| Country Information |  National name: République Française
President: Jacques Chirac (1995)
Prime Minister: Jean-Pierre Raffarin (2002)
Area: 211,208 sq mi (547,030 sq km)
Monetary units: Euro (formerly French franc)
Population (2005 est.):
- 60,656,178 (growth rate: 0.4%);
- birth rate: 12.2/1000;
- infant mortality rate: 4.3/1000;
- life expectancy: 79.6;
- density per sq mi: 287
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Paris, 11,330,700 (metro. area), 2,110,400 (city proper)
Other large cities:
- Marseille, 820,700;
- Lyon, 443,900;
- Toulouse, 411,800;
- Nice, 332,000;
- Nantes, 282,300;
- Strasbourg, 272,600;
- Bordeaux, 217,000
Languages: French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
Ethnicity/race: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Southeast Asian, and Basque minorities
Religions:
- Roman Catholic 83%-88%,
- Protestant 2%,
- Islam 5%-10%,
- Jewish 1%
Literacy rate: 99% (1980 est.)
Economic summary:
- GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.737 trillion; per capita $28,700.
- Real growth rate: 2.1%.
- Inflation: 2.3%.
- Unemployment: 10.1%.
- Arable land: 34%.
- Agriculture: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish.
- Labor force: 27.7 million; services 71%, industry 25%, agriculture 4% (1997).
- Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism.
- Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, potash, timber, fish.
- Exports: $346.5 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages.
- Imports: $339.9 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals.
- Major trading partners: Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, U.S., Belgium, Netherlands.
Communications:
- Telephones: main lines in use: 34.86 million (yearend 1998); mobile cellular: 11.078 million (yearend 1998).
- Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM about 3,500 (this figure is an approximation and includes many repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998).
- Radios: 55.3 million (1997).
- Television broadcast stations: 584 (plus 9,676 repeaters) (1995).
- Televisions: 34.8 million (1997).
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 62 (2000).
- Internet users: 16.97 million (2002).
Transportation:
 - Railways: total: 32,682 km (2002).
- Highways: total: 894,000 km; paved: 894,000 km (including 11,500 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2000).
- Waterways: 14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled.
- Ports and harbors: Bordeaux, Boulogne, Cherbourg, Dijon, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Lyon, Marseille, Mullhouse, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Saint Nazaire, Saint Malo, Strasbourg.
- Airports: 477 (2002).
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