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| Facts
and figures about France |
This page
contains Facts and Figures about France and the French. Some
are significant, other less so....
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Click here for :
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The most popular French personalities
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(as
voted by the French: IFOP Survey July 2007) :
1 - Zinedine Zidane,
World Champion (Soccer) (N°1 in 2006, N°2 in 2005, N°1
in 2003, 2004, N°4 in 2001 & 2002) (still best loved
pesronnality, in spite of his shameful behavior in the last World
Cup)
2 - Yannick Noah,
Tennisman and singer (N°2 in 2006, N°1 in 2005, N°4
in 2004, N°7 in 2003)
3 - Nicolas Hulot, TV Producer (N°3 in 2006, N°8
in 2005, N°7 in 2004, N°3 in 2003)
4 - Mimy Mathy, actor (N°4
in 2006)
5- Michel Sardou, singer (N°5
in 2006)
6 - Soeur Emmanuelle, the French Mother Theresa
(N°8 in 2006, N°12 in 2005, N°5 in 2004, N°8
in 2001 & 6 in 2002 & 2003)
7 - Charles Aznavour,
Singer (N°7 in 2006, N°6 in 2005, N°11 in 2004)
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8 - Jamel Debbouze Actor (N°9
in 2006, N°11 in 2005)
9 - Renaud
singer (N°13 in 2006)
10 - Franck Dubosc, actor (N°39
in 2006)
Others, who have been on the
Top-10 recently, include : Johnny Hallyday,
Henri Salvador, Francis Cabrel, Florent Pagny, singers, Jran
Reno, Jean Paul Belmondo, Sophie Marceau, Gad Elmaleh, Michel
Serrault, Actors , David
Douillet, Olympic champion, Simone Veil, Politician,
Thierry Henry, foot-ball player, etc...
Abbé
Pierre, Priest, devoted
his life to the poor (N°1 in 2001, 2002 & 2003) ; he
died in 2007, aged 95, he was always #1 ! (in 2004, he asked
to be removed from the list)
Click here
for French historical heroes and here for mini-bios.
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| DID
YOU KNOW THAT....? Of course, this sort of hit-parade ("Most
loved people") always give an advantage to people who are
seen on TV, singers and movie actors. But it is interesting to
see how diverse the French society is, and how varied
are their origins : Algerian (Zidane, Debbouze), African (Noah),
Moroccan Jewish (Elmaleh) , Armenian (Aznavour), Jewish (Veil)
, Italian (Reno) , Guyanese (Salvador) , Carribean (Henry, Pagny)
or the group they belong to : a nun (Emmanuelle), a very small
person (Mathy). |
Vacation
in France
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Vacations : The French have an impressive number
of vacation days. The legal minimum for all employees is 5 weeks
a year but very often it can go as high as 8 weeks or more (particularly
due to the effect of the 35-hour-a-week law).
Days-off for (almost) everybody : In addition to vacations, the French
have 11 days of holidays ("jours fériés")
a year ; most companies are closed and public services (museums,
etc..) are minimal . Most, if not all, shops are closed on these
days :
- January 1 ("Nouvel An"): traditionally
New Year's Eve
is a (big) dinner among friends or an evening at the theater.
- Easter ("Pâques"): Easter Sunday
: there is no Easter Bunny (the concept is unknown) but the bells,
which have been silent since Holy Friday, drop chocolate eggs
in the gardens on their way back from Rome ; Easter Monday is
off.
- May 1 ("Fête du Travail") : you
offer lilies of the valley to everyone around you ; they are
sold on every street corner ; there is a big parade of the Workers
Unions between Place de la République and Place de la
Nation. In Europe, May 1 commemorates the Haymarket upheaval.
- May 8 : ("Armistice") : end of WWII
- Ascension (40 days after Easter) is always on
a Thursday and this makes it possible to enjoy one of those famous
"ponts" (bridges) : if you take Friday off, you get
a 4-day vacation with that one single work day.
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- Pentecôte is
a Monday (50 days after Easter) : when it is in May, it contributes
(with the French Open) to make the month of May absolutely delicious
with more days of vacation than days of work if the "ponts" situation is favorable. Read
about its suppression in 2005.
- Bastille Day ("Quatorze Juillet")
: there is a big military parade on the Champs Elysées
and (the night before)
balls in many firehouses.
- August 15 ("Assomption de la Vierge")
: if you're lucky, it can give you a nice "pont" :
the years when "ponts" are not possible because those
vacation days happen to be on Sundays or Saturdays, people almost
go on strike...
- November 1 ("Toussaint") : traditionally,
you bring flowers (chrysanthemums) to the graves of your beloved.
