FRANCE - FAST FACTS

Population: 68 million

Size of Country: 211,209 square miles (547,030 square kilometers), about the size of
Texas

Capital city: Paris

Location: Western Europe, bordered by Belgium, and Germany in the North;
Switzerland and Italy to the East, the Mediterranean Sea and Spain in the South; and
the Atlantic Ocean on the West.

International airport: Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Paris

Climate: “generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot
summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-north-westerly
wind known as mistral”

Currency: Euro (US $1 = 0.83 €)

Language: French

System of government: Democracy, led by President Jacques Chirac

Telephone country code: 33

Time zone: 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time

Electricity: 220 Volts, 50 Hz

National holidays: New Year’s Day (January 1), Easter Monday (April), Labor Day
(May 1), Victory Day 1945 (May 8), Ascension (May 20), Whit Monday (May 31),
Bastille Day (July 14), Assumption (August 15), All Saint’s Day (November 1),
Rememberance Day (November 11), Christmas (December 25)

Religion: Roman Catholic with Protestant, Jewish and Muslim minority

Life expectancy at birth: 79 years

Business hours: Businesses are usually open from 9am to 5pm during the week; banks
are open from 9:30am to 4:30pm.  Stores open at 10 am and close at 6pm or 7pm.  Most
places close for an hour during lunchtime, although they can last longer.

Media: 584 television broadcast stations and over 3,500 radio stations (41 of which are
AM)

Education: Economy: Based on services (tourism) and industry (machinery,
chemicals, automobiles, electronics), with some agriculture (wheat, potatoes, wine
grapes, beef, dairy, fish)

Export: $346 billion

Primary trade partners: Germany, U.K., U.S., Italy, Belgium, Spain, and
Netherlands

Imports: $340 billion

Gross Domestic Product: $1.6 trillion

GDP per capita: $27,500

Inflation rate: 1.7%





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