France
France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. It plays an influential global role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the G-7, the G-20, the EU, and other multilateral organizations. France rejoined NATO's integrated military command structure in 2009, reversing DE GAULLE's 1966 decision to withdraw French forces from NATO. Since 1958, it has constructed a hybrid presidential-parliamentary governing system resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier, more purely parliamentary administrations. In recent decades, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of a common currency, the euro, in January 1999. In the early 21st century, five French overseas entities - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Reunion - became French regions and were made part of France proper.
Demography and Population
Population
68,084,217 (July 2021 est.) note: the above figure is for metropolitan France and five overseas regions; the metropolitan France population is 62,814,233Ethnic groups
Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African (Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian), Indochinese, Basque minorities note: overseas departments: Black, White, Mulatto, East Indian, Chinese, AmerindianLanguages
French (official) 100%, declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish, Occitan, Picard note - overseas departments: French, Creole patois, Mahorian (a Swahili dialect)Territories
metropolitan France: 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;
French Guiana: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname;
Guadeloupe: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Puerto Rico;
Martinique: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago;
Mayotte: Southern Indian Ocean, island in the Mozambique Channel, about halfway between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique;
Reunion: Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Area
total: 643,801 sq km ; 551,500 sq km (metropolitan France) land: 640,427 sq km ; 549,970 sq km (metropolitan France) water: 3,374 sq km ; 1,530 sq km (metropolitan France) note: the first numbers include the overseas regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and ReunionLand boundaries
total: 3,956 km border countries (8): Andorra 55 km, Belgium 556 km, Germany 418 km, Italy 476 km, Luxembourg 69 km, Monaco 6 km, Spain 646 km, Switzerland 525 km metropolitan France - total: 2751 French Guiana - total: 1205Military
Military and security forces
French Armed Forces (Forces Armées Françaises): Army (Armee de Terre; includes Foreign Legion), Navy (Marine Nationale), Air and Space Force (Armee de l’Air et de l’Espace includes Air Defense), National Guard (Reserves), National Gendarmerie (paramilitary police force that is a branch of the Armed Forces but under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior; also has additional duties to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice) (2021)Military and security service personnel strengths
the French military has approximately 205,000 active duty troops (115,000 Army; 35,000 Navy; 40,000 Air Force; 15,000 other, such as joint staffs, medical service, etc. approximately 100,000 National Gendarmerie; approximately 75,000 National Guard (2021)Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the French military's inventory consists almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems, including some jointly-produced with other European countries; there is a limited mix of armaments from other Western countries, particularly the US; France has a defense industry capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems (2021)Military deployments
5,100 Burkina Faso/Chad/Mali/Niger (Operation Barkhane, Task Force Takuba; note - in July 2021, France announced that it would withdraw about 2,000 personnel from this force by the beginning of 2022 approximately 300 Central African Republic; 900 Cote D'Ivoire; 1,400 Djibouti; 300 Baltics (NATO 2,000 French Guyana; 900 French Polynesia; 1,000 French West Indies; 350 Gabon; est. 500 Middle East (Iraq/Jordan/Syria 950 Lebanon (UNIFIL 1,400-1,500 New Caledonia; 1,700 Reunion Island; 350 Senegal; 650 United Arab Emirates (2020-2021)Military - note
France was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty), which created NATO in 1949; in 1966, President Charles DE GAULLE decided to withdraw France from NATO’s integrated military structure, reflecting his desire for greater military independence, particularly vis-à-vis the US, and the refusal to integrate France’s nuclear deterrent or accept any form of control over its armed forces; it did, however, sign agreements with NATO setting out procedures in the event of Soviet aggression; beginning with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, France distanced itself from the 1966 decision and has regularly contributed troops to NATO’s military operations, being one of the largest troop-contributing states; in 2009 it officially announced its decision to fully participate in NATO structures in 2010, France and the UK signed a declaration on defense and security cooperation that included greater military interoperability and a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF), a deployable, combined Anglo-French military force for use in a wide range of crisis scenarios, up to and including high intensity combat operations; the CJEF has no standing forces, but would be available at short notice for French-UK bilateral, NATO, EU, UN, or other operations; combined training exercises began in 2011; as of 2020, the CJEF was assessed as having full operating capacity with the ability to rapidly deploy over 10,000 personnel capable of high intensity operations, peacekeeping, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance the French Foreign Legion, established in 1831, is a military force that is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French Armed Forces for service in France and abroad; the Foreign Legion is an integrated part of the French Army and is comprised of approximately 8,000 personnel in eight regiments, a regiment-sized demi-brigade, a battalion-sized overseas detachment, a battalion-sized recruiting group, and a command staff; the combat units are a mix of armored cavalry and airborne, light, mechanized, and motorized infantry (2021)Terrorism
