sertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: largest West European nation; occasional strong,
cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral

@France:People

Population: 59,329,691 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,719,502; female 5,448,608)
15-64 years: 65% (male 19,345,269; female 19,322,902)
65 years and over: 16% (male 3,849,783; female 5,643,627) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.38% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 12.27 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 9.14 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.76 years
male: 74.85 years
female: 82.89 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.75 children born/woman (2000 est.)

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

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

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

Languages: French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and
languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque,
Flemish)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (1980 est.)

@France:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: French Republic
conventional short form: France
local long form: Republique Francaise
local short form: France

Data code: FR

Government type: republic

Capital: Paris

Administrative divisions: 22 regions (regions, singular - region);
Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Bretagne,
Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comte, Haute-Normandie,
Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine,
Midi-Pyrenees, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie,