Statistical information France 1992

France in the World

France - Introduction 1992

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Background: Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France lost many men, much wealth, its extensive empire, and its rank as a dominant nation-state. France has struggled since 1958_arguably with success_to construct a presidential democracy resistant to the severe instabilities inherent in the parliamentary democracy of early 20th century France. In recent years, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe.

France - Geography 1992

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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 547,030 km²
Land:

545,630 km²; includes Corsica and the rest of metropolitan
France, but excludes the overseas administrative divisions

Comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Colorado

Land boundaries: 2,892.4 km; Andorra 60 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km, Switzerland 573 km

Coastline: 3,427 km; mainland 2,783 km, Corsica 644 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 12-24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes:

Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso
Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte;
Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; Seychelles claims Tromelin Island;
Suriname claims part of French Guiana; Mexico claims Clipperton Island; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land)

Climate: generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean

Terrain: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east

Elevation

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, zinc, potash

Land use

Land use: arable land: 32%; permanent crops: 2%; meadows and pastures 23%; forest and woodland 27%; other 16%; includes irrigated 2%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography

France - People 1992

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Population: 57,287,258 (July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)

Nationality:

noun - Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women); adjective -
French

Ethnic groups:

Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African,
Indochinese, and Basque minorities

Languages: French (100% of population; rapidly declining regional dialects (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North
African workers) 1%, unaffiliated 6%

Demographic profile

Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 13 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1000 population (1992)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues:

most of large urban areas and industrial centers in Rhone,
Garonne, Seine, or Loire River basins; occasional warm tropical wind known as mistral

Current issues note: largest West European nation

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 82 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1992)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment

France - Government 1992

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Country name
Conventional long form: French Republic

Government type: republic

Capital: Paris

Administrative divisions:

metropolitan France - 22 regions (regions, singular - region); Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne,
Bretagne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comte, Haute-Normandie,
Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Midi-Pyrenees,
Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie, Poitou-Charentes,
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Rhone-Alpes; note - the 22 regions are subdivided into 96 departments; see separate entries for the overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion) and the territorial collectivities (Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon)

Dependent areas:

Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands,
Juan de Nova Island, New Caledonia, Tromelin Island, Wallis and Futuna

Independence: unified by Clovis in 486, First Republic proclaimed in 1792

National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)

Constitution: 28 September 1958, amended concerning election of president in 1962

Legal system: civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of administrative but not legislative acts

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 18
National Assembly: last held 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held June 1993); results - Second Ballot PS-MRG 48. 7%, RPR 23.1%, UDF 21%, PCF 3.4%, other 3.8%; seats - (577 total) PS 272, RPR 127, UDF 91, UDC 40, PCF 26, independents 21
President:

last held 8 May 1988 (next to be held May 1995); results -
Second Ballot Francois MITTERRAND 54%, Jacques CHIRAC 46%

Senate:

last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held September 1992); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (321 total; 296 metropolitan
France, 13 for overseas departments and territories, and 12 for French nationals abroad) RPR 91, UDF 143 (PR 52, CDS 68, RAD 23), PS 66, PCF 16, independents 2, unknown 3

Communists: 700,000 claimed but probably closer to 150,000; Communist voters, 2.8 million in 1988 election

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court (Cour Constitutionnelle)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

ACCT, AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS,
CCC, CDB, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, FAO,
FZ, GATT, G-5, G-7, G-10, IABD, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO,
ITU, LORCS, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, SPC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNRWA, UN Security Council, UN
Trusteeship Council, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation:

Ambassador Jacques ANDREANI; Chancery at 4,101
Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20,007; telephone (202) 944-6,000; there are
French Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles,
New Orleans, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)

US:

Ambassador Walter J. P. CURLEY; Embassy at 2 Avenue Gabriel, 75,382
Paris Cedex 08, Unit 21,551 (mailing address is APO AE 9,777); telephone 33 (1) 42-96-12-02 or 42-61-80-75; FAX 33 (1) 42-66-97-83; there are US
Consulates General in Bordeaux, Marseille, and Strasbourg