- November 11 ("Armistice") : end
of WW1 ; a big celebration, with military parades.
- Christmas ("Noël") : on
Christmas Eve, there is a huge dinner, with the family, with
the traditional courses, the gifts are placed in front of the
Christmas tree ; sometimes people attend a Mass at midnight ;
the next day (25th) is off and there is also a big lunch with
the family. Children gat their gifts in the morning (or on Christmas
Eve).
The deadest day of the year (i.e.
the most delicious for tourists in Paris) is August 15 ; the
saddest day is November 1. Halloween is increasingly popular
in France but it is not (yet?) a holiday...
Read Paris
Diary about vacation.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT...
? The concept of "ponts" (bridges) is very important
in France : if one of the above-mentioned holidays falls on a
Thursday or a Tuesday, you can get a 4-day week-end by taking
only one day off. The French call this a "bridge".
For example, in May 2003, the total number of working days was
19 and it could go down to only 16 with the "ponts"
! On the contrary, 2005 will be considered a disastrous year,
with several holidays taking place on Sundays (May 1 and 8),
Monday (August 15) or Friday (November 11) !
USEFUL HINT.... If you are invited in a French
family on Xmas Eve or New Year's Eve, do not eat
and drink too much before dinner : be ready for a very long and
very caloric dinner which will most probably include all the
traditional courses for these circumstances, typically : Foie
Gras or Oysters (or both), Game or Poultry (or both), often with
Chestnut Purée, Salad, Cheeses, Chocolate Cake or Bûche
(Log) de Noël ; you'll drink a sweet (Sauternes?) or dry
(Muscadet?) white wine, followed by a red (Bourgogne?) and finish
with champagne (as you started)....
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Miscellaneous figures...
- The Public
sector employs more than
6 million people (23% of the total work-force) :
- 2,2 million in the State administration
: Education (from kindergarden to university), Army, Postal service,
etc...
- 1,5 million in the staff of
local authorities of all kinds
- 0,9 million in hospitals and
public retirement homes
- 0,5 million in various state-owned
organisations (research : CNRS, unemployment : ANPE, etc...)
- almost 1 million in state-owned
companies and utilities (train : SNCF, electricity : EDF, telephone
: France Telecom, mass transit : RATP, etc...)
- French
exports are not based
on cheese ! The real figures are very different from the traditional
image of French products. In 2002 French products exported to
the USA represent over 26 billion euros including :
- Machines, industrial products,
electronics : 37,9%
- Aeronautics and space : 24,5%
- Pharmaceutical and chemistry
: 15,1%
- Car equipments : 4,1 %
- Textile, food, etc... 8,9%
- Wine, water, alcoholic beverages
: 7%
- Perfumes and beauty : 2,5%
However, it is a fact that in
the list of the 100 biggest brands in the world, there are 51
US brands, including the first five (Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM,
GE and Intel), and 9 French brands, all in luxury goods : Louis
Vuitton #17, Gucci #46, L'Oreal #50, Chanel #61, Danone #67,
Hermes #81, Hennesy #83, Cartier #86 and Moet & Chandon #87
(source : Interbrand 2006).
More about the image
of France in America and about the ranking
of exporting countries.
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- Immigration
: France is a country
of immigration and over the years has assimilated millions of
immigrants in the French melting-pot (Poles, Italians, Spaniards,
etc...) ; as of today, the number of foreigners by country of
origin (source : INSEE 1999) is estimated at 4.3 million of the
population (7,4%) of which 30,1% are from North Africa, 9,1%
from the rest of Africa, 13,3% from Portugal, 8,8% from Italy,
7,3% from Spain, 14,9% from the rest of Europe, 12,6% from Asia,
2,9% from Latin America and 0,9% from the rest of the world.
Détailed figures are : (source : Le Monde, Oct.10, 2007)
| Country |
Period of immigration |
Number (not naturalized) in 1999 |
| Belgium |
1850-1900 |
66,000 |
| Italy |
1880-1960 |
206,000 |
| Poland |
1920-1930 |
34,000 |
| Portugal |
1960-1980 |
555,000 |
| Algeria |
since 1960 |
806,000 |
| Morocco |
since 1960 |
440,000 |
| Tunisia |
since 1960 |
190,000 |
| Spain |
1939-1970 |
161,000 |
| West Africa |
since 1970 |
283,000 |
| Asia |
since 1970 |
205,000 |
It is estimated that one
Frenchman out of four has at least one of his/her grandparents
in one of these successive immigration waves.
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- Click
here for facts and figures on religion
- Click here
for a list of famous Americans who lived in France (a
year or more)
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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
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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