53-540: Sûreté ( French: [syʁ.te] , lit. ' surety ' but often translated to 'safety' or 'security') is, in some French-speaking countries or regions , the organizational title of a civil police force. The Directorate General for National Security is known in French as the Sûreté Nationale. The VSSE is known by its French name, Sûreté de l'État. The provincial police force of Québec
106-459: A "gentle courtly prince" that the king unwittingly spread his language" and "the methods of expansion were not political"'. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the language of European diplomacy and international relations. The terms Francophonie or Francophone world refer the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. French
159-471: A 2010 study by IMMAR Research & Consultancy, Francophone newspapers had a readership of 4,459,000 in the country, or 28% of the total, and a majority among readers with a high school or university education. The first French-medium school was established in Egypt in 1836, and the importance of French expanded throughout the second half of the 19th century, until it became the most common foreign language in
212-661: A 30-man team of experts that had reduced the crime rate in Paris by 40%. On 23 April 1941, the French police was nationalized under the Vichy regime , and each branch was placed under the prefect. The term Police nationale ("National Police") was then first used – with the sole exception of the Paris Police Prefecture . This organisational name was used during the Fourth and Fifth French Republic. On 9 July 1964,
265-489: A Francophone identity. Conversely, speaking French was seen as essential by seven in 10, though a third of the population felt that the use of French is declining. In urban areas, the ability to speak fluent French is considered almost mandatory to find employment, especially in specialized white collar fields. French is the first foreign language in Algeria, and is introduced at the primary level. In higher education, French
318-615: A decline in the number of learners of French in Europe, the overall number of speakers is rising, largely because of its presence in African countries: of the 212 million who use French daily, 54.7% are living in Africa. The OIF figures have been contested as being underestimated due to the methodology used and its strict definition of the word francophone. The French Conseil économique, social et environnemental estimate that were they included,
371-570: A foreign language. French is introduced in primary school, where it is studied for up to 7 hours a week. It is also used as the language of education in many private schools. Moroccans are the largest group of foreign students in France, ahead of the Chinese and Algerians. 50.3% of the population over 15 in Tanger , Fès , Rabat , Casablanca and Marrakech can read and write French. According to
424-431: A language of instruction in high school for scientific subjects. In higher education, 2,300 students were enrolled in French courses in 2012. French remains, alongside Arabic, the language of work and education, although there were attempts to introduce English as a first foreign language. On social media, 59% of Mauritanian Facebook users used French on the website in 2014. The 2004 census of Morocco found that 39.5% of
477-593: A sizeable French-language press. A 2014 report published by the National Assembly of France describes it as the most important French-speaking country after France. Nevertheless, Algeria is not a member of the Francophonie. On social media , French was used on Facebook by 76% of Algerians in 2014. French is not official, but The World Factbook cites it as the lingua franca of the country. The French language, restricted to an urban elite during
530-540: A survey conducted in 2012, just a third of urban Moroccans identify with a Francophone identity, and slightly more wish for French to become more commonly used. French is nevertheless deemed essential, both in the professional and private spheres, by three-quarters of respondents. French-language media are losing ground to Arabic media, including in television, radio or the press: of 618 Moroccan publications in 2004, 448 were in Arabic and 164 in French. On social media, French
583-530: Is the second most geographically widespread language in the world after English , with the French-speaking world comprising about 50 countries and territories where French is a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. According to the 2022 report of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), 321 million people speak French. The OIF states that despite
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#1732782757551636-457: Is a mixture of French and English with elements of indigenous languages. French is the sole official language of Benin . According to a 2014 survey, 57.3% of residents of Cotonou over the age of 15 could read and write French. Knowledge of French is considered important for employment, bureaucracy, education but also in everyday life. 34% of the population was Francophone in 2002, up from 23% in 1992. There are strong regional differences, with
689-446: Is also spoken as part of daily life. French is one of two official languages of Comoros , Arabic being the second. On social media, French was used on Facebook by 100% of Comorians in 2014. French is the sole official language of Republic of Congo . 68.7% of the population of Brazzaville aged 15 and older can read and write French. French is the main language in the media, used by 63% of radio and television broadcasters. French
742-444: Is also the dominant language in the state administrations. French is the sole official language of Democratic Republic of Congo . About half of Kinshasa residents feel solidarity towards Francophone countries, and French is seen as important for education and relations with the government. It is also seen as important to be successful in life, along with English. French is the main language of education after third grade. French
