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| Total population | |
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| 12,864 (1988)[1] | |
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| French people |
| Part ofa series of articles on the |
| French people |
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Africa Asia Middle East Europe
North America
South America Oceania 1Overseas parts of France properMigration of minorities inFrance (i.e.Basques) can be considered as separate (ethnically) or French migration (by nationality). |
TheFrench community in India consists mainly ofIndian citizens ofFrench ancestry who are descended from former French settlers and colonists who settled in theIndian subcontinent since the 17th century, as well as recent expatriates fromFrance.
The French in India are an artifact of the French presence there, which began in 1673 with the establishment of theFrench East India Company and continued until 1962 when the French territory was formally transferred to India. The French presence was always minor compared with the British presence, and the French in India were generally not a significant portion of the population.
There were 9,950 French nationals residing in India in 2013.[2] Nearly all are in thePuducherry district in southeastern India (11,726 individuals in 1988), with much smaller numbers inKaraikal (695 individuals),Mahé (50),Yanam (46), and 342 elsewhere in India. They form a small minority, accounting for less than 3 percent of the present population of Puducherry.
Indian French (French:Français Indien) is adialect ofFrench spoken byIndians from the former colonies ofFrench India;[3] namelyPondicherry (Pondichéry),Mahé,Yanam (Yanaon),Karaikal (Karikal) in theunion territory ofPuducherry (Poudouchéry) and theChandannagar (Chandernagor) subdivision in thestate ofWest Bengal. It has considerable influence fromEnglish and theregional languages of India, such as theDravidian languages ofTamil (Pondicherry Tamil dialect),Telugu (Yanam Telugu dialect) andMalayalam (Mahé Malayalam dialect) and theIndo-Aryan language ofBengali in Chandannagar.
There are several varieties of Indian French, corresponding to the former French colonies, as follows:
Indian French spoken in formerFrench India vaguely varies from Standard French, in pronunciation and accent, with a few unique words, such as:
| Indian French | Metropolitan French | Meaning inEnglish |
|---|---|---|
| Mérci beauco | Merci beaucoup | Thank you very much |
| Mousé | Monsieur | Mister/Sir |
| Madam | Madame | Madam/Ma'am |
| Locaele | Locale | Local |
| Perme | Fermer | Close |
| Parlama | Parlement | Parliament |
| Baccaloria | Baccalauréat | Baccalauréat (French secondary school diploma) |
| Sulda | Soldat | Colloquially: Indians with French citizenship Literally: Soldier |
| Coseiyya | Conseiller | Councilor |
Today, Pondicherry still has a community of French people living in the city. There are 6,500 French people registered in South India, and of these about 5,500 are in Pondicherry.
French companies in India are present in various sectors such as energy, IT, environment, automobiles, traditional manufacturing industries like St Gobain, and engineering. They also have exporters of fish and other seafood, textiles, leather and luxury goods.L’Oréal has a presence in India, andLouis Vuitton has taken a stake in Hidesign in Pondicherry.[4]
The French community in India is a consolidated group, brought together by a number of different organizations that aim to promote French culture in India. The French Club of Bombay is an organization that unites French speakers living in the city. The club meets at different locations in various parts of Mumbai so that meetings are conveniently located and have a good attendance.[5]
In February 2015, the Indo French Senior Citizens Association staged street protests inPondicherry to protest against denial of the French nationality and voting rights derived from the "treaty of cession" of French India territories, which guaranteed continued French citizenship to individuals whose birth and nativity certificate had been registered during theFrench India regime.[6]
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