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Compare World (2007) - France (2001)
Compare World (2007) z France (2001)
| World (2007) | France (2001) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 265 nations, dependent areas, and other entities | 22 regions (regions, singular - region); Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Bretagne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comte, Haute-Normandie, Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Midi-Pyrenees, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Rhone-Alpes
note: metropolitan France is divided into 22 regions (including the "territorial collectivity" of Corse or Corsica) and is subdivided into 96 departments; see separate entries for the overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion) and the overseas territorial collectivities (Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon) |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 27.4% (male 931,551,498/female 875,646,416)
15-64 years: 65.1% (male 2,174,605,518/female 2,124,494,703) 65 years and over: 7.5% (male 217,451,123/female 278,474,917) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
18.68% (male 5,698,604; female 5,426,838) 15-64 years: 65.19% (male 19,424,018; female 19,399,588) 65 years and over: 16.13% (male 3,900,579; female 5,701,600) (2001 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | - | wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish |
| Airports | 49,024 (2006) | 475 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | - | total:
268 over 3,047 m: 14 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 94 914 to 1,523 m: 72 under 914 m: 58 (2000 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
207 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 73 under 914 m: 130 (2000 est.) |
| Area | total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
total:
547,030 sq km land: 545,630 sq km water: 1,400 sq km note: includes only metropolitan France, but excludes the overseas administrative divisions |
| Area - comparative | land area about 16 times the size of the US | slightly less than twice the size of Colorado |
| Background | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). | Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France suffered extensive losses in its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Nevertheless, France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. Since 1958, it has constructed a presidential democracy resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier parliamentary democracies. In recent years, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the advent of the euro in January 1999. Presently, France is at the forefront of European states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European defense and security apparatus. |
| Birth rate | 20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 12.1 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Budget | - | revenues:
$210 billion expenditures: $240 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
| Capital | - | Paris |
| Climate | a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates | generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral |
| Coastline | 356,000 km
note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan |
3,427 km |
| Constitution | - | 28 September 1958, amended concerning election of president in 1962, amended to comply with provisions of EC Maastricht Treaty in 1992; amended to tighten immigration laws 1993 |
| Country name | - | conventional long form:
French Republic conventional short form: France local long form: Republique Francaise local short form: France |
| Currency | - | French franc (FRF); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in France at a fixed rate of 6.55957 French francs per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002 |
| Death rate | 8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 9.09 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Debt - external | $43.42 trillion
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (2004 est.) |
$106 billion (1998) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate Howard H. LEACH; Charge d'Affaires Douglas L. McELHANEY embassy: 2 Avenue Gabriel, 75382 Paris Cedex 08 mailing address: PSC 116, APO AE 09777 telephone: [33] (1) 43-12-22-22 FAX: [33] (1) 42 66 97 83 consulate(s) general: Marseille, Strasbourg |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission:
Ambassador Francois V. BUJON DE L'ESTANG chancery: 4101 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 944-6000 FAX: [1] (202) 944-6166 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco |
| Disputes - international | stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 319 international land boundaries separate 193 independent states and 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation | Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu |
| Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $6.3 billion (1997) |
| Economic aid - recipient | ODA, $106.4 billion (2005) | - |
| Economy - overview | Global output rose by 5% in 2006, led by China (10.5%), India (8.5%), and Russia (6.6%). The 14 other successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 7%-10% range of growth. Growth results posted by the major industrial countries varied from no gain for Italy to a strong gain by the United States (3.4%). The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, notably the EU. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued through 2006. | France is in the midst of transition, from an economy that featured extensive government ownership and intervention to one that relies more on market mechanisms. The government remains dominant in some sectors, particularly power, public transport, and defense industries, but it has been relaxing its control since the mid-1980s. The Socialist-led government has sold off part of its holdings in France Telecom, Air France, Thales, Thomson Multimedia, and the European Aerospace and Defense Company (EADS). The telecommunications sector is gradually being opened to competition. France's leaders remain committed to a capitalism in which they maintain social equity by means of laws, tax policies, and social spending that reduce income disparity and the impact of free markets on public health and welfare. The government has done little to cut generous unemployment and retirement benefits which impose a heavy tax burden and discourage hiring. It has also shied from measures that would dramatically increase the use of stock options and retirement investment plans; such measures would boost the stock market and fast-growing IT firms as well as ease the burden on the pension system, but would disproportionately benefit the rich. In addition to the tax burden, the reduction of the work week to 35-hours has drawn criticism for lowering the competitiveness of French companies. |
