French is the dominant language of the country’s 65.4 million residents, but there are a number of variants based on region. French, the official language, is the first language of 88 percent of the population and is typically the second language of those who speak another language.
About 3 percent of the population speak German dialects, predominantly in the eastern provinces, and there is a small group of Flemish speakers in the northeast. Arabic is the third-largest minority language.
Those living near the border with Italy typically speak Italian as a second language, and Basque is spoken by people living along the French-Spanish border.
Other dialects and languages include Catalan, Breton (the Celtic language), Occitan dialects, and languages from the former French colonies, including Kabyle and Antillean Creole.