Describe the age composition of the population of France. Religious and national composition of France: features, statistical indicators in percentage
France (fr. France), the official name of the French Republic (fr. Republique française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]) is a state in Western Europe. The capital is the city of Paris. The name of the country comes from the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe of the Franks, despite the fact that the majority of the population of France is of mixed Gallo-Romance origin and speaks the language of the Romance group.
The population is 64.7 million people (January 2010), including about 90 percent French citizens. Believers are predominantly Catholics (over 76 percent). The legislature is a bicameral parliament (the Senate and the National Assembly). Administrative-territorial division: 27 regions (22 metropolises and 5 overseas regions), including 101 departments (96 in the metropolis and 5 overseas departments).
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The flag of France (French drapeau tricolore or drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge, drapeau français, less often le tricolore, in military jargon - les couleurs) is the national emblem of France in accordance with the 2nd article of the French constitution of 1958. It consists of three vertical equal-sized stripes: blue - at the pole edge, white - in the middle, and red - at the free edge of the cloth. The ratio of the flag's width to its length is 2:3. Entered into use May 20, 1794. |
| Origin of flowers. The blue banner has been used since the time of Clovis I, the first Frankish king, and was associated with the color of the vestments of Saint Martin of Tours, the patron saint of France. According to legend, the saint shared his cloak ( of blue color) with a beggar near Amiens, and Clovis, after the adoption of Christianity around 498, changed the white banner to blue in honor of him. White color in the period from 1638 to 1790. was the color of the royal flag and some naval banners. From 1814 to 1830, it was also the color of the flags of the royal army. The white color symbolizes France and everything that is connected with the divine order, with God (hence the choice of this color as the main emblem of the kingdom - according to the official doctrine, the power of the king was of divine origin). During the reign of Hugh Capet and his descendants, the kings of France had a red oriflamme in honor of St. Dionysius, since he was the legendary founder of the abbey, which since the time of Dagobert I was especially revered. |
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The current emblem became the symbol of France after 1953, although it does not have any legal status as an official symbol. Since 2003, all public administrations have used the Marianne logo against the background of the French flag. |
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Emblem of France |
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Political system
France is a sovereign unitary democratic republic. The current Constitution, adopted on October 4, 1958, regulates the functioning of the authorities of the Fifth Republic: establishes a republican presidential-parliamentary form of government (Constitution of the French Republic, section 2). The head of state is the president, who is elected for a five-year term. The head of government is the prime minister. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister. Legislative power is vested in a bicameral parliament elected by popular vote. The Constitution of the French Republic was revised several times under the following articles:
presidential elections based on universal direct suffrage (1962),
introduction of a new section of the Constitution on the criminal liability of members of the government (1993),
the introduction of a single session of parliament and the expansion of the competence of the referendum (1995),
adoption of provisional measures regarding the status of New Caledonia (1998),
creation of the Economic and Monetary Union, equal access of men and women to elective mandates and elective functions, recognition of the legal right of the International Criminal Court (1999),
reduction of the term of the presidential mandate (2000),
Head of State Penal Reform, Constitutional Abolition of the Death Penalty, New Caledonia Autonomy Reform (2007),
reform on the renewal of the state structure and the establishment of a balance in the distribution of powers (2008).
There is also a Constitutional Council in France, which consists of 9 members and controls the correctness of the elections and the constitutionality of laws amending the Constitution, as well as laws submitted to it for consideration.
Legislature
Legislative power in France belongs to the Parliament, which includes two chambers - the Senate and the National Assembly. The Senate of the Republic, whose members are elected by indirect universal suffrage, consists of 321 senators (since 2011 there have been 348), 305 of whom are from the mother country, 9 from the overseas territories, 5 from the territories of the French Community and 12 from French citizens living abroad. Senators are elected for six-year terms (since 2003, and until 2003 for 9 years) by an electoral college consisting of deputies of the National Assembly, general councilors and delegates from municipal councils, while the Senate is renewed by half every three years. The last elections to the Senate took place in September 2008. Following the results of the elections held in September 2008, the 343 members of the Senate are distributed as follows:
Faction "Union for a Popular Movement" (UMP):151
Socialist faction: 116
Faction "Centrist Union": 29
Communist, republican and civic faction: 23
Faction "European Democratic and Social Association": 17
According to the results of the elections on June 10 and 17, 2007, the National Assembly has 577 deputies, distributed as follows:
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) faction: 314 (plus 6 joining)
Socialist Radical and Civic Faction: 186 (plus 18 who joined)
Left Democratic and Republican Caucus: 24
New centrist faction: 20 (plus 2 joiners)
Not a member of any faction: 7
The National Assembly, whose deputies are elected on the basis of direct universal suffrage for a term of 5 years, consists of 577 deputies, 555 of whom represent the metropolis, and 22 from the overseas territories. Members of the National Assembly are elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The last elections to the National Assembly took place in June 2007. In addition to their function - control over the activities of the government, both chambers develop and adopt laws. In case of disagreement, the final decision rests with the National Assembly.