795-428: Is by far the most spoken language in the country, including the capital, while French remains a second language, becoming the main language only in non-Wolof areas. French is the main language of institutions, however. Only half of Dakar residents identify with a Francophone status or feel solidarity with French-speaking countries, but the French language is seen as essential for everyday affairs and education. French
848-538: Is called the Sûreté du Québec . The French National Police was formerly called Sûreté générale and then Sûreté nationale. The Sûreté nationale, or Sûreté, began as the criminal investigative bureau of the Préfecture de police de Paris (Paris Police Prefecture) and did not function as the national command and control organization until much later, by which time it no longer had any detectives on its staff. Both
901-436: Is not a mother tongue to most residents. African standards of French differ from European ones. Some linguists discuss a "second French language" or even an "African French language". According to Paul Wald, "The notion of ownership of an imported language begins when – despite its identification as a foreign and/or vernacular language – its use does not imply a relationship with the foreigner." French can thus be considered
954-417: Is one of two official languages of Chad , together with Arabic. Half of the residents of N'Djamena feel solidarity towards other French-speaking countries and wishes for the use of French to expand. French is seen as important in work and education. French shares a place with Arabic as the language of administration and education, as well as in the press; French is dominant on radio and television. French
1007-428: Is one of two official languages of Djibouti , the other being Arabic. On social media, French was used on Facebook by 82% of Djiboutians in 2014. French is the sole official language of Gabon . According to a 1999 survey, French was the first language for 26.3% of Libreville residents between the age of 15 and 25. 71.9% of the capital's residents over 15 years of age could read and write French. Three quarters of
1060-411: Is seen as essential by a large majority, especially for dealing with the government and in education. Two thirds of respondents report feeling Francophone. French plays an important role in all areas of public and private life across the whole country. French is increasingly seen as an Ivorian language, and a local variety distinct from standard French has emerged ( Ivorian French ). In Antananarivo ,
1113-555: Is the language of instruction in scientific and technical fields. Francophone Algerians can be divided into three broad categories: 'real Francophones', who speak French as part of their daily lives and mostly come from a privileged background; 'casual Francophones', who use the language in certain contexts, alternating it with Arabic, and 'passive Francophones', who can understand French but do not speak it. French television channels are widely watched in Algeria, and Algerian newspapers print their television schedules. Algeria also has
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#17327827575511166-401: Is the language of instruction in secondary and tertiary education. It is also the main language of government, alongside Malagasy. French is the sole official language of Niger . In Niamey , the capital, French is seen as essential for work, studies and administrative procedures. Two-thirds of residents believe that the use of French is becoming more common in the country. French became
1219-517: Is the main language of education, the number of French speakers is derived from the average number of schooling years. French native speakers by countries It is estimated that 80 million people worldwide speak French as a main or first language . In Algeria , 69.1% of the population over 15 in Alger , Constantine , Oran and Annaba can read and write French. According to a survey conducted in 2012, fewer than four in 10 Algerians identified with
1272-509: Is the sole official language of Togo . According to the 2010 census, 53% of the population over the age of 15 can read and write French. French language is spoken in the overseas departments of French Guiana and the French Antilles , including Guadeloupe , Martinique , and the islands formerly attached to Guadeloupe. There are over a million people living in these departments and collectivities. French Creoles are also spoken on
1325-929: The Canadian federation. About 6,827,860 Canadians speak French as their first language, or around 20% of the country, with 2,065,300 constituting secondary speakers. Bilingualism with French has been declining in English Canada in recent years. List of official languages This is a list of official, or otherwise administratively-recognized, languages of sovereign countries, regions, and supra-national institutions. The article also lists lots of languages which have no administrative mandate as an official language, generally describing these as de facto official languages. Abkhaz : Afar : Afrikaans : Aja-Gbe : Akan ( Akuapem Twi , Asante Twi , Fante ) : Albanian : Amharic : Anii : Arabic (see also List of countries where Arabic
1378-691: The Constitution. French is one of two official languages of Cameroon , the other being English. French is the main language in eight of the ten regions of the country, with English being dominant in the remaining two. French is the mother tongue of a vast proportion of young Cameroonians living in urban centers. In Cameroon, 63.7% of the population aged 15 and older in Douala and 60.5% in Yaoundé can read and write French; an additional 13–15% can speak French without being able to write it. To some extent,