| Electricity - consumption | 15.81 trillion kWh (2005 est.) | 398.752 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - exports | 619.8 billion kWh (2005) | 68.7 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - imports | 633.2 billion kWh (2005) | 5 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production | 17.42 trillion kWh (2005 est.) | 497.26 billion kWh (1999) |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
9.69% hydro: 14.39% nuclear: 75.43% other: 0.49% (1999) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
lowest point:
Rhone River delta -2 m highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m |
| Environment - current issues | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming becoming a greater concern | some forest damage from acid rain (major forest damage occurred as a result of severe December 1999 windstorm); air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff |
| Environment - international agreements | - | party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
| Ethnic groups | - | Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities |
| Exchange rates | - | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.65 (January 1999), 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996) |
| Executive branch | - | chief of state:
President Jacques CHIRAC (since 17 May 1995) head of government: Prime Minister Lionel JOSPIN (since 3 June 1997) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the suggestion of the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 23 April and 7 May 1995 (next to be held by May 2002); prime minister nominated by the National Assembly majority and appointed by the president election results: Jacques CHIRAC elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Jacques CHIRAC (RPR) 52.64%, Lionel JOSPIN (PS) 47.36% |
| Exports | 63.76 million bbl/day (2004) | $325 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services | machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages |
| Exports - partners | US 15.1%, Germany 7.4%, China 5.9%, France 4.6%, UK 4.5%, Japan 4.4% (2006) | EU 63% (Germany 16%, UK 10%, Spain 9%, Italy 9%, Belgium-Luxembourg 8%), US 8% (1999) |
| Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
| Flag description | - | three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red; known as the French Tricouleur (Tricolor); the design and/or colors are similar to a number of other flags, including those of Belgium, Chad, Ireland, Cote d'Ivoire, Luxembourg, and Netherlands; the official flag for all French dependent areas |
| GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $1.448 trillion (2000 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2004 est.) |
agriculture:
3.3% industry: 26.1% services: 70.6% (1999) |
| GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $24,400 (2000 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 5.3% (2006 est.) | 3.1% (2000 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | - | 46 00 N, 2 00 E |
| Geography - note | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe | largest West European nation |
| Heliports | 1,359 (2007) | 3 (2000 est.) |
| Highways | - | total:
892,900 km paved: 892,900 km (including 9,900 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1999) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 30.2% (2002 est.) |
lowest 10%:
2.8% highest 10%: 25.1% (1995) |
| Illicit drugs | cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2005 amounted to 208,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production rose to 900 from 645 metric tons in 2005 - partially due to improved methodologies used to calculate levels of production; Colombia conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380 metric tons
opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation reached 208,500 hectares in 2005; potential opium production of 4,990 metric tons was only a 9% decrease over 2004's highest total recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 90% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 577 metric tons of heroin in 2005 |
transshipment point for and consumer of South American cocaine, Southwest Asian heroin, and European synthetics |
| Imports | 63.18 million bbl/day (2004) | $320 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services | machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals |
| Imports - partners | China 9.8%, Germany 8.8%, US 8.5%, Japan 5.6% (2006) | EU 62% (Germany 16%, Belgium-Luxembourg 11%, Italy 9%, UK 8%), US 7% (2000 est.) |
| Independence | - | 486 (unified by Clovis) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 3% (2003 est.) | 3.5% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems | machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 43.52 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 46.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
4.46 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third World countries (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.) | 1.7% (2000 est.) |
| International organization participation | - | ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, FZ, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, InOC, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCL, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 62 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 2,770,980 sq km (2003) | 16,300 sq km (1995 est.) |
| Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court of Appeals or Cour de Cassation (judges are appointed by the president from nominations of the High Council of the Judiciary); Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionnel (three members appointed by the president, three appointed by the president of the National Assembly, and three appointed by the president of the Senate); Council of State or Conseil d'Etat |
| Labor force | 3.001 billion (2005 est.) | 25 million (2000) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 40.9%
industry: 20.6% services: 38.5% (2002 est.) |
services 71%, industry 25%, agriculture 4% (1997) |
| Land boundaries | the land boundaries in the world total 250,708 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
note: 44 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
total:
2,889 km border countries: Andorra 56.6 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km, Switzerland 573 km |
| Land use | arable land: 13.31%
permanent crops: 4.71% other: 81.98% (2005) |
arable land:
33% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 20% forests and woodland: 27% other: 18% (1993 est.) |
| Languages | Mandarin Chinese 13.69%, Spanish 5.05%, English 4.84%, Arabic 3.23%, Hindi 2.82%, Portuguese 2.77%, Bengali 2.68%, Russian 2.27%, Japanese 1.99%, Standard German 1.49%, Wu Chinese 1.21% (2004 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only and therefore do not add to 100% |
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) |
| Legal system | all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court | civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of administrative but not legislative acts |
