the valiant Martin beat off an attack by three Dutch warships. The English government planned to expand these fortifications ( Fort William ) in around 1689, but construction did not begin until after
1952-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
2074-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
2196-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
2318-519: A series of catastrophic coincidences caused the fire to spread and devour virtually all of the east end of the city, including much of its major commercial area, before being extinguished. St. John's is along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeast of the Avalon Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland. The city is North America's most easterly city, excluding Greenland ; it is 475 km (295 mi) closer to London, England than it
2440-436: A single storm), and strong winds. In winter, two or more types of precipitation (rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow) can fall from passage of a single storm. Snowfall is heavy, averaging approximately 363.4 cm (143.1 in) per winter season. However, winter storms can bring changing precipitation types. Heavy snow can turn into heavy rain, melting the snow cover, and possibly back to snow or ice (perhaps briefly) all in
2562-411: A total of 446.04 km (172.22 sq mi) (larger than Montreal ), but the majority of its area remains covered by undeveloped woods. Coniferous trees such as black spruce , white spruce , and balsam fir dominate the native vegetation. The largest deciduous tree is white birch ; species of lesser stature include alder , cherry and mountain ash. Of introduced tree species, sycamore maple
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#17327648818742684-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
2806-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
2928-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
3050-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
3172-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
3294-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
3416-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
3538-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
3660-527: Is found in João Freire's Atlas of 1546. On 5 August 1583, an English Sea Dog , Sir Humphrey Gilbert , claimed the area as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I . There was no permanent population, however, and Gilbert was lost at sea during his return voyage, thereby ending any immediate plans for settlement. Bernard Drake's Newfoundland Expedition in 1585 landed at Saint John's, re-establishing England's claim on
3782-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
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3904-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
4026-440: Is located in the northeast of the peninsula. The Avalon Peninsula is a noted region for Precambrian fossils , and many Lagerstätten of the diverse Ediacaran biota are found on the peninsula. Mistaken Point is the original location of the first documented Ediacaran , Aspidella terranovica (which gets its specific name from Newfoundland). The peninsula gives its name to the ancient micro-continent Avalonia of which it
4148-583: Is most abundant and Norway maple is common. Blue spruce , common horsechestnut , European beech and littleleaf linden are among the other non-native species grown. St. John's has a humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ) with smaller seasonal variation than normal for the latitude, which is due to Gulf Stream moderation. Mean temperatures range from −4.7 °C (23.5 °F) in February to 16.5 °C (61.7 °F) in August, showing somewhat of
4270-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
4392-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
4514-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
4636-545: Is that a fishing village with the same name existed without a permanent settlement for most of the 16th century. Indicated as São João on a Portuguese map from 1519, it is one of the oldest cities in North America. It was officially incorporated as a city in 1888. With a metropolitan population of approximately 212,579 (as of 9 February 2022), the St. John's Metropolitan Area is Canada's 20th-largest metropolitan area and
4758-528: Is the easternmost city in North America (excluding Greenland ). The closest European settlement is Fajã Grande , Azores , Portugal , about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away. Its name has been attributed to the belief that John Cabot sailed into the harbour on the Nativity of John the Baptist in 1497, although it is most likely a legend that came with British settlement. A more realistic possibility
4880-508: Is the foggiest (124 days) and windiest (24.3 km/h (15.1 mph) average speed). Precipitation is frequent and often heavy, falling year-round. On average, summer is the driest season, with only occasional thunderstorm activity. June is the driest month, averaging 88.2 mm (3.47 in) of precipitation. The wettest months are from October to January, with December the wettest single month, with about 174 mm (6.85 in) of precipitation on average. This winter precipitation maximum
5002-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
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5124-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
5246-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
5368-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
5490-483: Is to Edmonton, Alberta . It is also closer to all of Ireland than to Miami, also on the east coast of North America. The city is the largest in the province and the second largest in the Atlantic Provinces after Halifax, Nova Scotia . Its downtown area lies to the west and north of St. John's Harbour, and the rest of the city expands from the downtown to the north, south, east and west. The city covers
5612-645: Is unusual for humid continental climates, which typically have a late spring or early summer precipitation maximum (for example, most of the Midwestern United States ). Most heavy precipitation events in St. John's are the product of intense mid-latitude storms from the Northeastern United States and New England states, and these are most common and intense from October to March, bringing heavy precipitation (commonly 40 to 80 mm (1.6 to 3.1 in) of rainfall equivalent in
