France 
Facts
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 hybrid presidential-parliamentary governing system resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier more purely parliamentary administrations. In recent years, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of a common exchange currency, the euro, in January 1999.
Location:
Area land: 640,053 sq km; 549,970 sq km (metropolitan France)
Area water: 3,374 sq km; 1,530 sq km (metropolitan France)
Coastline:
Country name conventional long form: French Republic
Country name conventional short form: France
Country name former: French Republic
Population: 65,102,719
Age structure: 0-14 years: 18.5% (male 6,180,905/female 5,886,849); 15-64 years: 64.7% (male 21,082,175/female 21,045,867); 65 years and over: 16.8% (male 4,578,089/female 6,328,834) (2011 est.);
Population growth rate: 0.5% (2011 est.)
Birth rate: 12.29 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate: 8.76 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.051 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female; total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2011 est.);
Infant mortality rate: total: 3.29 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 3.61 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 2.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.);
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 81.19 years; male: 78.02 years; female: 84.54 years (2011 est.);
Total fertility rate: 1.96 children born/woman (2011 est.);
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2009 est.);
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 150,000 (2009 est.);
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,700 (2009 est.);
Nationality: noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women); adjective: French;
Ethnic groups: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities; overseas departments: black, white, mulatto, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian;
Religions: Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4%; overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan;
Languages: French (official) 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish); overseas departments: French, Creole patois;
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 99%; male: 99%; female: 99% (2003 est.);
GDP (purchasing power parity): $2.16 trillion (2010 est.); $2.126 trillion (2009 est.); $2.18 trillion (2008 est.);
GDP (official exchange rate): $2.555 trillion (2010 est.);
GDP - real growth rate: 1.6% (2010 est.); -2.5% (2009 est.); 0.1% (2008 est.);
GDP - per capita (PPP): $33,300 (2010 est.); $33,000 (2009 est.); $34,000 (2008 est.);
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.8%; industry: 19.2%; services: 79% (2010 est.);
Population below poverty line: 6.2% (2004);
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3%; highest 10%: 24.8% (2004);
Labor force: 28.21 million (2010 est.);
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 3.8%; industry: 24.3%; services: 71.8% (2005);
Unemployment rate: 9.5% (2010 est.); 9.1% (2009 est.);
Budget: revenues: $1.241 trillion; expenditures: $1.441 trillion (2010 est.);
Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism;
Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (2010 est.);
Electricity - production: 535.7 billion kWh (2007 est.);
Electricity - consumption: 447.2 billion kWh (2007 est.);
Electricity - exports: 58.69 billion kWh (2008 est.);
Electricity - imports: 10.68 billion kWh (2008 est.);
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
Displaying 22 to 27 of 27 items.
Paris Match
(Mass-circulation weekly magazine), Paris
http://www.parismatch.com/
Politis
(alternative left-wing weekly magazine), Paris
http://www.politis.fr/
Riviera Times, The
(Independent), Nice
http://www.rivieratimes.com/
Science et Vie
(Science monthly), Paris
http://www.science-et-vie.com/
SudOuest
http://www.sudouest.fr/
Valeurs Actuelles
(Conservative business weekly), Paris
http://www.valeursactuelles.com/
France in the News
Displaying 65 to 68 of 69 items.
New Year's Wishes
Le Monde's editors look back on an anxious 2002 and offer their wishes for 2003.
France: The End of a Dream
French press reaction to the terrorist attacks on the United States
The Truth About Algeria
World Press Review - Regional Reports - L'Affaire Aussaresses - France's national guilt over war crimes in Algeria.
Writerly Contradictions
Distinguished by a life of military valor and decades of writing that marked the courage of his convictions, Algerian-born writer Jules Roy died in June at 92. Roy was one of France’s most productive writers, and one of the sharpest critics of its war against Algerian independence.