| Legislative branch | - | bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (321 seats - 296 for metropolitan France, 13 for overseas departments and territories, and 12 for French nationals abroad; members are indirectly elected by an electoral college to serve nine-year terms; elected by thirds every three years) and the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (577 seats; members are elected by popular vote under a single-member majoritarian system to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2001); National Assembly - last held 25 May-1 June 1997 (next to be held NA May 2002) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR 99, UDC 52, DL 47, PS 78, PCF 16, other 29; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PS 245, RPR 140, UDF 109, PCF 37, PRS 13, MEI 8, MDC 7, LDI-MPF 1, FN 1, various left 9, various right 7 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 65.82 years
male: 63.89 years female: 67.84 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
78.9 years male: 75.01 years female: 83.01 years (2001 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82% male: 87% female: 77% note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (1980 est.) |
| Location | - | Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain |
| Map references | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World | Europe |
| Maritime claims | a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM (does not apply to the Mediterranean) territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Merchant marine | - | total:
46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 942,333 GRT/1,304,754 DWT ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 4, chemical tanker 6, combination bulk 1, container 1, liquefied gas 3, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 17, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 3 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 1 (2000 est.) |
| Military branches | - | Army (includes Marines), Navy (includes Naval Air), Air Force (includes Air Defense), National Gendarmerie |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $39.831 billion (FY97) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.) | 2.5% (FY97) |
| Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
14,573,199 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
12,127,793 (2001 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
390,064 (2001 est.) |
| National holiday | - | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
| Nationality | - | noun:
Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women) adjective: French |
| Natural hazards | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) | flooding; avalanches |
| Natural resources | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address | coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, potash, timber, fish |
| Net migration rate | - | 0.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | crude oil 3,059 km; petroleum products 4,487 km; natural gas 24,746 km |
| Political parties and leaders | - | Citizens Movement or MdC [Jean Pierre CHEVENEMENT]; French Communist Party or PCF [Robert HUE]; Independent Ecological Movement or MEI [Antoine WAECHTER]; Left Radical Party or PRG (previously Radical Socialist Party or PRS and the Left Radical Movement or MRG) [Jean-Michel BAYLET]; Liberal Democracy or DL (originally Republican Party or PR) [Alain MADELIN]; Movement for France or MPF [Philippe DEVILLIERS]; National Front or FN [Jean-Marie LE PEN]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michelle ALLIOT-MARIE]; Socialist Party or PS [Francois HOLLANDE]; Union for French Democracy or UDF (coalition of UDC, FD, RRRS, PPDF) [Francois BAYROU]; Union of the Center or UDC [leader NA] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Communist-controlled labor union (Confederation Generale du Travail) or CGT, nearly 2.4 million members (claimed); independent labor union or Force Ouvriere, 1 million members (est.); independent white-collar union or Confederation Generale des Cadres, 340,000 members (claimed); National Council of French Employers (Conseil National du Patronat Francais) or CNPF or Patronat; Socialist-leaning labor union (Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail) or CFDT, about 800,000 members (est.) |
| Population | 6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.) | 59,551,227 (July 2001 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
| Population growth rate | 1.167% (2007 est.) | 0.37% (2001 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | - | Bordeaux, Boulogne, Cherbourg, Dijon, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Lyon, Marseille, Mullhouse, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Saint Nazaire, Saint Malo, Strasbourg |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA | AM 41, FM about 3,500 (this figure is an approximation and includes many repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998) |
| Radios | - | 55.3 million (1997) |
| Railways | total: 1,370,782 km (2006) | total:
31,939 km (31,939 km are operated by French National Railways (SNCF); 14,176 km of SNCF routes are electrified and 12,132 km are double- or multiple-tracked) standard gauge: 31,840 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 99 km 1.000-m gauge (1998) |
| Religions | Christians 33.03% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.8%, Orthodox 3.42%, Anglicans 1.23%), Muslims 20.12%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.89%, Sikhs 0.39%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 12.61%, non-religious 12.03%, atheists 2.36% (2004 est.) | Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North African workers) 3%, unaffiliated 4% |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.064 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.781 male(s)/female total population: 1.014 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
general assessment:
highly developed domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay; extensive introduction of fiber-optic cable; domestic satellite system international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (with total of 5 antennas - 2 for Indian Ocean and 3 for Atlantic Ocean), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region); HF radiotelephone communications with more than 20 countries |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 1,263,367,600 (2005) | 34.86 million (yearend 1998) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,168,433,600 (2005) | 11.078 million (yearend 1998) |
| Television broadcast stations | NA | 584 (plus 9,676 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean | mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east |
| Total fertility rate | 2.59 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.75 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2006 est.) | 9.7% (2000 est.) |
| Waterways | 671,886 km (2004) | 14,932 km (6,969 km heavily traveled) |
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