5734-877: The "United Irish Uprising" occurred when 19 Irish soldiers who were part of the British garrison stationed in Newfoundland mutinied . The mutineers, who were suspected to be members of the Society of United Irishmen , fled to the countryside after the mutiny failed, and were apprehended in a matter of weeks and court-martialled . Of the 17 mutineers captured, 8 were executed, 4 were let go while 5 were sentenced to penal transportation . The 18th century saw major changes in Newfoundland: population growth, beginnings of government, establishment of churches, reinforcement of commercial ties with North America and development of
5856-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
5978-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
6100-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
6222-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
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#17327648818746344-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
6466-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
6588-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
6710-1012: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
6832-414: The 18th and 19th centuries. The final battle of the Seven Years' War in North America (known as the French and Indian War in the US) was fought in 1762, in St. John's. Following a surprise capture of the town by the French early in the year, the British responded and, at the Battle of Signal Hill , the French surrendered St. John's to British forces under the command of Colonel William Amherst . In
6954-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
7076-482: The 2021 census, there are 178,427 people in the St. John's population centre . There are 52,410 total private dwellings in St. John's with an occupancy rate of 90.9%. The median value of a private dwelling in St. John's is $ 309,631, lower than the national median value of $ 341,556 but higher than the provincial median value of $ 219,228. St. John's has a median age of 40.5 compared to 41.2 nationally and 46.0 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Children under 15 make up 13.9% of
7198-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
7320-423: The Atlantic annually to fish the waters off the Avalon Peninsula. In the Basque Country , it is a common belief the name of St. John's was given by Basque fishermen because the bay of St. John's is very similar to the Bay of Pasaia in the Basque Country, where one of the fishing towns is called St. John (in Spanish, San Juan, and in Basque , Donibane). The earliest record of the location appears as São João on
7442-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
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#17327648818747564-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
7686-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
7808-625: The English-controlled coast. As a result, the town of St. John's was not established as a permanent community until after the 1630s. With respect to the oldest surviving permanent English settlements in North America, it was preceded by Jamestown, Virginia (1607), the Cuper's Cove colony at Cupids in Newfoundland (1610), St. George's, Bermuda (1612), and the Bristol's Hope colony at Harbour Grace in Newfoundland (1618). Each of these English settlements were far later than other European settlements in North America, such as St. Augustine, Florida established by Spain in 1565. On 24 April 1800,
7930-472: The French admiral Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captured and destroyed the town in the Avalon Peninsula Campaign (1696). When 1500 English reinforcements arrived in late 1697, they found rubble where the town and fortifications had stood. The French attacked St. John's again in 1705 ( Siege of St. John's ), and captured it in 1708 ( Battle of St. John's ), devastating civilian structures with fire on each instance. The harbour remained fortified through most of
8052-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
8174-422: The area of land on Water Street between Bishop's Cove and Steer's Cove, to create the "Commercial Central Retail – West Zone". The new zone will allow for buildings of greater height. A 47 m (154 ft), 12-storey office building, which includes retail space and a parking garage, was the first building to be approved in this area. In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , St. John's had
8296-464: The area. St. John's became a base for his operations, where his ships gathered supplies and fresh water. This expedition virtually wiped out the Spanish and Portuguese fishing-industries in the area, and so set the stage for subsequent English and French influence in the region. By 1620, the fishermen of England's West Country controlled most of Newfoundland's east coast. In 1627, William Payne, called St. John's "the principal prime and chief lot in all
8418-434: The buildings in its path aided by the large quantities of seal oil that were stored in the merchants' premises. The fire was also aided by an attempt to blow up a house on Water Street which scattered burning embers across the city. The final major conflagration of the nineteenth century began on the afternoon of 8 July 1892 atop Carter's Hill on Freshwater Road. Initially, the fire did not cause any widespread panic; however,
8540-406: The city was white, 10.1% were visible minorities and 3.3% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were South Asian Canadian (2.8%), followed by Black Canadians (2.3%), Chinese Canadians and Arab Canadians (1.3% each). English is the mother tongue spoken by the majority of residents of St. John's (92.9%), whereas Chinese is the second most common language in the province, being
8662-424: The city). During the Second World War , the harbour supported Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy ships that were engaged in anti-submarine warfare . It was the site of an American Army Air Force base, Fort Pepperrell , that was established as part of the " Lend-Lease " Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United Kingdom and United States. The base included several US-manned coast defence guns , and