Diplomatic representation

Flag description

three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red; known as the French Tricouleur (Tricolor); the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags, including those of Belgium, Chad,
Ireland, Ivory Coast, and Luxembourg; the official flag for all French dependent areas

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage

France - Economy 1992

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Economy overview:

One of the world's most developed economies, France has substantial agricultural resources and a highly diversified modern industrial sector. Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and subsidies have combined to make it the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe. France is largely self-sufficient in agricultural products and is a major exporter of wheat and dairy products.
The industrial sector generates about one-quarter of GDP, and the growing services sector has become crucial to the economy. After expanding at a rapid 3.8% pace during the period 1988-89, the economy slowed down in 1990, with growth of 1.5% in 1990 and 1.4% in 1991; growth in 1992 is expected to be about 2%. The economy has had difficulty generating enough jobs for new entrants into the labor force, resulting in a high unemployment rate, which rose to almost 10% in 1991. The steadily advancing economic integration within the European Community is a major force affecting the fortunes of the various economic sectors.

GDP: purchasing power equivalent - $1,033.7 billion, per capita $18,300; real growth rate 1.4% (1991 est.)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 4% of GDP (including fishing and forestry; one of the world's top five wheat producers; other principal products - beef, dairy products, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; self-sufficient for most temperate-zone foods; shortages include fats and oils and tropical produce, but overall net exporter of farm products; fish catch of 850,000 metric tons ranks among world's top 20 countries and is all used domestically

Industries: steel, machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics, mining, textiles, food processing, and tourism

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate 1.2% (1990; accounts for 26% of GDP

Labor force: 24,170,000; services 61.5%, industry 31.3%, agriculture 7.3% (1987)
Organized labor: 20% of labor force (est.)

Labor force

Unemployment rate: 9.8% (end 1991)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $229.8 billion; expenditures $246.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $36 billion (1992 budget)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $209.5 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
Commodoties: machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, agricultural products, iron and steel products, textiles and clothing
Partners:

FRG 17.3%, Italy 11.4%, UK 9.2%, Spain 10.3%, Netherlands 9.0%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 9.4%, US 6.1%, Japan 1.9%, former USSR 0.7% (1989 est.)

Imports: $232.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
Commodoties: crude oil, machinery and equipment, agricultural products, chemicals, iron and steel products
Partners: FRG 18.9%, Italy 11.6%, Belgium-Luxembourg 8.8%, Netherlands 8.6%, US 8.0%, Spain 7.9%, UK 7.2%, Japan 4.0%, former USSR 1.4% (1989 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: French francs (F) per US$1 - 5.3801 (January 1992), 5.6421 (1991), 5.4453 (1990), 6.3801 (1989), 5.9569 (1988), 6.0107 (1987)

France - Energy 1992

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Electricity
Production: 109,972,000 kW capacity; 399,318 million kWh produced, 7,200 kWh per capita (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita

France - Communication 1992

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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions

France - Military 1992

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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp:

exchange rate conversion - $33.1 billion, 3.4% of
GDP (1991)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups

France - Transportation 1992

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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports:

472 total, 460 usable; 251 with permanent-surface runways; 3
with runways over 3,659 m; 36
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 136
with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 3,059 km; petroleum products 4,487 km; natural gas 24,746 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

Merchant marine:

128 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,222,539
GRT/5,117,091 DWT; includes 6 short-sea passenger, 11 cargo, 18 container, 1 multifunction large-load carrier, 30 roll-on/roll-off, 34 petroleum tanker, 8 chemical tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 2 specialized tanker, 11 bulk, 1 refrigerated cargo; note - France also maintains a captive register for
French-owned ships in the Kerguelen Islands (French Southern and Antarctic
Lands) and French Polynesia

Civil air: 195 major transport aircraft (1989 est.)

Ports and terminals

France - Transnational issues 1992

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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs