Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Cultural · Francophonie
Andorra's one official language is Catalan, and French has no official standing in Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, Greece, Romania or Vietnam either. Each of them was admitted anyway. What the members hold in common is a convention signed at Niamey on 20 March 1970 and the political declarations built on top of it.
51 countries
- AlbaniaJoined 1999.
- AndorraJoined 2004.
- ArmeniaJoined 2012.
- BelgiumJoined 1970.
- BeninJoined 1970.
- BulgariaJoined 1993.
- Burkina FasoJoined 1970.
- BurundiJoined 1970.
- CambodiaJoined 1993.
- CameroonJoined 1975.
- CanadaJoined 1970.
- Cape VerdeJoined 1996.
- Central African RepublicJoined 1973.
- ChadJoined 1970.
- ComorosJoined 1977.
- DjiboutiJoined 1977.
- DominicaJoined 1979.
- DR CongoJoined 1977.
- EgyptJoined 1983.
- Equatorial GuineaJoined 1989.
- FranceJoined 1970.
- GabonJoined 1970.
- GreeceJoined 2004.
- GuineaJoined 1981.
- Guinea-BissauJoined 1979.
- HaitiJoined 1970.
- Ivory CoastJoined 1970.
- LaosJoined 1972.
- LebanonJoined 1973.
- LuxembourgJoined 1970.
- MadagascarJoined 1989.
- MaliJoined 1970.
- MauritaniaJoined 1980.
- MauritiusJoined 1970.
- MoldovaJoined 1995.
- MonacoJoined 1970.
- MoroccoJoined 1981.
- NigerJoined 1970.
- North MacedoniaJoined 2006.
- Republic of the CongoJoined 1981.
- RomaniaJoined 1993.
- RwandaJoined 1970.
- Saint LuciaJoined 1981.
- São Tomé and PríncipeJoined 1999.
- SenegalJoined 1970.
- SeychellesJoined 1976.
- SwitzerlandJoined 1996.
- TogoJoined 1970.
- TunisiaJoined 1970.
- VanuatuJoined 1979.
- VietnamJoined 1970.
Common questions
Questions about Francophonie
Which countries are in the Francophonie?
The 51 states filed on this page are the full members the catalogue can hold. The organisation's own list is longer, because the Charter admits governments as well as states: Québec, New Brunswick and the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles sit as full members beside Canada and Belgium, and Ontario and Nova Scotia sit as observers. Associate members and observers are not counted here either.
Does a country have to have French as an official language to join?
No. Catalan is the only official language of Andorra, Greek of Greece, Armenian of Armenia, Khmer of Cambodia and Vietnamese of Vietnam, and all of them are full members. Admission is decided by the Summit and rests on the undertakings a state accepts, chiefly those written into the Bamako Declaration of 3 November 2000, rather than on the legal standing of the language.
Why are Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger still on this roster?
Because the roster is generated from the country records rather than from the organisation's published list. Niger and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal on 17 March 2025 and Mali on 18 March 2025, all three having signed the founding convention at Niamey in 1970. The page records the announcement and its date and takes no position on the status that follows from it.
What is the Bamako Declaration?
A text adopted on 3 November 2000 that binds membership to a set of democratic commitments and sets out what happens when they break. Its fifth chapter grades the response to a rupture of democratic legality, up to suspension from the institutions of the Francophonie. Suspension followed the takeovers in Mali in 2020, Guinea in 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023.
Is every French-speaking country a member?
No. Membership is an act of accession decided by the Summit, not a description of where the language is spoken, and Algeria has never joined. The reverse holds as well: Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Albania, Armenia and Greece are members without French holding any official status in them.
Sources
- Charte de la Francophonie, adoptée par la Conférence ministérielle à Antananarivo · Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The charter of 23 November 2005, the seat at Paris, and the categories of member, associate member and observer.
- Déclaration de Bamako, adoptée le 3 novembre 2000 · Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The democratic commitments and the fifth chapter, which runs to suspension from the institutions.
- Une histoire de la Francophonie · Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The Niamey convention of 20 March 1970, the renaming of 1998, the charter of 2005 and the list of summits.
- Acteurs de la Charte de la Francophonie · Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The consultative assembly and the four operators the charter names.
- Liste des États et gouvernements membres de plein droit, associés et observateurs · Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The three categories, and the governments of Québec, New Brunswick, the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
- Le Conseil permanent de la Francophonie se prononce sur les situations politiques au Gabon, en Guinée et en Haïti · Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. The session of 8 February 2024 and the decision not to suspend Gabon.
- Constitution du 22 juillet 2023 · Présidence de la République du Mali. The national languages made official and French left as a working language.
- Constitution du Burkina Faso, consolidée après la relecture · Direction générale des ressources en eau, Burkina Faso. The article making the recognised national languages official, with French and English as working languages.
- Charte de la refondation du Niger du 26 mars 2025 · Droit et politique en Afrique. Article 12, making Hausa the national language and English and French the working languages.
- Mali withdraws from the International Organisation of La Francophonie · Africanews. The Malian announcement and the Nigerien and Burkinabe announcements that preceded it.
- Burkina, Mali, Niger quittent la Francophonie: rupture politique, continuité linguistique · The Conversation. The date of 17 March 2025, the Nigerien suspension of August 2023 and the reasoning given for the withdrawals.