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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....
See also :
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(credit) |
Miscellaneous facts and
figures |
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The French economy |
- French possessions result from what is left of a vast colonial
empire, built in two waves (18th Century : North America,
India and XIXth Africa, Oceania, Asia). They are either DOM (Département
d'Outre-Mer), i.e. considered exactly like any other part of
France, with the same political institutions (but specific additional
social benefits to compensate their lower income) or TOM (Territoire
d'Outre-Mer) i.e. the same political representation in Parliament
but a specific governement (which cannot be considered independent
from France) :
- DOM include : in the Caribbeans : Guadeloupe (1,780
sq.km, 400,000 hab., including Saint Barthélémy
and St.Martin), Martinique (1,100 sq.km, 340,000 hab.), Guyane
(91,000 sq.km, 60,000 hab.), in the Indian Ocean : La Réunion
(2,512 sq.km, 600,000 hab.), near Newfoundland : Saint-Pierre
& Miquelon (242 sq.km, 6,000 hab.), and (recently)
in the Indian Ocean : Mayotte (400 sq.km,
50,000 hab.).
- TOM include : in the Pacific Ocean Polynésie
(4,000 sq.km, 100,000 hab.), Nouvelle-Calédonie and dependencies
(19,200 sq.km, 100,000 hab.), Wallis & Futuna Islands (220
sq.km, 10,000 hab.).
- In addition to TOM, non-inhabited
territories include : Terre Adélie (900,000 sq.km), Kerguelen
Archipelago (7,000 sq.km), Crozet Archipelago (352 sq.km) and a fewother
islands all around the world (Juan de Nova, Iles Glorieuses, Bassas da India, Europa, Tromelin.
off Madagascar, Clipperton Atoll, off Acapulco)
All these possessions give France the second largest maritime economic area in the world.
DID YOU KOW
THAT.....? Until the 1960s, all French kids knew the names of
the five "Comptoirs des Indes" (trading-posts), which
were returned to India in the 1950s after more than two centuries,
the last remnants of the Louis XV empire : Pondichéry,
Yanaon, Chandernagor, Karikal and Mahe.
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- Productivity
(source : OECD 2003) :
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Productivity
per hour
|
Number of hours of
work/year
|
% of part-time
jobs
|
% of people
at work between age 15 and 64
|
France |
103 |
1 545 |
13,7 |
61,1 |
USA |
100 |
1 815 |
13,4 |
71,9 |
Japan |
74 |
1 809 |
25,1 |
68,2 |
Germany |
75 |
1 444 |
18,8 |
65,3 |
Spain |
62 |
1 807 |
7,6 |
59,5 |
U.K. |
74 |
1 707 |
23,0 |
72,1 |
Conclusion : the French work
much less but when
they work, they are as much or more efficient! (it is fair to
say that the recent trend is not favourable)
- But the 10 newly admitted members in the
European Union work longer, with a much lower labor cost (2003)
:
|
Average hours per week |
% unemployed
<25 years old
|
Labor cost per hour in Euro |
France |
38 |
21,3 |
25,1 |
Former EU (15) |
|
16 |
19,9 |
New EU (25) |
38 |
18,2 |
17,6 |
Poland |
41,3 |
39,6 |
5,3 |
Spain |
39,7 |
22,3 |
13,1 |
Italy |
39 |
27,1 |
19,3 |
UK |
37,4 |
11,8 |
24,5 |
Germany |
35,9 |
11,1 |
26,3 |
Conclusion :
France and Germany have to face the competition of countries
where people work harder and cost less and adjust to it.
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- Most popular radio stations in France are (Source : Médiamétrie
2005),with their FM wavelength :
NRJ |
13,5 % |
music |
100,3 |
private |
RTL |
12,1% |
general |
104,3 |
private |
France Inter |
10 % |
general |
87,8 |
state-owned |
France Info |
9,6 % |
news only |
105,5 |
state-owned |
Europe 1 |
9,2 % |
general |
104,7 |
private |
Skyrock |
8,1 % |
music |
96 |
private |
Nostalgie |
8 % |
songs |
90,4 |
private |
France Bleue |
6,8 % |
music |
107,1 |
state-owned |
Fun Radio |
6,6 % |
music |
101,9 |
private |
Chérie FM |
6 % |
songs |
91,3 |
private |
Europe 2 |
5,8 % |
music |
103,5 |
private |
....... |
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France Musiques |
1,8 % |
classical music |
91,7 |
state owned |
France Culture |
1,2 % |
theater, etc... |
93,5 |
state-owned |
Radio Classique |
1,1 % |
classical music |
101,1 |
private |
Most stations have a national
coverage (local stations do exist but there audience is relatively
limited, compared to the uSA).
