France

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This article is about the country. For other uses, see France (disambiguation).

{{Infobox Country | native_name = République française | conventional_long_name = French Republic | common_name = France | Language = French | national_motto = Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" | national_anthem = "La Marseillaise " | image_flag = Flag of France.svg | image_coat = Armoiries république française.svg | symbol_type = Coat of arms | image_map = Location France EU Europe.png

|map_caption =

Location of Metropolitan France (dark green)

–

on the European continent (light green & dark grey)
– in the European Union

(light green)</p>

| image_map2 = Outre-mer_en.png

|map_caption2 =

Territory of the French Republic in the world
Includes the claimed Antarctic territories

Logo of the French republic

The French Republic is a unitary semi-presidential republic with strong democratic traditions. The constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by referendum on 28 September 1958. It greatly strengthened the authority of the executive in relation to parliament . The executive branch itself has two leaders: the President of the Republic , who is elected directly by universal adult suffrage for a 5-year term (formerly 7 years) and is the Head of State, and the Government, led by the president-appointed Prime Minister .

The French parliament is a bicameral legislature comprising a National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and a Senate . The National Assembly deputies represent local constituencies and are directly elected for 5-year terms. The Assembly has the power to dismiss the cabinet, and thus the majority in the Assembly determines the choice of government. Senators are chosen by an electoral college for 6-year terms (originally 9-year terms) , and one half of the seats are submitted to election every 3 years starting in September 2008.^[1] The Senate 's legislative powers are limited; in the event of disagreement between the two chambers, the National Assembly has the final say, except for constitutional laws and lois organiques (laws that are directly provided for by the constitution) in some cases. The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament.

French politics are characterised by two politically opposed groupings: one left-wing , centred around the French Socialist Party , and the other right-wing , centred previously around the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) and now its successor the Union for a Popular Movement . The executive branch is currently composed mostly of the UPM.

[edit] Conventions and notations

France is the home of the International System of Units (the metric system). The Imperial System is almost completely ignored in France. Some pre-metric units are still used, essentially the livre (a unit of weight equal to half a kilogram ) and the quintal (a unit of weight equal to 100 kilograms).
In mathematics, France uses the infix notation like most countries. For large numbers the long scale is used. Thus, the French use the word billion for what English speakers call a trillion . However, there exist a French word, milliard, for what the English speakers call a billion . Thus, despite the use of the long scale, one billion is called un milliard ("one milliard") in French, and not mille millions ("one thousand million"). It should also be noted that names of numbers above the milliard are rarely used. Thus, one trillion will most often be called mille milliards ("one thousand milliard") in French, and rarely un billion.
In the French numeral notation, the comma (,) is the Decimal separator , whereas the dot (.) is used between each group of three digits especially for big numbers. A space can also be used to separate each group of three digits especially for small numbers. Thus three thousand five hundred and ten may be written as 3 510 whereas fifteen million five hundred thousand and thirty-two may be written as 15.500.032. In finances the symbol associated to the currency is put after the numbers and not before. For example €25,000.00 is written 25 000,00 € (always with an extra space between the figure and the currency symbol, and often a space between every block of 3 digits).
Cars are driven on right .
In computing, if a bit is still called a bit a byte is called an octet (from the Latin root octo, meaning "8"). SI prefix es are used.
24-hour clock time is used, with h being the separator between hours and minutes (for example 2pm30 is 14h30).
The all-numeric form for dates is in the order day-month-year, using a slash as the separator (example: 31/12/1992 or 31/12/92).

[edit] Law

Main article: Law of France

The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

France uses a civil legal system; that is, law arises primarily from written statutes; judges are not to make law, but merely to interpret it (though the amount of judge interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to case law ). Basic principles of the rule of law were laid in the Napoleonic Code . In agreement with the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen law should only prohibit actions detrimental to society. As Guy Canivet , first president of the Court of Cassation , wrote about the management of prisons: [1]

Freedom is the rule, and its restriction is the exception; any restriction of Freedom must be provided for by Law and must follow the principles of necessity and proportionality.

That is, law may lay out prohibitions only if they are needed, and if the inconveniences caused by this restriction do not exceed the inconveniences that the prohibition is supposed to remedy.

French law is divided into two principal areas: private law and public law . Private law includes, in particular, civil law and criminal law . Public law includes, in particular, administrative law and constitutional law . However, in practical terms, French law comprises three principal areas of law: civil law; criminal law and administrative law.

France does not recognise religious law , nor does it recognise religious beliefs or morality as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions. As a consequence, France has long had neither blasphemy laws nor sodomy law s (the latter being abolished in 1791). However "offences against public decency " (contraires aux bonnes mœurs) or breach of the peace (trouble à l'ordre public) have been used to repress public expressions of homosexuality or street prostitution .

Laws can only address the future and not the past (ex post facto laws are prohibited) ; and to be applicable, laws must be officially published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française .