Terrorist group(s)
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS al-Qa'ida note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-TReligion
Roman Catholic 47%, Muslim 4%, Protestant 2%, Buddhists 2%, Orthodox 1%, Jewish 1%, other 1%, none 33%, unspecified 9%
note: France maintains a tradition of secularism and has not officially collected data on religious affiliation since the 1872 national census, which complicates assessments of France's religious composition; an 1872 law prohibiting state authorities from collecting data on individuals' ethnicity or religious beliefs was reaffirmed by a 1978 law emphasizing the prohibition of the collection or exploitation of personal data revealing an individual's race, ethnicity, or political, philosophical, or religious opinions; a 1905 law codified France's separation of church and state
Agriculture & Industry
Economic overview
The French economy is diversified across all sectors. The government has partially or fully privatized many large companies, including Air France, France Telecom, Renault, and Thales. However, the government maintains a strong presence in some sectors, particularly power, public transport, and defense industries. France is the most visited country in the world with 89 million foreign tourists in 2017. France's leaders remain committed to a capitalism in which they maintain social equity by means of laws, tax policies, and social spending that mitigate economic inequality. France's real GDP grew by 1.9% in 2017, up from 1.2% the year before. The unemployment rate (including overseas territories) increased from 7.8% in 2008 to 10.2% in 2015, before falling to 9.0% in 2017. Youth unemployment in metropolitan France decreased from 24.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 20.6% in the fourth quarter of 2017. France’s public finances have historically been strained by high spending and low growth. In 2017, the budget deficit improved to 2.7% of GDP, bringing it in compliance with the EU-mandated 3% deficit target. Meanwhile, France's public debt rose from 89.5% of GDP in 2012 to 97% in 2017. Since entering office in May 2017, President Emmanuel MACRON launched a series of economic reforms to improve competitiveness and boost economic growth. President MACRON campaigned on reforming France’s labor code and in late 2017 implemented a range of reforms to increase flexibility in the labor market by making it easier for firms to hire and fire and simplifying negotiations between employers and employees. In addition to labor reforms, President MACRON’s 2018 budget cuts public spending, taxes, and social security contributions to spur private investment and increase purchasing power. The government plans to gradually reduce corporate tax rate for businesses from 33.3% to 25% by 2022.Agricultural products
wheat, sugar beet, milk, barley, maize, potatoes, grapes, rapeseed, pork, applesIndustries
machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourismTrade & Transport
Exports
$746.91 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.)Imports
$803.66 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.)National air transport system
number of registered air carriers: 19 (2020) inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 553 annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 70,188,028 (2018) annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 4,443,790,000 mt-km (2018)Airports
total: 464 (2013)Railways
total: 29,640 km (2014)Roadways
total: 1,053,215 km (2011) urban: 654,201 km (2011) non-urban: 399,014 km (2011)Ports and terminals
major seaport(s):
Atlantic Ocean: Brest, Calais, Dunkerque, Le Havre, Nantes Mediterranean Sea: Marseille container port(s) (TEUs): Le Havre (2,822,910) (2019) LNG terminal(s) (import): Fos Cavaou, Fos Tonkin, Montoir de Bretagne river port(s): Bordeaux (Garronne Nantes - Saint Nazaire (Loire Paris, Rouen (Seine Strasbourg (Rhine) cruise/ferry port(s): Calais, Cherbourg, Le HavreTransportation - note
begun in 1988 and completed in 1994, the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed the Chunnel) is a 50.5-km (31.4-mi) rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover that runs from Folkestone, Kent, England to Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in northern France; it is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and mainland Europe
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Government System
Democracy, Presidential
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Major Exports
Exports - partners
Germany 14%, United States 8%, Italy 7%, Spain 7%, Belgium 7%, United Kingdom 7% (2019)Exports - commodities
aircraft, packaged medicines, cars and vehicle parts, gas turbines, wine (2019)
Major Imports
Imports - partners
Germany 18%, Belgium 9%, Italy 9%, Spain 7%, China 7%, Netherlands 6%, United Kingdom 5% (2019)Imports - commodities
cars, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, packaged medicines, aircraft machinery (2019)
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
Comments