- Most popular TV channels in France
are (source : Mediametrie 2005)
Name |
market-share |
|
known for... |
|
TF1 |
31,8% |
going down |
reality shows |
private |
France 2 |
20,5% |
|
magazines |
state-owned |
France 3 |
15,2% |
|
regional news |
state-owned |
Canal + |
3,8% |
pay channel |
sports and
movies |
private |
M6 |
12,5% |
|
reality shows |
private |
France 5 |
6,7% |
very good |
best of French
programs |
state-owned |
Arte |
3,7% |
very good |
cultural programs |
state-owned
(Franco-German) |
local, regional, foreign and
thematics |
11,2% |
pay channels |
|
mostly private |
State-owned TV is funded :
- mostly by a tax, "redevance
tele", paid by TV owners and collected with income tax (approxiately
$ 80/year)
- advertizing (but less than on
private channels)
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Nuclear power plants
: total electricity produced in 2003 (in GWh) and % of electricity
from nuclear power plants (source : OECD)
(parenthesis : number of reactors in 2005)
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|
GWh |
% |
USA (104) |
763 744 |
20,0% |
France
(59) |
420
700 |
77,6% |
Japan (57) |
230 078 |
25,8% |
Germany (17) |
157 443 |
30,2% |
Russia (35) |
138 388 |
|
S.Korea (20) |
123 281 |
39,9% |
UK (23) |
85 306 |
|
Ukraine (15) |
76 700 |
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Canada (18) |
70 293 |
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India (23) |
n/a |
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Sweden (10) |
65 500 |
49,2% |
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- Activity
rate with age (OECD 2004)
% |
age 15/24 |
age 25/54 |
age 55/64 |
France |
30,2 |
86,4 |
41,7 |
USA |
61,6 |
83 |
62,4 |
Germany |
47,4 |
86 |
43,1 |
UK |
67,6 |
84,1 |
57,5 |
Japan |
44,8 |
82,1 |
65,8 |
- World's largest exporters/importers (WTO 2005)
$ billion |
Exports |
Imports |
Germany |
971 |
774 |
U.S.A. |
904 |
1733 |
China |
762 |
660 |
Japan |
596 |
516 |
France |
459 |
496 |
Netherlands |
401 |
358 |
U.K. |
378 |
501 |
Italy |
367 |
380 |
Canada |
360 |
320 |
Belgium |
330 |
320 |
More about French
exports (not only cheese!).
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The image of France |
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About
the economic ranking of
France .... "From an economic
point of view, would you say that France is":
(Figaro-Magazine , a poll in America in
2004) |
2000 |
2002 |
2004 |
Among the 5
major economic powers (= correct answer at the time of
the poll) |
14 |
14 |
19% |
Between 5 and
10 |
49 |
47 |
47% |
Beyond the
10th |
17 |
23 |
25% |
I don't know |
20 |
16 |
9% |
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About world
leaders in business... "Do
you think that France is a world leader in the following domains...",
Americans answer :
Wine |
82% |
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Fashion |
77% |
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Culture (books, movies, music) |
60% |
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Medical research |
30% |
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Nuclear industry |
17% |
France has the highest % of electricity
produced by nuclear power plants : 77% (USA : 20%) (see EDF and
AREVA) |
Telecom and computers |
17% |
ALCATEL is #1 for ADSL |
Aerospace |
17% |
In its field, Airbus
is #1 and Arianespace too |
Military industry |
16% |
France is #2 (after the
USA) for military exports |
More about French
exports and about French leading
companies.
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To related pages : figures on Europe, more facts
& figures, 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
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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