Last update : June 2012

Demography

Population: 64.1 million (Metropolitan : 61.5 million)

Population Density (inhabitant/km2): 93.5 (national average), 113 (Metropolitan average), 20 605 (Paris - highest), 2 (Guyane - lowest)

Largest Cities (pop. in million): Paris (11m), Lyon (1.65m), Marseille (1.51m), Lille (1.14m), Toulouse (1.1m)

Home Ownership: 55%

Urban Population: 76.7%

Life Expectancy: 80.98 (average), 77.79 years (men), 84.33 years (women) (2009 est.)

Birth Rate: 12.6 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

Death Rate: 8.6 deaths/1,000 population (2011 est.)

Ethnic Composition: Caucasians (95%), Arabs (4%), Black Africans

Registered foreigners: 5.2 million (2007), among which 702,000 Algerians, 645,000 Moroccans, 644,000 sub-Saharan Africans, 576,000 Portuguese, and 323,000 Italians

Official Language: French (+ 77 non-official regional languages)

Major Religions: Roman Catholicism, Agnosticism, Atheism

Geography

Area: 674,843 km² (Metropolitan : 551,695 km²)

Coastline (Metropolitan) : 3,427 km

Highest Peak: Mont Blanc : (4,808m)

Lowest Elevation: Rhone River delta (-2m)

Modern regions and departments of France

Traditional provinces of France (until 1790)

Economy

Monetary unit: Euro (€, EUR)

Fiscal Year: 1 January - 31 December

GDP (nominal - IMF): US$2.80 trillion (2011)

GNI per capita (Atlas methodology): US$42,370 (2010)

GDP per capita at PPP: US$35,156 (2011 - IMF)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.7 % (2011)

Inflation (consumer prices): 1.5 % (2010)

Unemployment: 10.2% (April 2012)

Public Debt (% of GDP) : 85.8 (April 2012)

Main Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism

Main Exports: machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages

Main Imports: machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals

Main Trading Partners: Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, UK, USA

Government

Type of Government: Republic

Parliamentary System : bicameral Parliament (National Assembly and Senate)

Administrative Division : 26 regions, regions, 100 departments, 36,682 municipalities

Capital: Paris (since 500 C.E.)

Head of State: President François Hollande (since 2012)

Miscellaneous

Time Zone: GMT/UTC +1

Electricity: 230V AC, 50Hz

Weights & measures: Metric

Internet domain: .fr

International dialling code: +33