executive branch
In the Fifth Republic, the prime minister is in charge of day-to-day domestic and economic policy and also has the power to issue general decrees. He is considered responsible for government policy (Article 20). The Prime Minister directs the activities of the government and enforces laws (Article 21). The Prime Minister has his own website: www.premier-ministre.gouv.fr.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic. The approval of his candidacy by the National Assembly is not required, since the National Assembly has the right to declare a vote of no confidence in the government at any time. Usually the Prime Minister represents the party that has the most seats in the National Assembly. The prime minister draws up a list of ministers in his cabinet and submits it to the president for approval.
The Prime Minister initiates the adoption of laws in the National Assembly and ensures their implementation, he is also responsible for national defense. The Prime Minister countersigns the acts of the President, replaces him as chairman in the councils and committees determined by Article 15 of the Constitution. Since May 17, 2007, the government has been headed by François Fillon (member of the Union for a Popular Movement party).
Judicial branch
The judicial system of France is regulated in the VIII section of the Constitution "On the judiciary". The President of the country is the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary, the status of judges is established by organic law, and the judges themselves are irremovable.
French justice is based on the principles of collegiality, professionalism, independence, which are provided by a number of guarantees. The 1977 law established that the costs of administering justice in civil and administrative cases are borne by the state. This rule does not apply to criminal justice. Also an important principle is the equality before justice and the neutrality of judges, the public hearing of the case and the possibility of a double hearing of the case. The law also provides for the possibility of cassation appeal.
The judicial system of France is multi-stage, and it can be divided into two branches - the judicial system itself and the system of administrative courts. The lowest level in the system of courts of general jurisdiction is occupied by tribunals of small instance. Cases in such a tribunal are heard personally by a judge. However, each of them has several magistrates. The Tribunal of Small Instance hears cases with insignificant sums, and the decisions of such courts are not subject to appeal.
In criminal cases, this court is called the police tribunal. These tribunals are divided into chambers: civil cases and the correctional court. The Court of Appeal always decides collectively. The civil-legal part of the Court of Appeal consists of two chambers: for civil and social cases. There is also a Chamber of Commerce. One of the functions of the indictment chamber is the function of a disciplinary court in relation to officers of the judicial police (officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, military gendarmerie, etc.). There is also a gendarmerie chamber for minors. Each department has a jury. In addition, special-purpose judicial bodies operate in France: commercial courts and military courts. At the top of the system is the Court of Cassation. In France, there is a separate branch of administrative justice. The prosecutor's office is represented by prosecutors at courts of different levels. The Attorney General with deputies is attached to the Court of Appeal. The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Cassation includes the Prosecutor General, his first deputy and deputies who are subordinate to the Minister of Justice.
Local government
The system of local governments in France is built in accordance with the administrative-territorial division. It is represented by communes, departments and regions where there are elected bodies.
The commune has about 36 thousand people, is managed by the municipal council and the mayor, who is the executive authority. The council manages the affairs of the commune, makes decisions on issues affecting the interests of its citizens on all social problems: manages property, creates the necessary social services.
The department is the basic unit of the administrative-territorial division of France. Departments are divided into internal (96) and overseas departments. The jurisdiction of the departmental Council includes the adoption of the local budget and control over its execution, the organization of departmental services, property management. executive body The department is the chairman of the general council.
The largest unit in the administrative division of the country is the region. Each region has established economic and social committees and a regional loan committee. The region has its own accounting chamber. The regional council elects its own chairman, who is the executive power in the region.
Armed forces and police
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In general, France is one of the few countries whose armed forces have an almost complete range of modern weapons and military equipment of their own production - from small arms to attack nuclear aircraft carriers.
France is the host country nuclear weapons. The official position of the French government has always been to create a "limited nuclear arsenal at the minimum necessary level." To date, this level is four nuclear submarines and about a hundred aircraft with nuclear missiles.
The republic has a contract system of service and there is no military duty. The military personnel, which includes all units, is about 270 thousand people. At the same time, according to the reform launched by the President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, 24% of employees, mainly in administrative positions, should be dismissed from the army.
Foreign policy and international relations
Currently, France is one of the most important actors in world politics, it can undoubtedly be called a "great power" modern world, and this assumption is based on the following principles:
France independently determines its foreign policy. Political independence is based on military force (primarily on nuclear weapons);
France influences the adoption of international political decisions through international organizations (due to the status of a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a leading role in the EU, etc.);
France is trying to play the role of world ideological leader (declaring itself the "standard-bearer" of the principles of the French Revolution in world politics and the defender of human rights throughout the world);
The special role of France in certain regions of the world (primarily in Africa);
France remains the center of cultural attraction for a significant part of the world community.
