Key data for France, with selected international comparisons Choose a topic 
The Government of France:
France is a republic; the head of the executive is the President,
elected by universal suffrage, currently Nicolas Sarkozy. The President
determines policy with the aid of his Council of Ministers (Conseil des ministres). Ministers cannot sit in parliament, and if an elected member of parliament (député) is appointed minister, he or she has to hand over parliamentary duties to his / her deputy (adjoint). Since each elected member has a deputy, by-elections are unusual in France.
Parliament: The lower and principal house of parliament is the Assemblée nationale, or national assembly; the second chamber is the Sénat or Senate. Députés (members of parliament) are elected to the National Assembly by universal suffrage, in general elections (élections législatives)
that take place every five years. Senators are chosen by an electoral
college of "grand electors", who are mostly other local
representatives.
The electoral system
for presidential and parliamentary elections involves two rounds; a
candidate can be elected on the first round by obtaining an absolute
majority of votes cast. The second round is a runoff between the
leading two candidates from round one (presidential election), or two
or more candidates (parliamentary elections). Click here for further
information on the French Constitution and political system
Structure of local government:
Metropolitan France is administered as 22 regions, 96 "départements" or departments, and some 36,000 "communes". See maps of regions and departments.
(There are also 4 overseas regions - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Ile de la Réunion - and other overseas territories known as "TOM" )
Each region is administered by a Regional council (Conseil régional), and each department is administered by a county council (Conseil Général). The central government is represented in each department and region by a Prefect (préfet),
with powers over the police and public security. The Prefect's other
main role is to make sure that local authorities administer their area
in compliance with national law.
Prefects are
appointed by the President, regional councils are elected by universal
suffrage every six years, involving a complex two-round
semi-proportional voting system.
Departmental councils, conseils généraux, are elected by universal suffrage every six years, in elections known as canton elections (élections cantonales).
Communes are run by municipal councils (conseils municipaux)
elected every six years by universal suffrage. Increasingly, the
important business of small communes, and issues that involve communes
and their neighbours are dealt with by groupings of communes, known as
"Communauté de communes"
The Geography of metropolitan France (France in Europe): key data.
Surface area: 547,030 sq km, of which 545,630 sq km of land and 1,400 sq km of rivers and lakes.
France compared to the UK:
France's surface area is about double the surface area of the United
Kingdom, and just over four times the surface area of England. For more geographic details see the About-France.com Maps of France page and links Basic geographic facts:
Length of land border; 2889 km. Neighbouring countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Andorra.
Length of coastline: 4,668 km
Highest elevation: the peak of Mont Blanc, 4,807 metres or 15,782 ft.
Arable farmland: 33.5% of the total surface area.
Demographics / Population statistics
Population: 62,150,775 total estimated population of Metropolitan France, mid 2008
This is just a few thousand more than the population of the United Kingdom.
Population growth rate: 0.57% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: 12.73 births per 1000 (2008 estimate)
Gender ratio: Average ratio 0.93 males per female (though 1.05 males per female in the under 15 age group).
Life expectancy at birth: Average: 80.2 years (males: 77.7 years, females: 84.2 years – 2008 estimate.) -
Compare with: UK 79.0, Germany 79.1, Netherlands 79.2, Switzerland 81.3, USA 77.9, Belgium 77.8 (Source UNDP)
Population density: 110 people per sq km
This is just less than the EU average of 112 /km², and less than half the density of the UK (246 p/km²)
Click here for population of the main French towns and cities
Economic facts and figures :
(See The French economy for an overview)
Per capita GDP for France: 2007 27,800 €
Compare to: Ireland 35,700 €, Belgium 30,200 €, UK 29,400 €, Germany 28,200 €,
Spain 25,400 €, Portugal 18,200 €. Source: Eurostat, April 2007.
GDP by sector: agriculture: 2.2% industry:21% services: 76.7% (2007)
Economic growth 2009 (n.b. 2009 was the year of the great recession):
France: - 2.5 %
Compare with : Ireland -7.5% , Belgium -2.6%, UK -4.8%, Germany -4.7% , Spain -3.7%, Portugal -2.6 % . European union average: +2.8% Source: IMF 2009
Inflation 2007:
France: + 1.7 %
Compare with : Ireland +2.5% , Belgium +1.9%, UK +2.3%, Germany +2.0 % , Spain + 2.6 %, Portugal +2.5 %. European union average: +2.2% Source: IMF estimates, 2007
Unemployment:
France: 8.6 % (and falling)
Compare with : Ireland +4% , Belgium 7.2%, UK +5.4%, Germany 8.8 % , Spain + 8.0 %, Portugal +7.9 % . European union average: +6.9% Source: Eurostat, for June 2007.
Employment by sector:
France: Agriculture: 4.1%, industry: 24.4%, services: 71.5% (1999)
Compare with :
U.K.: Agriculture: 1.4%, industry: 18.2%, services: 80.4% (2006) . Source: CIA world factbook.
► More facts, figures and statistical data about France
Visit the website of the French national statistical office INSEE
To contact this website, send an email to info "at" about-france.com
|
|
