President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general. Prime minister : Freundel Stuart
Population
65,630,692
287,733
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
74.520 years
Capital City
Paris
Bridgetown
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Bridgetown (population: 98,511)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.889
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$23,700 US
Literacy Rate
99%
99.7%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
13.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
12.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
republic
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
30 November 1966 (from UK)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Protestant 63.4% (Anglican 28.3%, Pentecostal 18.7%, Methodist 5.1%, other 11.3%), Roman Catholic 4.2%, other Christian 7%, other 4.8%, none or unspecified 20.6% (2008 est.)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
English
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
manufactures, sugar and molasses, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, electrical components
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$668,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Barbadian dollars (BBD) per US dollar - NA (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004), 2 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
0.800%
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
Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
