French (français)

French is a Romance language spoken by about 265 million people in France,
Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, the USA, Lebanon, French
Guiana, north, west and central Africa, Madagascar, a number of islands
in the Indian Ocean, Haiti and other Caribbean islands, Indochina, New
Caledonia, the New Hebrides and the French Pacific Territories.

The French language is descended from Latin and first appeared in writing
in 842 AD when it was used in the Strasbourg Oaths. Before then Latin
was the language used for literature throughout Europe. During the 10th
and 11th centuries, French appeared in a number of documents and religious
writings, but French literature didn’t start to take off until the late
12th / early 13th century. The first great work of French literature
was the ‘Chanson de Roland‘ (Song of Roland), which was published
in about 1200.