Land area:210,668 sq mi (545,630 sq km);
Total area:211,209 sq mi (547,030 sq km)
Population (July 2008 est.):64,057,792 (growth rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 12.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.3/1000; life expectancy: 80.9; density per sq km: 100
Capital (2003 est.):Paris, 9,854,000 (metro. area), 2,110,400 (city proper)
Other largest cities:Marseille, 820,700; Lyon, 443,900; Toulouse, 411,800; Nice, 332,000; Nantes, 282,300; Strasbourg, 272,600; Bordeaux, 217,000
Monetary unit:Euro (formerly French franc)

République Française
Current government officials
Languages:French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
Ethnicity/race:Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Southeast Asian, and Basque minorities
Religions:Roman Catholic 83%–88%, Protestant 2%, Islam 5%–10%, Jewish 1%, unaffiliated 4%
Literacy rate:99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $2.047 trillion; per capita $33,200. Real growth rate: 1.9%. Inflation: 1.6%. Unemployment: 8.3%. Arable land: 34%. Agriculture: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 27.76 million; services 71.5%, industry 24.4%, agriculture 4.1% (1999). Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism. Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorospar, gypsum, timber, fish. Exports: $558.9 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages. Imports: $601.4 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals. Major trading partners: Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Belgium, U.S., Netherlands (2006).