The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the

Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, held every four years since 1989.

Editions

Events

Sports

There were four sports at the inaugural event in 1989:

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

. Handisport,

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

were added to the competition programme in 1994. None of these four sports featured at the

1997 Jeux de la Francophonie The 1997 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''IIIes Jeux de la Francophonie'', (French language, French for ''Francophone Games'') were held in Antananarivo, Madagascar from August 27 to September 6, 1997. Events Sports Cultural Medals a ...

, and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

were introduced to the programme instead. Eight sports featured in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

: the four inaugural sports, boxing and table tennis were included. Furthermore,

parasports Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing non-disabled sports, while others have been specifically created f ...

and

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

competitions were held. Neither of these sports were included in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, with traditional style wrestling being demonstrated in addition to the six more established sports. The 2009 programme re-introduced beach volleyball. * Athletics pictogram

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

() : 1989, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023 * Basketball pictogram

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

() : 1989, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023 *

Beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

() : 2001, 2009 *

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

() : 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 *

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

() : 2013, 2023 *

Road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

(demonstration) () : 2017 *

Disabled sports Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing non-disabled sports, while others have been specifically created f ...

() : 2001, 2009, 2017, 2023 *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

() : 1989, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023 * Handball pictogram

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

() : 1994 * Judo pictogram

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

() : 1989, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023 * Table tennis pictogram

Table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

() : 1994, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2023 * Tennis pictogram

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

() : 1997 * Wrestling pictogram

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

() : 1994, 2013, 2017, 2023 * Beach wrestling pictogram

Traditional African wrestling () : 2005 (demonstration), 2013, 2017, 2023

Cultural

The Jeux de la Francophonie are distinctive, if not unique, among international multi-sport competitions for including competitive cultural performances and exhibitions, complete with gold, silver, and bronze medals for winning participants. *

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

() *

Storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...

() * Traditional inspiration dance () *

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

() *

Painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

() *

Photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

() *

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

() In 2001,

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant gr ...

was featured as a demonstration event.

Medal table

An all-time Jeux de la Francophonie Medal Table from

1989 Jeux de la Francophonie The 1989 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''Iers Jeux de la Francophonie'', (French language, French for ''Francophone Games'') were held in Casablanca and Rabat, Morocco, from 8 to 22 July 1989. Sports Medals & Participation Total Th ...

2023 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2023 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''IXes Jeux de la Francophonie'' ( French for ''9th Francophone Games''), informally Kinshasa 2023 (), were a multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 6, 2023, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic ...

, is tabulated below. The table is the sum of the medal tables of the various editions of the Jeux de la Francophonie.

Participation

The Jeux de la Francophonie are open to

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

s and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

s of the 57 member nations, 6 associate member nations and 25 observer nations and governaments of the ''Organisation internationale de la Francophonie''.

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

is represented by three teams:

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

(the only officially bilingual Canadian province), and a team representing the remainder of Canada. The Belgian team is restricted to athletes from the French-speaking areas of the country. Participation has so far varied between 1,700 and 4,000 athletes and artists in the past 20 years.

56 member nations or governments

Five associate member nations

Observer territories, nations, and provinces

References

External links

Official site of the Comité international des jeux de la Francophonie
{{Authority control

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Recurring sporting events established in 1989 Quadrennial sporting events

Editions

Events

Sports

Cultural

Medal table

Participation

56 member nations or governments

Five associate member nations

Observer territories, nations, and provinces

See also

References

External links