Background: 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.
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. Today, 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.
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- Map:
- 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
- Area:
- • 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:
- • slightly less than twice the size of
Colorado
- Land boundaries:
- • total: 2,892.4 km
• border countries: Andorra 60 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km, Italy 488
km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km, Switzerland 573 km
- Coastline:
- • 3,427 km
- Maritime claims:
- • 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
- Climate:
- • generally cool winters and mild
summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean
- Terrain:
- • mostly flat plains or gently rolling
hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in
east
- Environment—current issues:
- • some forest damage from acid rain;
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 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:
none of the selected agreements
- Geography—note:
- • largest West European nation;
occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral
See also Infoplease.com
Encyclopedia Entry
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- Population:
- • 59,551,227
(July 2001 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- • 0.64
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- • 4.46
deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- • total population:78.9 years
• male: 75.01 years
• female: 83.01 years (2001 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- • 1.75 children born/woman
(2001 est.)
- Nationality:
- • noun: Frenchman(men),
Frenchwoman(women)
• adjective: French
- Ethnic groups:
- • Celtic and Latin with Teutonic,
Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities
- Religions:
- • Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North African workers) 3%,
unaffiliated 4%
- Languages:
- • French 100%, rapidly declining
regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque,
Flemish)
- Literacy:
- • definition: age 15 and over
can read and write
• total population: 99%
• male: 99%
• female: 99% (1980 est.)
National
Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies
Population
and Demographic Information from the French Embassy
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- Country name:
- • conventional long form: French Republic
• conventional short form: France
• local long form: Republique Francaise
• local short form: France
- Data code:
- • FR
- Government type:
- • republic
- National capital:
- • Paris
- Administrative
divisions:
- • 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
- Dependent areas:
- • Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island, French Polynesia, French
Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, New Caledonia,
Tromelin Island, Wallis and Futuna
• note:
the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica
- Independence:
- • 486 (unified by Clovis)
- National holiday:
- • National Day, Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
- 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
- Legal system:
- • civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of administrative but not
legislative acts
- Suffrage:
- • 18 years of age; universal
- 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 appointed
by the president
• election results: Jacques CHIRAC elected president; percent of vote, second
ballot—Jacques CHIRAC 52.64%, Lionel JOSPIN 47.36%
- 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 under a single-member majoritarian
system to serve five-year terms)
• elections: Senate—last held 24 September 1995 (next to be held
September 1998); 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 94, UDF 127, PS 75, PCF 15, other 10; National Assembly—percent of
vote by party - NA; seats by party—PS 245, RPR 140, UDF 109, PCF 37, PRS 13,
Ecologists 8, MDC 7, LDI-MPF 1, FN 1, various left 9, various right 7
- 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 members appointed by the president of the National
Assembly, and three appointed by the president of the Senate; Council of State or Conseil
d'Etat
- 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); Socialist-leaning labor union (Confederation
Francaise Democratique du Travail) or CFDT, about 800,000 members (est.); 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
- 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
- Diplomatic representation from the US:
- chief of mission: Howard
H. Leach
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
French Embassy
Profile of France
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- Economy—overview:
- • France's economy combines modern capitalistic methods with extensive, but
declining, government intervention. The government retains considerable influence over key
segments of each sector, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and
telecommunication firms. It has been gradually relaxing its control over these sectors
since the early 1990s. The government is slowly selling off holdings in France Telecom, in
Air France, and in the insurance, banking, and defense industries. Meanwhile, large tracts
of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and subsidies have combined to make
France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe. Persistently high unemployment
will continue to pose a major problem for the government; a 35-hour work week is being
introduced. France has shied away from cutting exceptionally generous social welfare
benefits or the enormous state bureaucracy, preferring to pare defense spending and raise
taxes to keep the deficit down. France joined 10 other EU members to launch the euro on 1
January 1999.
- GDP:
- • purchasing power parity $1.448 trillion (2000 est.)
• real growth rate: 3.1% (2000 est.)
• per capita:purchasing power parity $24,400 (2000 est.)
• composition by sector: agriculture: 3.3% industry: 26.1% services:
70.6% (1999)
- Inflation rate—consumer price index:
- • 1.7% (2000 est.)
- Labor force:
- • total: 25 million
• by occupation: services 71%, industry 25%, agriculture 4% (1997)
- Labor
Force Information from French Embassy
- Unemployment rate:
- • 9.7% (2000 est.)
- Budget:
- • revenues: $210 billion
• expenditures: $240 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000
est.)
- Exports:
- • total value: $325 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.)
commodities: machinery and transportation equipment,
aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
partners: EU 63% (Germany 16%, UK 10%, Italy 9%, Spain 9%, Belgium-Luxembourg
8%), US 8% (1999)
- Imports:
- • total value: $320 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
• commodities: crude oil, machinery and equipment, agricultural products,
chemicals, iron and steel products
• partners: EU 62% (Germany 16%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 11%, Italy 9%, UK 8%), US 7% (2000 est.)
- Debt—external:
- • $106 billion (1998)
- Economic aid:
- • donor: ODA, $6.3 billion (1997)
- Currency:
- • 1 French franc (F) = 100 centimes
- Exchange
rates:
- • French francs (F) per US $1—0.9867 (January 2000), 0.9386 (1999); French
francs (F) per US$1 - 5.65 (January 1999), 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996),
4.9915 (1995)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced a common currency that is now being used
by financial institutions in some member countries at a fixed rate of 6.55957 French
francs per euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all
transactions in 2002. Exchange rate of Euro on December 31, 2001 per US$—0.890099
French Trade
Offices in the U.S.
Ministry of
Industry
Economic
Information from the French Embassy
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- Military branches:
- • Army
(includes Marines), Navy (includes Naval Air), Air Force (includes Air Defense, National
Gendarmerie
- Military manpower—military age:
- • 18 years of age
- Military manpower—availability:
- • males age 15-49: 14,573,199 (2001 est.)
- Military expenditures—dollar figure:
- • $39.831 billion (FY97)
- Military expenditures—percent of GDP:
- • 2.5% (FY97)
Ministry of Defense
Information
from the French Embassy
Defense
Statistics
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- Disputes—international:
- • Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova
Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island;
Suriname claims part of French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land);
Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu
- Illicit drugs:
- • transshipment point for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest
Asian heroin
FRANCE