President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Population
28,394,180
65,630,692
Life Expectancy
72.770 years
81.460 years
Capital City
Tashkent (Toshkent)
Paris
Largest city
Tashkent (population: 1,978,030)
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Human Development Index
0.701
0.955
GDP per capita
$3,300 US
$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
99.3%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
1.8
6.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.4%
19.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
1.000%
9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
republic
Independence date
1 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3%
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Languages
Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1%
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Exports
cotton, gold, energy products, mineral fertilizers, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, textiles, food products, machinery, automobiles
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$8,570,000,000 $
$5,633,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Uzbekistani soum (UZS) per US dollar - 1,317 (2008 est.), 1,263.8 (2007), 1,219.8 (2006), 1,020 (2005), 971.265 (2004)
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
3.500%
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
40
Location
Central Asia, north of Afghanistan
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
447,400 km sq
643,801 km sq
Coastline
0 km
0 km
Climate
mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east
