This page is one of the annex pages of www.understandfrance.org, the foremost site on Franco-American intercultural differences. It contains documents, facts and figures illustrating the content of some of its pages.

Facts & figures

This page contains Facts and Figures about France and the French. Some are significant, other less so....

 (credit)

Miscellaneous figures about religion...

  • God : to the question " Is it necessary to believe in God to be moral ? ", the answer " Yes " is given by 40 to 58% Americans versus 13% by the French (source : IHT August 14, 2003).
  • The number of muslims in European countries and the % of total population is difficult to compare (in France, according to French law, it is illegal to collect data on religious beliefs). The best estimates are :
 France : 3,3 million (5,5%)  Netherlands : 0,7 m (4,3%)  Belgium : 0,3 m (2,5%)  Greece : 0,1 m (1,3%)
 Germany : 1,7 m (3%)  Spain : 0,5 m (1,2%)  Cyprus : 0,2 m (18,6%)  Denmark : 0,08 m (1,5%)
 United Kingdom: 1,5 m (2,6%)  Italy : 0,5 m (1,2%)  Austria : 0,2 m (2,1%)  Other countries : < 0,01 m

  • The state and religion in various countries in Europe (from L'Histoire Magazine, Aug.2004)
   Relation between Religions and State  Religious education in schools  Salary of clergymen  Public financing of religious schools  Abortion legal
 France  Separation : no official role of churches in society (1905 law)  no  by churchgoers  yes, on a contractual basis  yes
 Netherlands  Separation (1983)  optional  by churchgoers  yes  yes
 Belgium  Separation (1831)  optional  by State  yes  yes
 U.K.  Two bishops at the Chamber of Lords and the king head of the Anglican Church  mandatory (a derogation can be granted since 1996)  by State (for Anglicans), by grant for other religions  yes  yes
 Denmark  The king head of the Lutheran Church  optional  by State (for Lutherans), by grant for other religions  yes  yes
 Sweden  Separation (2000)  optional  by State and churchgoers  yes, on a contractual basis  yes
 Austria  Separation (1867)  optional  by churchgoers  yes, on a contractual basis  yes
 Germany  Separation (1919)  mandatory by laypeople  by State and churchgoers  yes  yes
 Italy  Separation (1848)  optional by laypeople  by churchgoers  yes  yes
 Portugal  Separation (1978)  optional  by State (for Catholics)  yes  no
 Spain  Separation (1980)  optional  by State (for Catholics) and churchgoers (others)  yes  yes
 Ireland  Separation (1972) but the Constitution refers to the Holy Trinity  90% of schools are catholic  by churchgoers  yes  no
 Greece  Orthodoxy is the official religion  mandatory (a derogation can be granted since 2002)  by State (for Orthodox)  yes  yes
 Poland  Separation (1995)  optional  by churchgoers  no  no
 Czech Rep.  Separation (1993)  optional  by State  yes  yes
 About the media...    About Europe and the world...

 Freedom of the press : 2007-ranking by Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)

 rank

 Country

 index

 37
  Japan

 11,75

 1
  Iceland

 0,75

 48
  U.S.A.

 14,50
 2 to 19  Scandinavia, Belgium, etc...  0,75 to 5

 120
  India

 39,33

 20
  Germany

 5,75

 144
  Russia

 56,90

 24
  U.K.

 8,25

 163
  China

 89

 31
  France

 9,75

 169
  Erythrea

 114,75
 French movies : Financing structure of the sector in 2007 (Source : CNC in Le Figaro March 29, 2008)

Resources (total 1 bn Euros) :

  • French TV channels : 30,5%
  • French producers : 25,8%
  • Foreign co-producers : 17,8%
  • Advance by French distributors : 9,5%
  • Advance by French vido editors : 2,1%
  • Advance by CNC (Centre National du Cinéma) : 8,9%
  • Loans by SOFICA (tax exempt investment funds dedicated to the movies industry) : 3,9%
  • Grants by Regional authorities : 1,6%

 

 

 

 

 
  •  Languages spoken in Europe (Source : Le Monde 10/6/2008) :
    • % of people speaking at least one foreign language :
       Finland  69%
       Germany  67%
       Austria  62%
       The Czech Rep.  61%
       Greece  57%
       Poland  57%
       France  51%
       Spain  44%
       Hungary  42%
       Portugal  42%
       Italy  41%
       U.K.  38%
       Ireland  34%
    • Most spoken languages in Europe :
         native speakers  foreign language
       English  13% 38%
       German  18%  14%
       French  12%  14%
       Italian  13%  3%
       Spanish  9%  6%
       Polish  9%  1%
       Russian  1%  6%
  • The European budget in 2011 (Source : Le Figaro 22/11/2012)

Contributions of member states : 88,4 billion €
Custom duties : 16,8 b €
Tax (VAT transfered from member states) : 14,8 b €
Others : 5,5 b €

Agricultural Policy : 54,6 billion €
Regional and industrial Policy : 43 b €
Administration : 7,8 b € (the European administration has 55,000 civil servants!).
Foreign Policy : 7,8 b €
Justice & immigration : 1,3 b €
Others : 15,6 b€

  • The European Budget or : who benefits of and contributes to it ? (Source : Le Figaro 22/11/2012)

Net beneficiaries :
Poland : + 11,2 billion € (biggest beneficiary)
Greece : +4,8 b €
Hungary : +4,5 b €
Spain : +3,7 b €
Belgium : +3,5 €
Portugal : +3,12 b €
Czech Rep. : +2,9 b €
Rumania : + 1,5 b €
Lithuania : +1,4 b €
Luxembourg : +1,3 b €
Slovakia : +1,2 b €

Net contributors :
Sweden : -1,1 billion €
Netherlands : -1,5 b €
Great Britain : -4,7 b € (including the « British rebate » of 3,6 b € in 2011, which was obtained by Margaret Thatcher in 19874, with no real justification)
Italy : -4,8 b €
France : -4,9 b €
Germany : -7,5 b € (biggest contributor)

  
  • Criminality : number of people in jail per 1000 inhabitants (Source : International Center for Prison Studies 2004)
    •  1  Rwanda  13,35
       2  USA  7,09
       3  Russia  5,33
           
       6  Cuba  4,87
           
       -  World average  1,44
       72  UK  1,38
           
       104  Germany  0,96
           
       110  France  0,91

Back to Europe 

  • Comparative figures of the Economic areas of the world (Source : OECD, 2001)
 

 Population (millions)

 GNP (bns $)

(2000)
  GNP/inh. ($)

 Exports

(mios $)

 Imports

(mios $)
 USA

 284,5 (5%)

 8 391 (31%)

 29,494

 802 (16%)

 1 292 (24%)
 Europe (15 countries)

 377 (6%)

 7 246 (27%)

 19,221

 882 (17%)

 992 (18%)
 Russia

 144,4 (2%)

 209 (1%)

 1,449

 108 (2%)

 46 (1%)
 China

 1 273 (21%)

 918 (3%)

 721

 256 (5%)

 231 (4%)
 Japan

 127 (2%)

 4 039 (15%)

 31,802

 491 (10%)

 389 (7%)
Rest of world

 3 931 (64%)

 6 378 (23%)

 1,622

 2 567 (50%)

 2 465 (46%)
 World

 6 137

 27 181

 4,429

 5 106

 5 415
 To related pages : more facts & figures, figures on Europe, etc...

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Harriet Welty Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French. Order her books :

  • "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
  • "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001

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