8784-601: The colony a refuge for Roman Catholics facing persecution in England. In 1625, Calvert was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as the 1st Baron Baltimore . A series of crises and calamities led Lord Baltimore to quit the colony in 1629 for "some other warmer climate of this new world", which turned out to be Maryland , in the Chesapeake Bay Colony. His family maintained agents to govern Avalon until 1637, when
8906-612: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French St. John%27s, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador . It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland . The city spans 446.04 km (172.22 sq mi) and
9028-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
9150-540: The driving force of the provincial economy for hundreds of years. After a decade of high unemployment rates and depopulation, the city's proximity to the Hibernia , Terra Nova and White Rose oil fields led to an economic boom that spurred population growth and commercial development. As a result, the St. John's area now accounts for about half of the province's economic output . As of 2012, St. John's contained 21 National Historic Sites of Canada . St. John's
9272-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
9394-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
9516-657: The entire island of Newfoundland was granted by charter to Sir David Kirke and the 3rd Marquess of Hamilton . In 1696, during King William's War , the French destroyed many English villages in the Avalon Peninsula Campaign . They had settled along the St. Lawrence River and from the Atlantic coast to Quebec and Montreal. During Queen Anne's War , Commodore John Leake of the Royal Navy led an expedition aimed at capturing French ships around
9638-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
9760-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
9882-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
10004-417: The hilly terrain and steep maze of residential streets, in St. John's is typically painted in bright colours, hence the nickname Jelly Bean Row for downtown row housing . The city council has implemented strict heritage regulations in the downtown area, including restrictions on the height of buildings. These regulations have caused much controversy over the years. With the city experiencing an economic boom
10126-476: The homes of about a thousand men, women, and children, were consumed before the conflagration was stayed. There were two citywide fires in 1817 "known jointly as 'The Great Fire of 1817'. Then in 1819 fire "destroyed 120 houses". There was a further major fire in 1846 , which started at the shop of a cabinetmaker named Hamlin, located on George Street off Queen Street, when a glue pot boiled over. The fire spread along Water and Duckworth Streets destroying all of
10248-515: The homes of fishermen, sheds, storage shacks, and wharves constructed out of wood. Like many other cities of the time, as the Industrial Revolution took hold and new methods and materials for construction were introduced, the landscape changed as the city grew. The Great Fire of 1892 destroyed most of the downtown core, and most residential and other wood-frame buildings date from this period. Often compared to San Francisco due to
10370-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
10492-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
10614-551: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
10736-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
10858-601: The late 1700s Fort Amherst and Fort Waldegrave were built to defend the harbour entrance. There has been some controversy regarding which European settlement is the oldest in Anglophone North America. As mentioned above, while English fishermen had set up seasonal camps in St. John's in the 16th century, they were expressly forbidden by the English government, at the urging of the West Country fishing industry, to establish permanent settlements along
10980-623: The national rate of 7.7%. The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 7,515 persons or 7.0% of the total population of St. John's. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were United Kingdom (805 persons or 10.7%), Philippines (625 persons or 8.3%), United States of America (510 persons or 6.8%), India (485 persons or 6.5%), Syria (455 persons or 6.1%), China (420 persons or 5.6%), Nigeria (310 persons or 4.1%), Bangladesh (195 persons or 2.6%), Pakistan (155 persons or 2.1%), and Eritrea (150 persons or 2.0%). As of 2021, approximately 86.5% of
11102-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
11224-589: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
11346-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
11468-478: The peninsula and burning French settlements. The expedition was largely successful. During this same conflict, the French attempted to besiege the fortified English port of St. John's , but were unsuccessful . They later returned and captured the town , burning it to the ground. In the late eighteenth century, the longstanding rivalry between Great Britain and France erupted again in the Seven Years' War . It
11590-416: The population while people 65 and over make up 16.5%. 70.6% of residents aged 25 to 65 have a post secondary certificate, diploma or degree, while 20.6% have a secondary school diploma or equivalent, 7.4% have an apprenticeship or trades certificate, and 8.8% hold no certificates, diplomas or degrees. The city has an unemployment rate of 8.9%, much lower than the provincial rate of 15.6% but somewhat higher than
11712-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
11834-546: The provincial capital and largest city. It is connected to the main section of the island by the 5 km (3 mi) wide Isthmus of Avalon. The peninsula protrudes into the rich fishing zones near the Grand Banks . Its four major bays ( Trinity Bay , Conception Bay , St. Mary's Bay and Placentia Bay ) have long been the centre of Newfoundland's fishing industry. The Avalon Peninsula is pinched into smaller peninsulas formed by St. Mary's Bay and Conception Bay. St. John's
