French Republic

National name: République Française

President: Jacques Chirac (1995)

Prime Minister: Dominique de Villepin (2005)

Land area: 210,668 sq mi (545,630 sq km); total area: 211,209 sq mi (547,030 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 60,876,136 (growth rate: 0.4%); birth rate: 12.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.2/1000; life expectancy: 79.7; density per sq mi: 289

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Paris, 9,854,000 (metro. area), 2,110,400 (city proper)

Other large cities: Marseille, 820,700; Lyon, 443,900; Toulouse, 411,800; Nice, 332,000; Nantes, 282,300; Strasbourg, 272,600; Bordeaux, 217,000

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly French franc)

Languages: French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Ethnicity/race: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Southeast Asian, and Basque minorities

Religions: Roman Catholic 83%–88%, Protestant 2%, Islam 5%–10%, Jewish 1%, unaffiliated 4%

Literacy rate: 99% (1980 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $1.822 trillion; per capita $30,000. Real growth rate: 1.6%. Inflation: 1.9%. Unemployment: 10%. Arable land: 34%. Agriculture: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 27.72 million; services 71.5%, industry 24.4%, agriculture 4.1% (1999). Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism. Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorospar, gypsum, timber, fish. Exports: $443.4 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages. Imports: $473.3 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals. Major trading partners: Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Belgium, U.S., Netherlands (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 33,905,400 (2003); mobile cellular: 41,683,100 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM about 3,500 (this figure is an approximation and includes many repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 584 (plus 9,676 repeaters) (1995). Internet hosts: 2,396,761 (2004). Internet users: 21.9 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 29,519 km (2004). Highways: total: 893,100 km; paved: 893,100 km (including 12,000 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2002). Waterways: 8,500 km (1,686 km accessible to craft of 3,000 metric tons) (2000). Ports and harbors: Bordeaux, Calais, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg. Airports: 478 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; France asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew and Hunter Islands, east of New Caledonia.

 

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