Bienvenue
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This year, the Francophonie Summit of French-speaking nations is being held in the Swiss city of Montreux on Lake Geneva. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Keystone -
In the Montmartre quarter of Paris, early in the day when the bread is still fresh. (Michael Kneffel) -
Algerian letterbox, from the time of French colonial rule. (Katharina Eglau/Joker) -
A street in Cameroon. (Peter Arnold) -
In France, former President Jacques Chirac wanted to ban the wearing of Islamic headscarves at school in 2004. In Beirut, not everyone agreed with that idea. (EPA/Nabil Mounzer) Keystone -
In Senegal, people use wolof, peul, malinké and around 30 other local languages in their daily lives - but also French. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) -
Crossing the border from France into Switzerland, where French is spoken in a plethora of ways, with special phrases, vocabulary and pronunciation. (Keystone/Martin Ruetschi) Keystone -
Is the US marine deployed in Haiti thinking of his beautiful lady friend? (AP Photo/Pablo Aneli) Keystone -
Hanoi Hilton, a prison built by the French and which housed American prisoners of war shot down over North Vietnam, is now a museum. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Keystone -
French is also spoken in Madagascar. (Bildagentur-online) -
A clinic in the Central African Republic. (Panos Pictures/Visum) -
Quebec was very influential 400 years ago. This was celebrated at the last Francophonie meeting in 2008, which was held in the city. (Keystone/Arno Balzarini) Keystone
A global rendez-vous in Montreux.
This content was published on September 13, 2010 - 15:38
Some 200 million people speak French around the world. From Vietnam to Algeria via Haiti and Switzerland, French is the official language of 32 countries.
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