Statistics
At the 1999 census, INSEE sampled 380,000 adult people all across Metropolitan France, and asked them questions about their family situation. One of the questions was about the languages that their parents spoke with them before the age of 5. This is the first time serious statistics were computed about the proportion of mother tongues in France. The results were published in Enquête familiale, Insee, 1999.
Here is a list of the nine most prominent mother tongues in France based on Enquête familiale.
| Rank | Language | Mother tongue | Percentage of adult population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | 39,360,000 | 86% |
| 2 | German dialects (Alsatian, Lorraine Franconian, etc.) |
970,000 |
2.12% |
| 3 | Arabic (especially Maghrebi Arabic) |
940,000 | 2.05% |
| 4 | Occitan language (Languedocian, Gascon, Provençal, etc.) |
610,000 |
1.33% |
| 5 | Portuguese | 580,000 | 1.27% |
| 6 | Oïl languages (Picard, Gallo, Poitevin, Saintongeais, etc.) |
570,000 |
1.25% |
| 7 | Italian, Corsican and Ligurian (Niçard) | 540,000 | 1.19% |
| 8 | Spanish | 485,000 | 1.06% |
| 9 | Breton | 280,000 |
0.61% |
| 10 | About 400 other languages (Polish, Berber languages, East Asian languages, Catalan, Franco-Provençal, Corsican, Basque, West Flemish, etc.) as well as those who gave no response |
2,350,000 |
5.12% |
| Total | 45,762,000 |
102% |
If we add up people with mother tongue and people with some exposure to the language before the age of 5 (see note #3 below), then the five most important languages in metropolitan France are (note that the percentages add up to more than 100, because many people are now counted twice):
- French: 42,100,000 (92%)
- Occitan: 1,670,000 (3.65%)
- German and German dialects: 1,440,000 (3.15%)
- Oïl languages (excl. French): 1,420,000 (3.10%)
- Arabic: 1,170,000 (2.55%)
Read more about this topic: Languages Of France
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