The 2001 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.1% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.7% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 25 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: services 71%, industry 25%, agriculture 4% (1997)
Unemployment rate: 9.7% (2000 est.)
Budget: revenues: $210 billion
expenditures: $240 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)
Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: 497.26 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 9.69%
hydro: 14.39%
nuclear: 75.43%
other: 0.49% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 398.752 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 68.7 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 5 billion kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish
Exports: $325 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
Exports - partners: EU 63% (Germany 16%, UK 10%, Spain 9%, Italy 9%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 8%), US 8% (1999)
Imports: $320 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals
Imports - partners: EU 62% (Germany 16%, Belgium-Luxembourg 11%,
Italy 9%, UK 8%), US 7% (2000 est.)
Debt - external: $106 billion (1998)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $6.3 billion (1997)
Currency: French franc (FRF); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in France at a fixed rate of 6.55957 French francs per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002
Currency code: FRF; EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.65 (January 1999), 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
France Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 34.86 million (yearend 1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 11.078 million (yearend 1998)
Telephone system: general assessment: highly developed
domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay; extensive introduction of fiber-optic cable; domestic satellite system
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (with total of 5 antennas - 2 for Indian Ocean and 3 for Atlantic Ocean), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region); HF radiotelephone communications with more than 20 countries
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 country code: .fr
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 62 (2000)
Internet users: 9 million (2000)
France Transportation
Railways: total: 31,939 km (31,939 km are operated by French National Railways (SNCF); 14,176 km of SNCF routes are electrified and 12,132 km are double- or multiple-tracked)
standard gauge: 31,840 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 99 km 1.000-m gauge (1998)
Highways: total: 892,900 km
paved: 892,900 km (including 9,900 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1999)
Waterways: 14,932 km (6,969 km heavily traveled)
Pipelines: crude oil 3,059 km; petroleum products 4,487 km; natural gas 24,746 km
Ports and harbors: Bordeaux, Boulogne, Cherbourg, Dijon, Dunkerque,
La Pallice, Le Havre, Lyon, Marseille, Mullhouse, Nantes, Paris,
Rouen, Saint Nazaire, Saint Malo, Strasbourg
Merchant marine: total: 46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 942,333 GRT/1,304,754 DWT
ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 4, chemical tanker 6, combination bulk 1, container 1, liquefied gas 3, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 17, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 3
note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 1 (2000 est.)
Airports: 475 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 268
over 3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047 m: 30
1,524 to 2,437 m: 94
914 to 1,523 m: 72
under 914 m: 58 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 207
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 73
under 914 m: 130 (2000 est.)
Heliports: 3 (2000 est.)
France Military
Military branches: Army (includes Marines), Navy (includes Naval
Air), Air Force (includes Air Defense), National Gendarmerie
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15–49: 14,573,199 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15–49: 12,127,793 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 390,064 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $39.831 billion (FY97)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.5% (FY97)
France Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for and consumer of South
American cocaine, Southwest Asian heroin, and European synthetics
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@French Guiana
French Guiana Introduction