French language in Vietnam

French was the official language of Vietnam under French protectorate from the late-19th to mid-20th centuries. After the 1954 partition of the country, French fell into disuse in North Vietnam, and maintained a high status in South Vietnam. Since the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975, French has declined in present time: in 2018, slightly under 1% of the population was fluent in French.

Vietnam is the largest Francophone country in Asia and is a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Since the 1990s, the Vietnamese government in cooperation with the French government, has promoted French-language education in the country's schooling system, acknowledging the cultural and historic value of the French language. The language also continues to be used as a prestige language in certain professional sectors.

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