parliamentary democracy (since March 1993) that retains as its chiefs of state a coprincipality; the two princes are the president of France and bishop of Seo de Urgel, Spain, who are represented locally by coprinces' representatives
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Roman Catholic (predominant)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Catalan (official), French, Castilian, Portuguese
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
0
Location
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Southwestern Europe, between France and Spain
Area
643,801 km sq
468 km sq
Coastline
0 km
0 km
Climate
temperate; snowy, cold winters and warm, dry summers
