Africa is arguably the most diverse continent in the world. It is home to nearly 2,000 languages, and French is one of the most widely spoken, along with English, Swahili, and Hausa. 

There are 29 French-speaking countries in Africa. 21 of those countries are known as Francophone countries. Francophone countries are countries which use French as their official language or use it as one of their other official languages, next to many others.

The main seven countries are France, Congo, Canada, Camron, Belgium, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, and Haiti.

Unsurprisingly, France boasts the highest number of native French speakers, although it's not the most populous country to have French as an official language. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a population of 77 million, compared to 62 million in France.

Africa is renowned for being a varied continent with a wide range of languages and cultures. Some languages are native to their nation, while others were made popular by colonialism. It is also a de facto language in countries like Mauritania and Mauritius.

Of the 21 francophone countries, Mali ditched French as its official language under the country’s new constitution.

Here are the 20 francophone countries in Africa:

1. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
2. Madagascar
3. Cameroon
4. Ivory Coast
5. Niger
6. Burkina Faso
7. Senegal
8. Chad
9. Guinea
10. Rwanda
11. Burundi
12. Benin
13. Togo
14. Central African Republic
15. Republic of the Congo
16. Gabon
17. Djibouti
18. Equatorial Guinea
19. Comoros
20. Seychelles