President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Blaise Compaore
Population
65,630,692
17,275,115
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
54.070 years
Capital City
Paris
Ouagadougou
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Ouagadougou (population: 1,086,500)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.372
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$1,500 US
Literacy Rate
99%
21.8%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
3.5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
15.3%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
77.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
republic
parliamentary republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
5 August 1960 (from France)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian (mainly Roman Catholic) 10%
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
cotton, livestock, gold
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$2,335,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar 438.77 (2008 est.), 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
1.200%
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
