President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Tony Tan Prime minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Population
65,630,692
5,353,494
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
83.750 years
Capital City
Paris
Singapore
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Singapore (population: 3,547,810)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.918
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$60,500 US
Literacy Rate
99%
92.5%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
9.2
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
24.5%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Ng Teng Fong & family ($5.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
2.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
republic
parliamentary republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
9 August 1965 (from Malaysian Federation)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, other Christian 9.8%, other 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, other 0.9% (2000 census)
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, mineral fuels
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$23,580,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Singapore dollars (SGD) per US dollar - 1.415 (2008 est.), 1.507 (2007), 1.5889 (2006), 1.6644 (2005), 1.6902 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
4.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
1
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, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
Area
643,801 km sq
697 km sq
Coastline
0 km
193 km
Climate
tropical; hot, humid, rainy; two distinct monsoon seasons - Northeastern monsoon (December to March) and Southwestern monsoon (June to September); inter-monsoon - frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms
