President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Maxwell Richards Prime minister: Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Population
65,630,692
1,226,383
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
71.670 years
Capital City
Paris
Port-of-Spain
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Chaguanas (population: 72,159)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.833
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$20,300 US
Literacy Rate
99%
98.6%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
3.6
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
33.3%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
6.400%
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)
31 August 1962 (from UK)
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 26%, Hindu 22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%, Pentecostal 6.8%, Muslim 5.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4%, other Christian 5.8%, other 10.8%, unspecified 1.4%, none 1.9% (2000 census)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish, Chinese
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
petroleum and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, ammonia, urea, steel products, beverages, cereal and cereal products, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus fruit, vegetables, flowers
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$4,483,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TTD) per US dollar - 6.3228 (2008 est.), 6.3275 (2007), 6.3107 (2006), 6.2842 (2005), 6.299 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
0.300%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
2
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, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