1431-588: The Paris Police Prefecture's Brigade Criminelle and the Direction centrale de la Police judiciaire trace their history directly to the Sûreté. The French Sûreté is considered a pioneer of all crime-fighting organizations in the world, although London's Bow Street Runners , founded 1749, served a similar purpose at times. Founded in 1812 by Eugène François Vidocq , who headed it until 1827, it
1484-423: The ability to speak French being more common in the south of the country. The Atlantique and Littoral departments have a French-speaking majority. French speakers are more commonly men than women, owing to a disparity in access to education. French is the sole official language of Burkina Faso . In Ouagadougou , 49.4% of the population aged 15 and older can read and write French. At the national level French
1537-612: The administrative language of Rwanda in 1916. The Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 and the victory of the Rwandan Patriotic Front were followed by a period of linguistic upheaval, with the return of refugees from Anglophone countries setting the stage for the officialisation of English in 1996 and the gradual usurpation of French as the language of education, culminating in the decision in October 2008 to make English
1590-481: The capital of Madagascar , French is seen as important for work, education and administrative matters, but not in everyday life, where Malagasy dominates. Less than half feel solidarity with other Francophone countries or consider knowledge of French as essential. Education in primary schools is bilingual in Malagasy and French. The latter is used as medium of education for mathematics and scientific subjects. French
1643-508: The colonial period, began to expand as part of the mass education efforts launched after 1962. Its controversial status as a legacy of colonialism led to the increasing Arabisation of the school system in the 1970s and 1980s. The usage of French in the country reached its lowest point during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s, when armed Islamist groups targeted teachers of French. The language has rebounded in public life since
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1696-662: The country. At the time, it was also a lingua franca for the communities of foreign origin, especially in Cairo . During the period of the British colonization of Egypt French was actually the medium of communication among foreigners and between foreigners and Egyptians; the mixed French-Egyptian civil courts operated in French, and government notices from the Egyptian Sultan , taxi stand information, timetables of trains, and other legal documents were issued in French. This
1749-667: The current uprising of the English-speaking minority living at the Nigerian border, which complains that English language is disappearing progressively under the pressure of the more numerous French speakers and that the linguistic rights of the English speakers are not respected, endangering their specific culture. French is an official language of the Central African Republic along with Sango. French
1802-525: The end of the war, culminating in the efforts to reintroduce French in primary schools in 2006, which were initially hampered by a lack of sufficiently qualified teachers. Referring to the continued usage of French in Algeria in the post-colonial period, the writer Kateb Yacine described the French language as the ' spoils of war ' ( butin de guerre ) of Algerians. Local French-language media include El Watan , Le Soir d'Algérie , Liberté , Le Matin and Tout sur l'Algérie . According to
1855-456: The inland regions and the south it remains a foreign language. French is introduced from the third grade at 8 hours per week. In high school French is the language of instruction for mathematics, science and computing. Teachers are not always sufficiently trained for this usage, however. Nearly three-quarters of the population of Tunis , Sousse and Sfax consider French as essential in their professional or personal lives. However, only half of
1908-477: The islands of Dominica , St. Lucia , and to a more limited extent, Grenada . French is one of two official languages of Haiti , together with Haitian Creole , which is French-based. French is the language of culture and business in Haiti , and also the main language of institutions. French is used most by the elite and the middle class. Attempts to increase the legitimacy of Creole as an official language and in
1961-522: The language situation in Cameroon between French and English could be described fairly accurately as an exact inversion of the linguistic situation existing in Canada between English and French : Being spoken by 80% of the educated population (unlike English which is much less spoken), French predominates largely especially in government and information, even in English-speaking regions, which has led to
2014-538: The main foreign language, but French was still being learnt by 8 million Egyptians in 2013. There are two French-speaking universities in the country, the Université Française d'Égypte and the Université Senghor . French was demoted from its status as an official language of Mauritania in 1991. Even so, it is taught from the second grade onward for up to six hours a week. French is also
2067-450: The main language of education at higher levels, effectively relegating French to the status of third language. Nevertheless, a survey of students in Kigali found that French was known by a majority of them. French is the sole official language of Senegal . French was commonly spoken by 9.4% of Senegalese in 2002, mainly as a second language, with just 0.6% speaking it natively. Wolof
2120-507: The media, on radio and television in particular, led to a relative decline in the share of French usage. Most teachers of French suffer from a low level of skills in the language, with nearly 85% achieving a level between A2 and B1 in the Test de connaissance du français (TCF) in 2009. French is the second most common language in Canada , after English , which are the two official languages of