11956-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
12078-476: The same storm, resulting in little or no net snow accumulation. Snow cover in St. John's is variable, and especially early in the winter season, may be slow to develop, but can extend well into the spring months (March, April). The St. John's area is subject to freezing rain events (called " silver thaws "), the worst of which paralysed the city in April 1984 and April 2017. On 17 January 2020, St. John's declared
12200-639: The seal, salmon and Grand Banks fisheries. St. John's population grew slowly. Although it was primarily a fishing station, it was also a garrison , a centre of government and a commercial hub. St. John's served as a naval base during the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 . Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John's on 12 December 1901 from his wireless station in Poldhu , Cornwall. St. John's
12322-481: The second-largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada , after Halifax . The city has a rich history, having played a role in the Seven Years' War , the American Revolutionary War , and the War of 1812 . Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John's. Its history and culture have made it into an important tourist destination. St. John's
12444-477: The service of England, became the first Europeans to sail into the harbour, on the morning of 24 June 1494 (per British and French historians , in 1497), the feast day of Saint John the Baptist . However, the locations of Cabot's landfalls are disputed. A series of expeditions to St. John's by Portuguese from the Azores took place in the early 16th century, and by 1540, French, Spanish and Portuguese ships crossed
12566-546: The summers with the arrival of migratory fishermen. In 1680, fishing ships (mostly from South Devon ) set up fishing rooms at St. John's, bringing hundreds of Irish men into the port to operate inshore fishing boats. The town's first significant defences were likely erected due to commercial interests, following the temporary seizure of St. John's by the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter in June 1665. The inhabitants fended off
12688-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
12810-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
12932-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
13054-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
13176-571: The whole country". Sometime after 1630, the town of St. John's was established as a permanent community. Before this, English fishermen were expressly forbidden by the English government, at the urging of the West Country fishing industry, to establish permanent settlements along the English-controlled coast. The population grew slowly in the 17th century: St. John's was Newfoundland's largest settlement when English naval officers began to take censuses around 1675. The population grew in
13298-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
13420-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
13542-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
13664-560: Was destroyed by major fires in 1816, 1817, 1819, 1846 and 1892, when each time a large part of the city was destroyed. The most famous was the Great Fire of 1892 . On 12 February 1816: ...about eight o'clock, a fire broke out in a house in a part of the town in St. John's in Newfoundland known by the name of the King's Beach, and speedily communicated to the houses adjoining, and burnt with so much fury, that one hundred and twenty houses,
13786-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
13908-699: Was fought in the North American colonies as well, where it was known to British colonists as the French and Indian War . The Battle of Signal Hill was fought on the peninsula in 1762. In this engagement, British soldiers and artillery under the command of William Amherst drove the French occupants of St. John's from Signal Hill and into the town's fort , where they soon surrendered. 47°17′N 53°21′W / 47.29°N 53.35°W / 47.29; -53.35 French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
14030-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
14152-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
14274-599: Was part. In 1497, explorer John Cabot led an expedition from England in an attempt to reach the Spice Islands in the East Indies . He is said to have reached what is now known as Bonavista . The English established their first permanent settlement at Cuper's Cove in 1610. Sir George Calvert was later given a large land holding on the peninsula in 1619 from William Vaughan , whose previous colony of Cambriol failed. The initial colony of Ferryland grew to
14396-537: Was referred to as Baile Sheáin (Johnstown), in the poetry of Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara (1715–1810), and among speakers of the Irish language in Newfoundland . St. John's was used by fishermen setting up seasonal camps in the early 1500s. Sebastian Cabot declared in a handwritten Latin text in his original 1545 map that St. John's earned its name when he and his father, the Venetian explorer John Cabot , in
14518-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
14640-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
14762-492: Was the starting point for the first non-stop transatlantic aircraft flight, by Alcock and Brown in a modified Vickers Vimy IV bomber, in June 1919, departing from Lester's Field in St. John's and ending in a bog near Clifden , Connemara , Ireland. In July 2005, the flight was duplicated by American aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett in a replica Vickers Vimy aircraft, with St. John's International Airport substituting for Lester's Field (now an urban and residential part of
14884-412: Was −29.4 °C (−20.9 °F) on 16 February 1875. St. John's architecture has a distinct style different from the rest of Canada, and its major buildings are remnants of its history as one of the first British colonial capitals. Buildings took a variety of styles according to the means available to build them. Starting as a fishing outpost for European fishermen, St. John's consisted mostly of
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