President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Head of state: Emperor Akihito Prime minister: Yoshihiko Noda
Population
65,630,692
127,368,088
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
83.910 years
Capital City
Paris
Tokyo
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Tokyo (population: 8,336,600)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.956
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$35,200 US
Literacy Rate
99%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
7.3
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
12.3%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Tadashi Yanai & family ($6.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
4.600%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
republic
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
660 B.C. (traditional date of the founding of the nation by Emperor JIMMU)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Japanese
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$2,719,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
yen (JPY) per US dollar - 103.58 (2008 est.), 117.99 (2007), 116.18 (2006), 110.22 (2005), 108.19 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
0.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
25
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
Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Area
643,801 km sq
377,915 km sq
Coastline
0 km
29,751 km
Climate
varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
