President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Head of state: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
Population
65,630,692
408,786
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
76.370 years
Capital City
Paris
Bandar Seri Begawan
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Bandar Seri Begawan (population: 64,409)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.919
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$50,000 US
Literacy Rate
99%
92.7%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
0%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
2.700%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
republic
constitutional sultanate
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
1 January 1984 (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
Muslim (official) 67%, Buddhist 13%, Christian 10%, other (includes indigenous beliefs) 10%
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Malay (official), English, Chinese
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
crude oil, natural gas, garments
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$0 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Bruneian dollars (BND) per US dollar - NA (2007), 1.5886 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
4.500%
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
Southeastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and Malaysia
