$Unique_ID{COW01380} $Pretitle{416} $Title{France Profile of France. Tables} $Subtitle{} $Author{French Embassy, Washington DC} $Affiliation{French Embassy, Washington DC} $Subject{france french million billion table president national population government republic} $Date{1990} $Log{Francois Mitterrand*0138001.scf Table 1.*0138001.tab Table 2.*0138002.tab Table 3.*0138003.tab Table 4.*0138004.tab Table 5.*0138005.tab Table 6.*0138006.tab Table 7.*0138007.tab Table 8.*0138008.tab Table 9.*0138009.tab Table 10.*0138010.tab Table 11.*0138011.tab Table 12.*0138012.tab } Country: France Book: A Paradise For Lovers. Author: French Embassy, Washington DC Affiliation: French Embassy, Washington DC Date: 1990 Profile of France. Tables [See Francois Mitterrand: Courtesy French Information Service, New York.] [See Table 1.: Population] Approximately 75% of the population lives in towns of 2,000 or more. 16.2% lives in cities of 100,000 or more. Immigrants represent 6.6% of the population totaling 3,700,000 people. In population, France ranks 17th worldwide and accounts for approximately 1.3% of the world's 5.03 billion (1988) population Approximately 1,320,000 Frenchmen live abroad, almost half of them in Europe (645,439). The rest live in North America (230,419), Africa and the Middle East (309,732), and Latin America (74,085). GENERAL DESCRIPTION Official Name: Republique Francaise (Republic of France) National Anthem: La Marseillaise Total area: 547,026 km2 France's land surface can be compared to a rough hexagon, 590 miles (950 km) from Dunkirk in the north to the Spanish frontier near Perpignan, or from Brittany in the west to Strasbourg in the east. Climate: France lies between latitudes 42.5 and 51 N and longitudes 5 W to 8 East. This location gives France a temperate climate except in the southern Mediterranean regions. [See Table 2.: Government Information] The countries that border France are Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. Administrative organization: La France Metropolitaine (France and Corsica) 95 Metropolitan departments 4 overseas departments -Guadeloupe -Martinique -French Guiana (South America) -Reunion (Indian Ocean) 4 overseas territories -New Caledonia -Wallis and Futuna -French Polynesia -The French Southern and Antarctic Territories 2 Territorial collectivities -Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (North America) -Mayotte (Indian Ocean) [See Table 3.: Standard of Living (1989)] [See Table 4.: Employment] [See Table 5.: The French work force can be broken down into the following sectors: 1989] [See Table 6.: Average annual salaries in French Francs (1988):] The percentage of French women that hold jobs is 45.6%. France has the highest female work force of any other country in the European Community. These French women occupy more than half of all the white collars jobs in the country. EDUCATION Funding for education represents 6.3% of the French GNP. Enrollment for France excluding all French territories: 6,699,116 million elementary school students (1990) 5,711,701 million secondary education students (1990) 1,684,058 million university-level students (1989) (There were 3,214 American students studying at the university level in 1989). [See Table 7.: Taxes] [See Table 8.: Economy] Foreign trade (merchandise trade only) France is the 4th largest exporter and the 5th largest importer on the foreign trade market. Exports in 1989 reached US $178,967 billion. Imports in 1989 reached US $193,143 billion. The foreign trade deficit in 1989 was -2.221 billion dollars (-14.167 billion FF). For the United States, the foreign trade deficit in 1989 was -129 billion dollars. This figure is 2.5% of America's GNP. [See Table 9.: Foreign trade surpluses] The principal clients of French exports are (1989) West Germany (16.0%), Italy (12.1%), Great Britain (9.6%), Belgium-Luxembourg (8.9%), and the United States (6.6%). The most important suppliers of imports to France are (1989) West Germany (19.3%), Italy (11.5%), Belgium-Luxembourg (9.2%), United States (7.7%), and Great Britain (7.1%). [See Table 10.: Industry] AGRICULTURE Over 60% of French soil is used for agriculture, a figure representing a total of 31,588,000 hectares. 25% is used for forestry. As of 1988, 7% of the working population was involved in agriculture or related industries; as compared to 20% in 1968. There were at that time 4 million farmers, almost half that of 1968. While the actual active labor force involved in agriculture has declined in France, agricultural production has tripled in volume since 1950. Agricultural Exports In 1989, agricultural products accounted for 17.1% of total exports. For this period, exports reached a level of $29.6 billion (189 billion FF) while imports reached $22.1 billion (141 billion FF). Wheat is ranked first in agricultural exports with a registered $2.5 billion (16 billion FF) trade surplus in 1989. 