A
French creole, or
French-based creole language, is a
creole language (contact language with native speakers) for which French is the
lexifier. Most often this lexifier is not modern French but rather a 17th-century
koiné of
French from
Paris, the French Atlantic harbours, and the nascent French colonies. French-based creole languages are spoken by millions of people worldwide, primarily in the
Americas and in the
Indian Ocean. This article also contains information on French
pidgin languages, contact languages that lack native speakers.