France

Official Name:

French Republic (France)

Area:

643.427 km ² ; 547.030 km ² (metropolitan France)

Population (2007):

63.713.926 inhabitants

Coastline:

4.668 km

Capital:

Paris

Maritime Ports and terminals:

Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe), Bordeaux, Calais, Degrad de Cannes (French Guiana), Dunkerque, Fort-de-France (Martinique), La Pallice, La Trinite (Martinique), Le Havre, Le Port (Reunion), Marin (Martinique), Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe), Rouen, Strasbourg

Maritime claims:

• Territorial sea: 12 nm
• Contiguous zone: 24 nm
• Exclusive economic zone:200 nm (does not apply to the Mediterranean)
• Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Political divisions:

26 regions (regions, singular - region); Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie (Lower Normandy), Bourgogne, Bretagne (Brittany), Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse (Corsica), Franche-Comte, Guadeloupe, Guyane (French Guiana), Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy), Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Martinique, Reunion, Midi-Pyrenees, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Rhone-Alpes Note: France is divided into 22 metropolitan regions (including the "territorial collectivity" of Corse or Corsica) and 4 overseas regions and is subdivided into 96 metropolitan departments and 4 overseas departments

Language(s):

French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois

National holiday:

Fete de la Federation, 14 July (1790); Note - although often incorrectly referred to as Bastille Day, the celebration actually commemorates the holiday held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille (on 14 July 1789) and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy; other names for the holiday are Fete Nationale (National Holiday) and quatorze juillet (14th of July)

Nationality:

Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women)

Official time:

UTC 1. Daylight saving time: 1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Member of:

ABEDA, ACCT, AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS (observer), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FZ, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IFTU, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SECI (observer), SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Internet country code:

.fr

Economic Profile

Currency:

Euro (EUR)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

USD31.100 (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

(2006 est.) USD 2.149.000.000.000

PIB (Real growth rate:

2,1% (2006 est.)

GDP (Composition by sector): (2006 est.)

• Agriculture: 2,2%
• Industry: 20,6%
• Services: 77,2%

Labor force:

27.880.000 (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation (1999):

• Agriculture 4,1%
• Industry: 24,4%
• Services 71,5%

Unemployment rate:

8,7% (2006 est.)

Inflation rate (Consumer prices):

1,5% (2006 est)

Investment (Gross Fixed):

20% del PIB (2006 est.)

Budget:

• Revenues: USD1.150.000.000.000
• Expenditures: USD1.211.000.000.000

Public debt:

64,7% of GDP (2006 est.)

Current account balance:

USD -38.000.000.000 (2006 est.)

Exports:

USD 490.000.000.000 FOB (2006 est.)

Exports - Commodities:

Machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beveragest

Exports - Partners:

Germany 14,7%, Spain 9,7%, Italy 8,7%, UK 8,3%, Belgium 7,1%, US 7,1% (2005

Imports:

USD 529.100.000.000 FOB (2006 est.)

Imports - Commodities:

Machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals

Imports - partners:

Germany 18,9%, Belgium 10,7%, Italy 8,3%, Spain 7%, Netherlands 6,6%, UK 5,9%, US 5,1% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

USD 98.540.000.000 (2006 est.)

Debt - external:

USD 3.461.000.000.000 (2006)