| People |
| Population: |
58,609,285
(July 1997 est.) |
| Population growth
rate: |
0.35%
(1997 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
11.98
births/1,000 population (1997 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
9.08
deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
total
population:0.95 male(s)/female (1997 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
5.8
deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.66
children born/woman (1997 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population:78.38 years
male :74.44 years
female: 82.53 years (1997 est.) |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female:99% (1980 est.) |
| Religions: |
Roman
Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North
African workers) 1%, unaffiliated 6% |
| Nationality: |
noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women)
adjective: French |
| Languages: |
French
100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages
(Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan,
Basque, Flemish) |
| Transportation |
| Railways: |
total: 34,123 km |
| Highways: |
total: 1,512,700 km |
| 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, Nice,Paris,
Rouen, Saint Nazaire, Saint Malo, Strasbourg |
- Most details quoted from CIA
World Factbook |
|