ude oil, aircraft, plastics,
chemicals

Imports - partners:
Germany 19.1%, Belgium 9.4%, Italy 9%, Spain 7.4%, Netherlands 7%,
UK 7%, US 5.4% (2003)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$70.76 billion (2003)

Debt - external:
NA

Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $5.4 billion (2002)

Currency:
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the
euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of
member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole
currency for everyday transactions within the member countries

Currency code:
EUR

Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001),
1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999)

Fiscal year:
calendar year

Communications France

Telephones - main lines in use:
33,905,400 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
41,683,100 (2003)

Telephone system:
general assessment: highly developed
domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay; extensive
introduction of fiber-optic cable; domestic satellite system
international: country code - 33; 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 hosts:
2,396,761 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
62 (2000)

Internet users:
21.9 million (2003)

Transportation France

Railways:
total: 32,175 km
standard gauge: 32,008 km 1.435-m gauge (14,320 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 167 km 1.000-m gauge (2003)

Highways:
total: 894,000 km
paved: 894,000 km (including 11,500 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2000)

Waterways:
8,500 km (1,686 km accessible to craft of 3,000 metric tons) (2000)

Pipelines:
gas 14,232 km; oil 3,024 km; refined products 4,889 km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Bordeaux, Boulogne, Cherbourg, Dijon, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le
Havre, Lyon, Marseille, Mulhouse, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Saint
Nazaire, Saint Malo, Strasbourg (2003)

Merchant marine:
total