France is one of the founding countries of the European Union (since 1957) and now plays an active role in determining its policies.
France hosts the headquarters of such organizations as UNESCO (Paris), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (Paris), Interpol (Lyon), the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) (Sevres).
France is a member of many world and regional international organizations:
the United Nations since 1945;
a permanent member of the UN Security Council (that is, has the right to veto);
member of the WTO (since 1995, before that a member of the GATT);
since 1964 member of the Group of Ten;
the initiating country in the Secretariat of the Pacific Community;
member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
member of the Indian Ocean Commission;
associate member of the Association of Caribbean States;
Founder and leading member of the Francophonie since 1986;
in the Council of Europe since 1949;
member of the OSCE;
member of the Big Eight.
Among the main directions of French foreign policy are the following:
activities within the European Union;
policy in the Mediterranean region (North Africa and the Middle East);
establishing bilateral relations with individual countries;
conducting policies within the organization of the Francophonie;
activities in NATO.
Activities in NATO
France was part of NATO (since 1949), but under President de Gaulle in 1966, she withdrew from the military part of the alliance in order to be able to pursue her own independent security policy. During the tenure of President J. Chirac, the actual participation of France in the defense structures of NATO increased. After N. Sarkozy became president on May 16, 2007, France returned to the military structure of the Alliance on April 4, 2009. The full return of France to the military structure is due to NATO's support for European defense initiatives - the EU European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), as part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The return of France to NATO is not a whim of N. Sarkozy, but a response to the changed world situation. France's policy towards NATO, starting with F. Mitterrand, had a successive character.
France took an active part in the settlement of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict that escalated in August 2008. At a meeting between the presidents of Russia and France - Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy - during negotiations in Moscow on August 12, 2008, a plan was signed to resolve the military conflict, called the Medvedev-Sarkozy Plan.
Administrative division
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France is divided into 27 regions (régions), of which 22 are on the European continent, one (Corsica) is on the island of Corsica, and another five are overseas. The regions do not have legal autonomy, but they can set their own taxes and approve the budget. 27 regions are divided into 101 departments (départements), which consist of 342 districts (arrondissements) and 4039 cantons (cantons). France is based on 36,682 communes. The division into departments and communes is comparable to the division of Russia into regions and districts. The department of Paris consists of a single commune. Each of the five overseas regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion, Mayotte) consists of a single department. The region of Corsica (including 2 departments) has a special status of an administrative-territorial entity, which differs from other regions of the metropolis (continental France). It has independent governing bodies that are not subordinate to the center. In 2003, a referendum on the unification of the 2 departments of Corsica failed. All these regions are part of the European Union. |
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It can also be said that the French Republic includes: |
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History
Ancient World and Middle Ages
France in the prehistoric period was the site of the oldest sites of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. During the Neolithic period, there were several prehistoric cultures rich in monuments in France. Prehistoric Brittany was culturally linked to neighboring Britain, and a large number of megaliths have been discovered on its territory. In the period of the late Bronze and early Iron Ages, the territory of France was inhabited by the Celtic tribes of the Gauls, the south-west of modern France - by the Iberians, tribes of unknown origin. As a result of the gradual conquest, which was completed in the 1st century. BC e. As a result of the Gallic War of Julius Caesar, the modern territory of France became part of the Roman Empire as the province of Gaul. The population was romanized and by the 5th century spoke vernacular Latin, which became the basis of modern French.
In 486, Gaul was conquered by the Franks under the leadership of Clovis. Thus, the Frankish state was established, and Clovis became the first king of the Merovingian dynasty. In the 7th century, the power of the king was significantly weakened, and majordoms had real power in the state, one of whom, Charles Martell, managed to defeat the Arab army in 732 at the Battle of Poitiers and prevent the conquest of Western Europe by the Arabs. The son of Charles Martell, Pepin the Short, became the first king of the Carolingian dynasty, and under Pepin's son, Charlemagne, Frankish state reached its highest flourishing in history and occupied most of the territory of present-day Western and Southern Europe. After the death of the son of Charlemagne - Louis the Pious - his empire was divided into three parts. In 843, according to the Treaty of Verdun, the West Frankish kingdom was formed, headed by Charles the Bald. It occupied approximately the territory of modern France; in the 10th century, the country began to be called France.
