President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor
Population
65,630,692
109,011
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
73.300 years
Capital City
Paris
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Saint George's (population: 7,500)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.774
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
99%
96%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
NA
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
21.4%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished in practice
Political System
republic
parliamentary democracy
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 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2%
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
English (official), French patois
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
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago
