Where is French spoken in the Caribbean?

Did you know that French is spoken by around a quarter of the population of the Caribbean? While Spanish is by far the most common language in the West Indies, French takes the number two spot, with more than ten million speakers. For reference, that's more than the number of native French speakers in Canada.

Only one of the places in the Caribbean where French is spoken, namely Haiti, is an independent country, while others are overseas departments or collectivities. Collectivities are more autonomous than departments, but both departments and collectivities are part of the nation of France, and are subject to French administration and governance. Indeed, two of France's five overseas departments are in the Caribbean.

As with France's other departments, French is their official language, although other languages, such as Creole, are spoken in some of these territories. There are a few different variations of Creole spoken in the Caribbean, although they are often mutually intelligible and very similar to French, from which they are partly derived.

We've not included Dominica and Saint Lucia on this list. Versions of Creole, largely derived from French, are spoken on these islands, but French itself is not, and the official language for both nations is English. While the islands were French colonies at one point in their history, they were later colonised by Great Britain, and English has remained the official language, while influencing Creole, just as French had previously.

Below is a guide to the different departments, regions and nations of the Caribbean where French is spoken in some capacity.

Prefecture: Basse-Terre

Population: 380,000

While French is the official language, Creole is also spoken in Guadeloupe. There are six inhabited islands in Guadeloupe, the largest being Basse-Terre, although the territory also includes many uninhabited islands too.

Prefecture: Fort-de-France

Population: 350,000

Martinican Creole is spoken alongside the official language, French. Historians and linguists aren't agreed on what the name 'Martinique' actually means, but it's believed to have derived from a Taíno word, meaning possibly 'island of women' or 'island of flowers'.

Capital: Gustavia

Population: 10,000

Saint-Barthélemeny is a popular destination for luxury tourism and high-end shopping. It’s also a great place to practise your French, as it’s the official language on the island. It seceded from Guadeloupe in 2003.

Capital: Marigot

Population: 30,000

Saint-Martin, spelt without a hyphen in English, is the northern part of the island of Saint Martin. The southern part is part of the Netherlands, and is called Sint Maarten.

While Dutch is spoken in Sint Maarten, French is the official language of the collectivity of Saint-Martin (which refers to the northern part, as opposed to the whole island). The island was named after Saint Martin of Tours.

Capital: Port-au-Prince

Population: 11,000,000

Haiti is the western half of the island of Hispaniola (the eastern half is the Dominican Republic, where the official language is Spanish). It's also the only nation in the Caribbean where French is the official language, although Haitian Creole is the most common language in Haiti for everyday use.