[edit] Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of France

See also: European Union, Latin Union, Francophonie, and United Nations Security Council

France is a member of the United Nations and serves as one of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council with veto rights. It is also a member of the WTO , the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) , the Indian Ocean Commission (COI). It is an associate member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and a leading member of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF) of fifty-one fully or partly French-speaking countries. It hosts the headquarters of the OECD , UNESCO , Interpol , Alliance Base and the International Bureau for Weights and Measures . In 1953 France received a request from the United Nations to pick a coat of arms that would represent it internationally. Thus the French emblem was adopted and is currently used on passports.

French foreign policy has been largely shaped by membership of the European Union , of which it was a founding member. In the 1960s, France sought to exclude the British from the organization, seeking to build its own standing in continental Europe. Since the 1990s, France has developed close ties with reunified Germany to become the most influential driving force of the EU, but consequently rivaling the U.K. and limiting the influence of newly-inducted East European nations. France is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , but under President de Gaulle, it excluded itself from the joint military command to avoid the supposed domination of its foreign and security policies by U.S. political and military influence. In the early 1990s, the country drew considerable criticism from other nations for its atmospheric nuclear tests in Polynesia . France vigorously opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq , straining bilateral relations with the U.S. and the U.K. France retains strong political and economic influence in its former African colonies and has supplied economic aid and troops for peace-keeping missions in the Ivory Coast and Chad .

[edit] Military

Main article: Military of France

See also: Military history of France

Nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle

The French armed forces are divided into four branches:

Armée de Terre (Army)
Marine Nationale (Navy)
Armée de l'Air (Air Force)
Gendarmerie Nationale (A military force which acts as a National Rural Police and as a Military police for the entire French military)

Since the Algerian War , conscription was steadily reduced and was finally suspended in 2001 by Jacques Chirac . The total number of military personnel is approximately 359,000. France spends 2.6% of its GDP on defence, slightly more than the United Kingdom (2.4%) , and is the highest in the European Union where defence spending is generally less than 1.5% of GDP. Together they account for 40% of EU defence spending. About 10% of France's defence budget goes towards its force de frappe , or nuclear weapons . A significant part of French military equipment is made in France. Examples include the Rafale fighter, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, the Exocet missile, and the Leclerc tank. Some weaponry, like the E-2 Hawkeye or the E-3 Sentry was bought from the United States. Despite withdrawing from the Eurofighter project, France is actively investing in European joint projects such as the Eurocopter Tiger , multipurpose frigates , the UCAV demonstrator nEUROn and the Airbus A400M . France is a major arms seller as most of its arsenal's designs are available for the export market with the notable exception of nuclear powered devices. Some of the French designed equipments are specifically designed for exports like the Franco-Spanish Scorpène class submarine s. Some French equipments have been largely modified to fit allied countries' requirements like the Formidable class frigate s (based on the La Fayette class) or the Hashmat class submarine s (based on the Agosta class submarines).

Although it includes very competent anti-terrorist units such as the GIGN or the EPIGN the gendarmerie is a military police force which serves for the most part as a rural and general purpose police force. Since its creation the GIGN has taken part in roughly one thousand operations and freed over five-hundred hostages; the Air France Flight 8969 's hijacking brought them to the world's attention.

French intelligence can be divided into two major units: the DGSE (the external agency) and the DST (domestic agency). The latter being part of the police while the former is associated to the army. The DGSE is notorious for the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior , but it is also known for revealing the most extensive technological spy network uncovered in Europe and the United States to date through the mole Vladimir Vetrov .

The French "Force de frappe " relies on a complete independence. The current French nuclear force consists of four submarines equipped with M45 ballistic missiles. The current Triomphant class is currently under deployment to replace the former Redoutable class. The M51 will replace the M45 in the future and expand the Triomphants firing range. Aside of the submarines the French dissuasion force uses the Mirage 2000N ; it is a variant of the Mirage 2000 and thus is designed to deliver nuclear strikes. Other nuclear devices like the Plateau d'Albion 's Intercontinental ballistic missiles and the short range Hadès missiles have been disarmed. With 350 nuclear heads stockpiled France is the world's third largest nuclear power.^[2]

The Marine Nationale is regarded as one of the world's most powerful. The professional compendium flottes de combats, in its 2006 edition, ranked it world's 6th biggest navy after the American, Russian, Chinese, British and Japanese navies.[2]. It is equipped with the world's only nuclear powered Aircraft Carrier, with the exception of the American navy. Recently Mistral class ships joined the Marine Nationale, the Mistral itself having taken part to operations in Lebanon. For the 2004 centennial of the Entente Cordiale President Chirac announced the Future French aircraft carrier would be jointly designed with Great Britain. The French navy is equipied with the La Fayette class frigate s, early examples of stealth ships, and several ships are expected to be retired in the next few years and replaced by more modern ships, examples of future surface ships are the Forbin and the Aquitaine class frigates. The attack submarines are also part of the Force Océanique Stratégique although they do not carry the nuclear dissuasion, the current class is the Rubis Class and will be replaced in the future by the expected Suffren Class .