2173-482: The population aged 10 and older could read and write French. Spoken mainly in cities among the upper middle class, French is the medium of instruction of two-thirds of courses in higher education, including science and technology, health, economics and management, although the adoption of English for this role was being considered by the Minister of Education. In the private sector, French is treated as more than simply
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2226-490: The population feels Francophone, and only a third feels solidarity with other Francophone countries. 70.8% of the population over 15 in the aforementioned Tunisians cities can read and write French. Arabic increasingly dominates the Tunisian media landscape, especially on television: the audience share of local French-language channels reached 25% in the early 1990s, but hardly reached 3% by the 2010s. On social media, French
2279-559: The population of the capital identifies as Francophone and considers French as essential. All local publications are in French. French is the sole official language of Guinea . In Conakry , 42.1% of the population aged 15 and older can read and write French. French is the sole official language of the Ivory Coast . In Abidjan , largest city of the country, 57.6% of the inhabitants over 15 can read and write French, and another 11% can speak it but not write it. The French language
2332-664: The previously independent police in Paris were placed under the Sûreté nationale and 10 July 1966 saw the final reorganization into the National Police in its present form. The national police force of Morocco is the Sûreté Nationale . Sûreté is the name of the detective branch of the cantonal police of the French -speaking cantons of Switzerland . Geographical distribution of French speakers The French language became an international language,
2385-575: The result of functional and vernacular ownerships, satisfying the needs of a society with new sociocultural and socioeconomic realities. French has begun developing into almost independent varieties, with creation of different types of slang by speakers with a sufficient knowledge of French. Examples include the Ivorian jargon " Nouchi " in Abidjan and the Cameroonian " Camfranglais ", which
2438-534: The second international language alongside Latin , in the Middle Ages , "from the fourteenth century onwards". It was not by virtue of the power of the Kingdom of France : '"... until the end of the fifteenth century, the French of the chancellery spread as a political and literary language because the French court was the model of chivalric culture". Consequently, it was less as a centralising monarch than as
2491-449: The total number of French speakers passed 500 million in the year 2020. French speakers by Regions The following figures are from a 2022 report of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). No distinctions are made between native speakers of French and those who learnt it as a foreign language , between different levels of mastery or how often the language is used in daily life. For African countries where French
2544-472: Was partly because of some Egyptians had French education and partly because of cultural influence from France. Despite efforts from British legal personnel, English was never adopted as a language of the Egyptian civil courts during the period of British influence. French began to lose ground in Egyptian society in the 1920s for a number of political and social reasons; from the 1930s onwards English became
2597-417: Was the first language for 1.66% of the population in 2006 (up from 0.75% in 1996), reaching 9.54% in the capital, where it is the second most spoken language, behind Dioula . Until 2014, French was one of two official languages of Burundi , the other being Kirundi . Only Kirundi is spoken by the vast majority of the population, therefore holding the status of national language as determined by article 5 of
2650-532: Was the inspiration for Scotland Yard , the FBI , and other departments of criminal investigation throughout the world. Vidocq was convinced that crime could not be controlled by then-current police methods, so he organized a special branch of the criminal division modelled on Napoleon 's political police . The force was to work undercover and its early members consisted largely of reformed criminals. By 1820 – eight years after its formation – it had blossomed into
2703-518: Was the language of literacy for 37.2% of the population in 2013, followed by Arabic at 11.1%. French is the main language of education in all regions of Senegal except for Kaffrine , where Arabic remains dominant, with significant Arabic-educated minorities in Kaolack (15.9% to 33.0% for French), Louga (15.8% to 22.7%) and Diourbel (15.0% to 17.2%). This phenomenon is explained by the impact of Quranic schools or Daara in those regions. French
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#17327827575512756-559: Was used on Facebook by 75% of Moroccans in 2014. Local French-language media include Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb , TelQuel , Aujourd'hui le Maroc , La Vie éco . French is a working language in many sectors in Tunisia , including healthcare, commerce or communication. In coastal areas and the more developed neighbourhoods of the capital, it is also a common language of communication for all social groups, either in its standardised form or hybridised with Arabic. In
2809-559: Was used on Facebook by 91% of Tunisians in 2014. Local French-language media include La Presse de Tunisie , L'Economiste Maghrébin , Tunivisions , Le Temps . According to the High Council of the International Organization of the Francophonie , in 2010, 96.2 million French speakers were living in various countries in Africa. French has been imported to most of these countries through colonization, and it
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