France Country Data

Area: total: 643,427 sq km 547,030 sq km [metropolitan France]
land: 640,053 sq km 545,630 sq km [metropolitan France]
water: 3,374 sq km 1,400 sq km [metropolitan France]
note: the first numbers include the overseas regions of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion

Climate: metropolitan France: generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral
French Guiana: tropical hot, humid little seasonal temperature variation
Guadeloupe and Martinique: subtropical tempered by trade winds moderately high humidity rainy season [June to October] vulnerable to devastating cyclones [hurricanes] every eight years on average
Reunion: tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation cool and dry [May to November], hot and rainy [November to April]

Terrain: metropolitan France: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east
French Guiana: low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains
Guadeloupe: Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains Grande-Terre is low limestone formation most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin
Martinique: mountainous with indented coastline dormant volcano
Reunion: mostly rugged and mountainous fertile lowlands along coast

Natural resources: metropolitan France: coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, timber, fish
French Guiana: gold deposits, petroleum, kaolin, niobium, tantalum, clay

Population: total: 64,057,790
note: 60,876,136 in metropolitan France [July 2008 est.]

Age structure: 0-14 years: 18.6% [male 6,091,571/female 5,803,127]
15-64 years: 65.2% [male 20,884,919/female 20,849,988]
65 years and over: 16.3% [male 4,335,996/female 6,092,189] [2008 est.]

Nationality: noun: Frenchman[men], Frenchwoman[women]
adjective: French

Ethnic groups: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities
overseas departments: black, white, mulatto, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian

Languages: French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages [Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish]
overseas departments: French, Creole patois

Capital: name: Paris
geographic coordinates: 48 52 N, 2 20 E
time difference: UTC+1 [6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time]
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March ends last Sunday in October

National holiday: Fete de la Federation, 14 July [1790] note - although often incorrectly referred to as Bastille Day, the celebration actually commemorates the holiday held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille [on 14 July 1789] and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy other names for the holiday are Fete Nationale [National Holiday] and quatorze juillet [14th of July]

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 21%
services: 76.7% [2007 est.]

Labor force: 27.81 million [2007 est.]

Budget: revenues: $1.288 trillion
expenditures: $1.358 trillion [2007 est.]

Agriculture - products: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes beef, dairy products fish

Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics textiles, food processing tourism

Exports: $548 billion f.o.b. [2007 est.]

Exports - commodities: machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages

Exports - partners: Germany 15.6%, Spain 9.6%, Italy 8.9%, UK 8.3%, Belgium 7.3%, US 6.6%, Netherlands 4% [2006]

Imports: $600.1 billion f.o.b. [2007 est.]

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals

Imports - partners: Germany 18.9%, Belgium 11.1%, Italy 8.4%, Spain 7%, Netherlands 6.8%, UK 6.6%, US 4.6% [2006]

Currency (code): euro [EUR]

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.7345 [2007], 0.7964 [2006], 0.8041 [2005], 0.8054 [2004], 0.886 [2003]

Airports: 476 [2007]

Railways: total: 29,370 km
standard gauge: 29,203 km 1.435-m gauge [14,778 km electrified]
narrow gauge: 167 km 1.000-m gauge [2006]

Merchant marine: total: 141 ships [1000 GRT or over] 5,777,107 GRT/7,533,631 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 1, chemical tanker 31, container 25, liquefied gas 14, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 32, petroleum tanker 22, roll on/roll off 7, vehicle carrier 4
foreign-owned: 56 [Belgium 6, China 5, Denmark 3, Germany 1, Italy 2, Japan 5, Norway 17, NZ 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Singapore 2, Sweden 10, Switzerland 3]
registered in other countries: 145 [Antigua and Barbuda 1, Australia 1, Bahamas 43, Belgium 1, Bermuda 1, Cameroon 1, Gibraltar 1, Hong Kong 1, Indonesia 1, Isle of Man 2, Italy 5, South Korea 8, Liberia 5, Luxembourg 14, Malta 4, Morocco 13, Netherlands 1, Norway 3, Panama 15, Singapore 1, St Vincent and The Grenadines 7, Taiwan 1, UK 9, Wallis and Futuna 6] [2007]

Ports and terminals: Bordeaux, Calais, Dunkerque, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg

Trade Leads of companies wanting to do business with France

2t3r Modes Minipci-e Wireless Lan 802.11n Configurable Ieee802.11 B / G / N - Wireless ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Thu 02 Oct, 2008 8:40 am - specifications minipci e interface · configurable ieee802 11 b g n · antenna configurations 2t3r modes · support 64 128 bit wep 802 1x w...
Targeted Countries: France USA Germany

Pool Towels - RetiredArchivedLeads ( Usa ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Thu 12 Jul, 2007 11:12 am - we are indian exporter and manufacturer supplier of quality terry towels in 100% cotton we have our own arrangements to process and manufacture h...
Targeted Countries: UAE France

Gasoline Powered Impact Wrench - Dextools ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Mon 17 Mar, 2008 8:14 am - gasoline impact wrench giw011 quot gasoline powered impact wrench engine type two stroke forced air cooled single cylinder displacement 46 ...
Targeted Countries: France Australia

Sell Electrosurgical Instruments - Electrorange ( Pakistan ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Tue 18 Mar, 2008 6:41 am - the designed equipments currently in production comprehend high frequency electro surgical equipment including models able to supply an output p...
Targeted Countries: Egypt France

Titanium Block - Yst128 ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Sun 23 Mar, 2008 1:41 am - supply titanium block grade gr1 gr2 gr3 gr4 gr5 gr7 gr9 gr12 gr23 specs 50x100x200mm 80x200x300mm 100x200x200mm standard astm b348 astm b265 a...
Targeted Countries: Australia Belgium France

Sterling Silver Carved Buddha Meditation Amulet Pendant From Tibet - Qh0971 ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Thu 27 Mar, 2008 3:38 pm - product description # light weight sterling silver with all the details like eys nose mouth ears hair etc are all very clear # all handmade...
Targeted Countries: Portugal Denmark France

Welding Assembly - Charlesyzh ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Fri 28 Mar, 2008 1:51 am - this is a drive frame for england houseboat we can provide not only custom metal parts but also tig mig welding assembly if you need all the materi...
Targeted Countries: France Canada Germany

Tibetan Amulet - Qh0971 ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Tue 01 Apr, 2008 8:47 am - all necklace are made in nepal by handcraft material brass turquoise red coral size 30mm made in nepal...
Targeted Countries: France Australia Croatia

Bathmats And Rugs 100% Cotton - Yashomatiimportexportco ( India ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Tue 01 Apr, 2008 1:47 pm - product design 2 4 product material 100 percent cotton products size 60*90 cms price 1 50 fob delhi...
Targeted Countries: USA France

Shopping Bags And Bottle Holders - Bag Supplier ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Fri 11 Apr, 2008 1:04 am - bottle holder upper polyester+ lower canvas+ inside aluminum foil paper+ buckle aside+adjustable opening...
Targeted Countries: Germany France

Titanium Disc - Yst128 ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Fri 11 Apr, 2008 8:17 am - supply titanium disc dish brand gr1 gr2 gr3 gr4 gr5 gr7 gr9 gr12 specs dia 200 to 900mm height 60 to 600mm standard astm b381 gb t 16598 e mai...
Targeted Countries: Austria France Greece

Handmade Oil Painting Portrait Angel - 3oilpainting ( China ) - Offers to Sell and Export - Thu 17 Apr, 2008 8:41 am - handmade oil painting description 1 100% hand painted oil painting on canvas mounted on frames 2 different sizes and designs are available acc...
Targeted Countries: USA France Vietnam