Home / All About LETS / LETS Favours / LETS Online
World / Africa / Asia / Oceanea / Europe / Nth America / Sth America

LETS-linkup to
France

Please send corrections or updates to current email address as shown on homepage.

 

 

---

National name:
République Française

President:
Jacques Chirac (1995)

Prime Minister:
Dominique DE VILLEPIN

Area:
211,208 sq mi
(547,030 sq km)

Population (mid-2005 est.): 60,656,178
(average annual rate of natural increase: 0.3%);
birth rate: 12.1/1000;
infant mortality rate: 4.5/1000;
density per sq mi: 282

Capital and largest city (2000 est.):
Paris, 10,150,000
(metro. area)

Other large cities:
Marseille, 801,000;
Lyon, 415,000;
Toulouse, 359,000;
Nice, 342,000;
Strasbourg, 252,000;
Nantes, 245,000;
Bordeaux, 201,000

Monetary units:
French Franc and euro

Languages:
French,
declining regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican)

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

Religions:
Roman Catholic 81%,
Protestant 1.7%,
Muslim 6.9%,
Jewish 1.3%

Literacy rate:
99% (1980)

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. 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.