Francophone Countries Essay

1099 Words5 Pages
French 101 Margarette King February 22, 2011 The United States is a country most known for its diversities; making it one of the largest interracial melting pots known. It is both racially and ethnically diverse, with about six or more recognized races. The same can be said for other countries as well; especially West Africa. Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populated continent. With a total of approximately 1.0 billion people, it accounts for about 14.72% of the world’s human population. Of those 1.0 billion people, an estimated 115 million of them actually speak French. This is to include those who speak the language by birth, or as a second language. My personal favorite francophone country is Senegal which has at the very least about ten different ethnic backgrounds. The largest group residing in Senegal is the Wolof, which make up 42.67 percent (2,890,402) of the county’s population. They predominantly live in the western parts of the country, and have descendants from the kingdoms of Cayor, Waalo, as well as Baol and Saloum. Although there are a few subgroups of the Wolof population, such as the Lebou people of Cap-Vert, and the Petite Cote, these groups only account for about one percent of the Wolof population. Even though French is their first language, almost all of the individuals who make up this particular population speak the Wolof language as though it were their primary language when they communicate among themselves. The second most populous ethnic group in Senegal is the Fula, who speak the Fula language. Although they inhabit more territory than the Wolof, they represent only about twenty-six percent of the country’s population. This group actually migrated to the Senegal area after Ahmed Sekou Toure became the President of Guinea from what is known as Fouta Djallom. Because they are considered as being

More about Francophone Countries Essay

Open Document