51.1% of arable land is used for cereal production in France. Viticulture (1988): Wine - With a harvest of 58.0m hectoliters, France is ranked 2nd after Italy in world production of wines. Wine and spirits totaled a record $5 billion in 1988, an 6% increase over 1987. Cognac - over 150 million bottles of cognac were exported in 1988; almost 30 million (27%) of these were sold on the American market. Europe is the largest cognac market with 43% of total sales. Beef Farming: Representing 3.6% of the world production of beef, France was ranked 5th with an annual yield of 1.655. Milk production (1988): With a production of 233m hectoliters, France is ranked 3rd in the world. Tourism (1989): France, a land proud of its internationally renowned cuisine and monuments currently registers 42 million visitors annually. Americans represent approximately 2.5 million tourists (1989). National Parks (1989): France maintains 6 national parks (Vanoise, Port-Cros, Pyrenees- Occidentales, Cevennes, Les Ecrins et le Mercantour) representing 1.3 million hectares. In addition to 92 nature reserves there are 25 natural regional parks totaling 3.25 million hectares. TRANSPORTATION: Rail: In 1989, the SNCF (Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer) carried over 830 million passengers and 143 million tons of freight. There is presently 35 thousand km of railroad track in France. TGV: The TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) allows for travel by rail to compete with the comfort and efficiency of the airline industry. For instance, the 423 km distance between Paris and Lyon can be reached in 2 hours at an average speed of 211.5km/hour. The TGV set another world speed record on May 18, 1990 with a registered speed of 320.2 MPH (515.3 KPH). Highway: France maintains one of the finest road and motorway networks in the world. Her 1.5 million kilometers of paved roads are travelled by some 26 million automobiles each year. TELECOMMUNICATIONS: The estimated 1989 budget for the Post, Telephone and Telecommunications Ministry is 181.3 billion FF, thereby constituting the largest budget of the largest civil ministries. It is also one of the largest civilian employers in France. France is updating services by offering mobile telephones in the year to come. 81 phones are already installed on various TGV'S and in 1991, Air France will offer telephones in their airplanes. (1989) public telephone booths 235,000 private telephone lines 25,800,000 Minitel terminals 4,228,000 Exports from the telecommunications industry reached 6.3 billion FF in 1987 (2.7 billion FF in 1980). On the international market, France is the number one producer of telephones. CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION: Of the 44 French-speaking countries, there are approximately 450 million people who speak French in the course of their daily lives. These Francophones represent 8% of the global population, 12% of the world GDP and 20% of world trade. 63,500,000 of the world's Francophones live in Europe in the countries of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Monaco. Museums: France boasts some 5000 museums. Cinema: 1989 - 118.8 million spectateurs (-2.9%) 1988 - 122.4 million spectateurs (-7.6%) 1987 - 132.5 million spectateurs Publishing: Some 37,860 novels were published in 1987. Sports: (1988) Some 38% of the French population participate in one or more sports (21,000,000 people in 1988). The French who participate in a sport at least once a week represent 20% of the population. The most popular sports are skiing, aerobics and gymnastics, biking, and swimming. GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE: The institutions of the Fifth Republic in France are based on the Constitution of 1958, adopted by a referendum of the people on September 28, 1958. While it has been amended several times, the most important amendment was in 1962 when a referendum was organized calling for the election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage. The President of the Republic The President of the Republic is elected for terms of 7 years. The president appoints the prime minister and presides over the cabinet or "government". As the guardian of the Constitution, he promulgates the laws the govern France and he alone has the right to pardon. If he deems it necessary, he can dissolve parliament. He is the head of the armed forces and can take special measures in times of national emergency. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet Appointed by the president, the prime minister is the head of government. He determines policy and is in charge of the administration. His action complements that of the president. The prime minister submits government bills to parliament and is responsible for their execution once they have been voted into law. The cabinet or government determines and conducts the policy of the nation. It has the power to initiate legislation, called "government bills". Each of the various ministries represented in the French cabinet has charge of some important function of the nation. The ministers that head them are appointed by the President of the Republic upon the recommendation of the prime minister and may be assisted by one or more "secretaries of state". The Legislative Branch The laws of France are passed by a parliament consisting of two houses: the National Assembly (577 members), elected by direct suffrage and the Senate (322 members), elected by indirect suffrage. Parliament also has the right to initiate legislation, called "parliamentary bills", and must authorize any declaration of war. By a motion of censure on specific texts concerning general policy, the National Assembly may force the government to resign. The National Assembly and the Senate each elect a president from among their respective members. If the President of the Republic dies or is incapacited, the president of the Senate temporarily takes over all functions of the President of the Republic (except the right to dissolve parliament and the right to call a referendum) until new elections can be held, no more than 35 days later. Parliament sits for two regular session: the first begins on October 2 and lasts for 80 days; the second one opens on April 2 and may not last longer than 90 days. Parliament may also convene in special session when requested to do so by the prime minister or a majority of the members of the National Assembly. [See Table 11.: Composition of the National Assembly as of the Second Ordinary Session of 1989-1990: (April 2, 1990)] [See Table 12.: Outline of the History of France]