President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Jalal Talabani
Population
65,630,692
31,129,225
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
70.850 years
Capital City
Paris
Baghdad
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Baghdad (population: 5,672,510)
Human Development Index
0.955
0
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$3,900 US
Literacy Rate
99%
74.1%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
1.3
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
25.5%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
15.000%
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)
3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration); note - on 28 June 2004 the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi-controlled Government
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Muslim 97% (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other 3%
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Turkoman (a Turkish dialect), Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic), Armenian
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
crude oil 84%, crude materials excluding fuels 8%, food and live animals 5%
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$50,790,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
New Iraqi dinars (NID) per US dollar - 1,176 (2008), 1,255 (2007), 1,466 (2006), 1,475 (2005), 1,890 (second half, 2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
8.600%
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
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait
Area
643,801 km sq
438,317 km sq
Coastline
0 km
58 km
Climate
mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq
