Italy Down Under

French is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, and today by about 350 million people around the world as either a native or a second language, with significant populations in 54 countries. French is a descendant of the Latin of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Catalan and Romanian. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Europe is home to 44% of the world’s French-speaking population. Aside from France, French is spoken in Belgium (45% of the population), in Switzerland (20% of the population) and in Luxembourg. [...]