The Armée de Terre employs 133,500 people, it is very famous for the Légion Etrangère though the French special forces aren't the Legion but the Dragons Parachutistes and the Marines Parachutistes . The French assault rifle is the FAMAS and future infantry combat system is the Félin . France uses both tracked and wheeled vehicles to a significant points, examples of wheeled vehicles would be the Caesar or the AMX 10 RC . Although its main battle tank is the Leclerc many older AMX 30 tanks are still operational. It uses the AMX 30 AuF1 for artillery. Finally it is getting equipied with Eurocopter Tiger s helicopters.

The Armée de l'Air is the oldest and first professional air force worldwide. It still today retains a significant capacity. It uses mainly two aircraft fighters: the older Mirage F1 and the more recent Mirage 2000 . The later model exists in a ground attack version called the Mirage2000D . The highly modern Rafale is in deployment in both the French air force and navy.

[edit] Transportation

Main article: Transport in France

A TGV Atlantique

The railway network of France, which stretches 31,840 kilometres (19,784 mi ) is the most extensive in Western Europe. It is operated by the SNCF , and high-speed trains include the Thalys , the Eurostar and TGV , which travels at 320 km/h (200 mph) in commercial use. The Eurostar , along with the Eurotunnel Shuttle , connects with the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel . Rail connections exist to all other neighbouring countries in Europe, except Andorra . Intra-urban connections are also well developed with both underground services and tram way services complementing bus services.

There is approximately 893,300 kilometres (555,070 mi) of serviceable roadway in France. The Paris region is enveloped with the most dense network of roads and highways that connect it with virtually all parts of the country. French roads also handle substantial international traffic, connecting with cities in neighboring Belgium, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. There is no annual registration fee or road tax; however, motorway usage is through tolls except in the vicinity of large communes. The new car market is dominated by national brands such as Renault (27% of cars sold in France in 2003) , Peugeot (20.1%) and Citroën (13.5%).^[3] Over 70% of new cars sold in 2004 had diesel engines, far more than contained petrol or LPG engines.^[4] France possesses the world's tallest road bridge: the Millau Viaduct , and has built many important bridges such as the Pont de Normandie .

There are approximately 478 airports in France, including landing fields. The Charles de Gaulle International Airport located in the vicinity of Paris is the largest and busiest airport in the country, handling the vast majority of popular and commercial traffic of the country and connecting Paris with virtually all major cities across the world. Air France is the national carrier airline, although numerous private airline companies provide domestic and international travel services. There are ten major ports in France, the largest of which is in Marseille , which also is the largest bordering the Mediterranean Sea. 14,932 kilometres (9,278 mi) of waterways traverse France.

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of France

See also: Regions of France

The 22 regions

and 96 departments

of metropolitan France

includes Corsica

(Corse, lower right). Paris area is expanded (inset at left)

France is divided into 26 administrative regions . 22 are in metropolitan France (21 are on the continental part of metropolitan France; one is the territorial collectivity of Corsica ) , and four are overseas region s. The regions are further subdivided into 100 departments which are numbered (mainly alphabetically). This number is used in postal codes and vehicle number plates amongst others. Four of these departments are found in the overseas regions and are simultaneously overseas regions and overseas department s and are an integral part of France (and the European Union ) and thus enjoy a status similar to metropolitan departments. The 100 departments are subdivided into 341 arrondissements which are, in turn, subdivided into 4,032 cantons . These cantons are then divided into 36,680 communes , which are municipalities with an elected municipal council. There also exist 2,588 intercommunal entities grouping 33,414 of the 36,680 communes (i.e. 91.1% of all the communes). Three communes, Paris, Lyon and Marseille are also subdivided into 45 municipal arrondissements .

The regions, departments and communes are all known as territorial collectivities , meaning they possess local assemblies as well as an executive. Arrondissements and cantons are merely administrative divisions. However, this was not always the case. Until 1940, the arrondissements were also territorial collectivities with an elected assembly, but these were suspended by the Vichy regime and definitely abolished by the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, the cantons were also territorial collectivities with their elected assemblies.

In addition to the 26 regions and 100 departments, the French Republic also has six overseas collectivities , one sui generis collectivity (New Caledonia ) , and one overseas territory . Overseas collectivities and territories form part of the French Republic, but do not form part of the European Union or its fiscal area. The Pacific territories continue to use the Pacific franc whose value is linked to that of the euro . In contrast, the four overseas regions used the French franc and now use the euro.

France also maintains control over a number of small non-permanently inhabited islands in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean : Bassas da India , Clipperton Island , Europa Island , Glorioso Islands , Juan de Nova Island , Tromelin Island .

See also: French metropolitan areas, List of towns in France, and List of cities in France over 20,000 population (1999 census)

[edit] Overseas Regions

Overseas departments have the same political status as metropolitan departments.

Guadeloupe (since 1946)