of Colorado

Land boundaries: 2,892.4 km total; Andorra 60 km, Belgium 620 km,
FRG 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km,
Switzerland 573 km

Coastline: 3,427 km (includes Corsica, 644 km)

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 12-24 nm;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Canada (St. Pierre and Miquelon);
Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,
Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius
claims Tromelin Island; Seychelles claims Tromelin Island; Suriname claims part
of French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land)

Climate: generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters
and hot summers along the Mediterranean

Terrain: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west;
remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, zinc,
potash

Land use: 32% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 23% meadows and pastures;
27% forest and woodland; 16% other; includes 2% irrigated

Environment: most of large urban areas and industrial centers in
Rhone, Garonne, Seine, or Loire River basins; occasional warm tropical wind
known as mistral

Note: largest West European nation

- People
Population: 56,358,331 (July 1990), growth rate 0.4% (1990)

Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 82 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women); adjective--French

Ethnic divisions: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African,
Indochinese, and Basque minorities

Religion: 90% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 1% Muslim (North
African workers), 6% unaffiliated

Language: French (100% of population); rapidly declining regional
dialects (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Literacy: 99%

Labor force: 24,170,000; 61.5% services, 31.3% industry, 7.3% agriculture
(1987)

Organized labor: 20% of labor force (est.)

- Government
Long-form name: French Republic

Type: republic

Capital: Paris

Administrative divisions: metropolit