President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Head of state: Prime minister - elect : Yingluck Shinawatra
Population
65,630,692
67,091,089
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
73.830 years
Capital City
Paris
Bangkok
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Bangkok (population: 5,104,480)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.786
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$9,500 US
Literacy Rate
99%
92.6%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
3.5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
12.7%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Chaleo Yoovidhya ($3.7bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
0.700%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
republic
constitutional monarchy
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
1238 (traditional founding date; never colonized)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Buddhist 94.6%, Muslim 4.6%, Christian 0.7%, other 0.1% (2000 census)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
textiles and footwear, fishery products, rice, rubber, jewelry, automobiles, computers and electrical appliances
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$115,600,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
baht per US dollar - 33.37 (2008 est.), 34.52 (2007), 37.882 (2006), 40.22 (2005), 40.222 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
1.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
4
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, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma
Area
643,801 km sq
513,120 km sq
Coastline
0 km
3,219 km
Climate
tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid
