France Fact Sheet
Last update : August 2007
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: 79.73 (average), 76.1 years (men), 83.54 years (women)
Birth Rate: 11.99 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death Rate: 9.14 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Ethnic Composition: Caucasians (95%), Arabs (4%), Black Africans
Registered foreigners: 4.9 million (2006), among which 880,000 Portuguese, 700,000 Algerians, 600,000 Moroccans, and 350,000 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)
Economy
Monetary unit: Euro (€, EUR)
Fiscal Year: 1 January - 31 December
GDP: US$2.231 trillion (2006 est.)
GNI per capita (Atlas methodology): US$36,550 (2006)
GDP per capita at PPP: US$35,404 (2006)
GDP - real growth rate: 2 % (2006)
Inflation (consumer prices): 1.5 % (2006)
Unemployment: 8.7% (2006)
Public Debt (% of GDP) : 64.7 (2006)
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 communes
Capital: Paris (since 500 C.E.)
Head of State: President Nicolas Sarkozy (since 2007)
Prime Minister: François Fillon (since 2007)
Foreign Minister: Bernard Kouchner (since 2007)
Finance & Economy Minister: Christine Lagarde (since 2007)
Justice Minister: Rachida Dati (since 2007)
Interior Minister: Michelle Alliot-Marie (since 2007)
Miscellaneous
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +1
Electricity: 220V AC, 50Hz
Weights & measures: Metric
Internet domain: .fr
International dialling code: +33
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