President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Iolu Abil Prime minister : Sato Kilman
Population
65,630,692
256,155
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
65.060 years
Capital City
Paris
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Port-Vila (population: 35,901)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.686
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
99%
74%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
2.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
3.8%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
parliamentary republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Presbyterian 31.4%, Anglican 13.4%, Roman Catholic 13.1%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, other Christian 13.8%, indigenous beliefs 5.6% (including Jon Frum cargo cult), other 9.6%, none 1%, unspecified 1.3% (1999 Census)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
local languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English 1.9%, French 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census)
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
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
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Area
643,801 km sq
12,189 km sq
Coastline
0 km
2,528 km
Climate
tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds from May to October; moderate rainfall from November to April; may be affected by cyclones from December to April
