If you are traveling in one of France’s territories in the Caribbean or the Pacific Ocean, they are officially a part of France and use the euro as their currency, too. This includes the territory of French Guiana in South America.
Remember, there are many French speaking countries around the world. In fact, over 54 French-speaking countries are official members of the Francophonie, an organization of countries that use French as one of their official languages. Many of these countries are former French colonies and have strong economic and political ties with each other as well as with France. They do not, however, use the euro ; so they have different forms of money. You can see all the members of the Francophonie in this map.
Below is a passage in French about the currency used in most of West and Central Africa, the CFA franc. Francs were the money used in France before the French adopted the euro. Even though France itself switched to euros, many former colonies of France have kept this currency. Read and listen to the passage. Be prepared to answer questions afterward.
Le CFA, ou le franc de colonie françaises d’Afrique, est la devise ou la monnaie de beaucoup de pays (countries) en Afrique de l'ouest et en Afrique centrale. Aujourd’hui le CFA est appelé la Communauté Financière Africaine.
En Afrique de l’ouest, les pays du Benin, du Burkina Faso, de la Guinée-Bissau, de la Côte d’Ivoire, du Mali, du Niger, du Sénégal, et du Togo utilisent le CFA.
En Afrique centrale, le Gabon, le Cameroun, La République Centrafricaine, La Guinée Équatoriale, et la République du Congo utilisent aussi le CFA.
In the past, the value of the CFA was linked to the French franc, but today it is linked to the value of the euro. The CFA also used to be printed in France and required the countries that use it to deposit their foreign reserves in French banks. This policy was criticized as being one of the ways that France still exerts economic control over its former colonies. See how well you understood the passage by answering the questions in the activity below.
Which one?
Où est le Gabon?
Centrale means central.
Centrale means central.
Centrale means central.
Où est la Côte d’Ivoire?
Ouest means west.
Ouest means west.
Ouest means west.
Quel pays utilise (uses) le CFA?
Former French colonies use the CFA.
Former French colonies use the CFA.
Former French colonies use the CFA.
You got # out of # correct. Click the Retry button for another attempt.
You got a perfect score. Great job!
Some other former colonies of France use their own version of the franc, such as le franc congolais or le franc djiboutien.
Question
What was the currency in France before they adopted the euro?
Le franc français.
