President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Population
1,628,603
65,630,692
Life Expectancy
49.110 years
81.460 years
Capital City
Paris
Largest city
Bissau (population: 388,028)
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Human Development Index
0.383
0.955
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
42.4%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
1.9
6.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
14%
19.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 10%
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Languages
Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
40
Location
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
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
Area
36,125 km sq
643,801 km sq
Coastline
350 km
0 km
Climate
tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
