Francophonie, as the study of literature of the areas of the world outside of the metropolitan France with French as a common language of communication, is seen more and more nowadays in North American universities in general, and in those of the United States in particular. Nevertheless, one cannot but recognize that the term “francophonie,” which was introduced for the first time around the XIXth century, is far from an academic study of literature and culture, as we see it today in North America, prompting the following questions: What is francophonie? How is the francophonie in North America different from the francophonie in other parts of the world, especially in Africa, the largest Francophone region of the world in terms of the number of speakers. This study will start with the multidimensional aspects of the definitions of the term francophonie, and end with a focus on North America in general, and the United States in particular where the term represents an academic field, and reveals as well a unique aspect in higher institutions with major challenges that need to be met nowadays.