| |
The
French wrote the book on la vie en rose and gave the world
Champagne and camembert, de Beauvoir and Debussy, the Tour
de France and the Tour Eiffel. So if they have a finely tuned
sense of national pride, who are we to point fingers? Although
the ubiquity of Levis and Le Big Mac flusters the country's
cultural purists, anything from a year in Provence to a weekend
in Paris will explain why half the world grows dreamy over
stalking the streets of Cyrano or picnicking Manet-style sur
l'herbe. France has been synonymous with Romance for longer
than your grandmother cares to remember, so whether you visit
Paris or the Pyrenees, the Côte d'Azur or the auberge
de jeunesse, be sure to keep your fantasies in check, your
expectations in line and your joie in your vivre.
Full
country name: French Republic
Area: 547,000 sq km (213,330 sq mi)
Population: 59 million
Capital city: Paris (pop 10.95 million)
People: 92% French, 3% North African, 2% German, 1% Breton,
2% Other (including Provençal, Catalan & Basque)
Language: French (also Flemish, Alsacian, Breton, Basque,
Catalan, Provençal & Corsican)
Religion: 90% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 1% Muslim, 1%
Jewish, 6% unaffiliated
Government: Democracy
President: Jacques Chirac
Prime Minister: Jean-Pierre Raffarin
GDP:
US$1.32 trillion
GDP per head: US$22,700
Annual growth: 4%
Inflation: 2%
Major industries: Oil refining, steel, cement, aluminium,
agricultural products & foodstuffs (wheat, barley, maize,
cheese), luxury goods, chemicals, motor manufacturing, energy
products
Major trading partners: EU (Germany, Italy, UK), USA
Member of EU: yes
Euro zone participant: yes
France
Flight from UK
|
