President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Population
65,630,692
42,192,494
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
77.140 years
Capital City
Paris
Buenos Aires
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Buenos Aires (population: 13,076,300)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.86
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$17,700 US
Literacy Rate
99%
97.2%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
2.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
39.8%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Gregorio Perez Companc & family ($1.8bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
7.200%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$136,800,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Argentine pesos (ARS) per US dollar - 3.1636 (2008 est.), 3.1105 (2007), 3.0543 (2006), 2.9037 (2005), 2.9233 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
0.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
6
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
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Area
643,801 km sq
2,780,400 km sq
Coastline
0 km
4,989 km
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