Subsequently, the central government significantly weakened. In the 9th century, France was regularly raided by the Vikings, in 886 the latter besieged Paris. In 911, the Vikings established the Duchy of Normandy in northern France. By the end of the 10th century, the country was almost completely fragmented, and the kings had no real power outside their fiefs (Paris and Orleans). The Carolingian dynasty in 987 was replaced by the Capetian dynasty, named after its first king, Hugo Capet. The reign of the Capetians is notable for the crusades, religious wars in France itself (first in 1170 the Waldensian movement, and in 1209-1229 - the Albigensian wars), the convening of parliament - the Estates General - for the first time in 1302, as well as the Avignon captivity of the popes, when the Pope of Rome was arrested in 1303 by King Philip IV the Handsome, and the popes were forced to remain in Avignon until 1378. In 1328, the Capetians were replaced by a side branch of the dynasty known as the Valois dynasty. In 1337, the Hundred Years War with England began, in which at first success accompanied the British, who managed to capture a significant part of the territory of France, but in the end, especially after the appearance of Joan of Arc, a turning point occurred in the war, and in 1453 the British capitulated.
The period of the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483) is the actual cessation of the feudal fragmentation of France and the transformation of the country into an absolute monarchy. In the future, France constantly sought to play a prominent role in Europe. So, from 1494 to 1559, she fought the Italian Wars with Spain for control of Italy. At the end of the 16th century, Calvinist Protestantism became widespread in predominantly Catholic France (Protestants in France were called Huguenots). This sparked religious wars between Catholics and Protestants, which culminated in 1572 on St. Bartholomew's Night in Paris, a massacre of Protestants. In 1589, the Valois dynasty ended, and Henry IV became the founder of a new Bourbon dynasty.
New time and revolution
In 1598, Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes, which ended the war with the Protestants and gave them wide powers, so that they formed a "state within a state" with their own fortresses, troops and local government structures. From 1618 to 1648, France participated in the Thirty Years' War (formally, it fought only from 1635 - this is the so-called Swedish-French period of the war). From 1624 until his death in 1642, the country was actually ruled by the minister of King Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu. He renewed the wars with the Protestants and succeeded in inflicting a military defeat on them and destroying their state structures. In 1643, Louis XIII died, and his five-year-old son Louis XIV became king, who ruled until 1715 and managed to outlive his son and grandson. In 1648-1653, there was an uprising of the urban strata and the noble opposition, dissatisfied with the rule of the Queen Mother Anne of Austria and the minister, Cardinal Mazarin, who continued the policy of Richelieu and the Fronde. After the suppression of the uprising in France, an absolute monarchy was restored. During the reign of Louis XIV - the "Sun King" - France participated in several wars in Europe: 1635-1659. - war with Spain, 1672-1678. — Dutch War, 1688-1697 - War of the Palatinate Succession (War of the Augsburg League) and 1701-1713. — War of the Spanish Succession.
In 1685, Louis canceled the Edict of Nantes, which led to the flight of Protestants to neighboring countries and the deterioration of the economic situation in France.
In 1715, after the death of Louis XIV, his great-grandson Louis XV ascended the French throne, ruling until 1774.
1789 - The Great French Revolution.
1792 - First Republic.
1793-1794 - Jacobin terror.
1795 - the capture of the Netherlands.
1797 - the capture of Venice.
1798-1801 - Egyptian expedition.
1799-1814 - the reign of Napoleon (in 1804 he was proclaimed emperor; First Empire). In 1800-1812, Napoleon created a pan-European empire through aggressive campaigns, and his relatives or henchmen ruled in Italy, Spain and other countries. After the defeat in Russia (see. Patriotic War 1812) and the next unification of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, the power of Napoleon fell apart.
1815 - Battle of Waterloo.
1814-1830 - the period of the Restoration, based on the dualistic monarchy of Louis XVIII (1814/1815-1824) and Charles X (1824-1830).
1830 - July Monarchy. The revolution overthrows Charles X, power passes to Prince Louis-Philippe of Orleans, the financial aristocracy came to power.
1848-1852 - Second Republic.
1852-1870 - the reign of Napoleon III - the Second Empire.
1870-1940 - The Third Republic, proclaimed after the capture of Napoleon III at Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. In 1879–80 the Labor Party was created. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Socialist Party of France (led by J. Guesde, P. Lafargue, and others) and the French Socialist Party (led by J. Jaurès) were formed, which merged in 1905 (the French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO). By the end of the 19th century, the formation of the French colonial empire, which included huge possessions in Africa and Asia.
1870-1871 - Franco-Prussian War
1871 - Paris Commune (March - May 1871).
1914-1918 - France participated in the First World War as part of the Entente.
1939-1945 - World War II
1940 - Compiègne truce of 1940 with Germany (surrender of France)
1940-1944 - German occupation of northern France, Vichy regime in southern France.
1944 - the liberation of France by the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition and the resistance movement.
1946-1958 - Fourth Republic.
Fifth Republic
In 1958, the constitution of the Fifth Republic was adopted, which expanded the rights of the executive branch. Charles de Gaulle, General of the Liberation, hero of the First and Second World Wars, was elected President of the Republic. By 1960, in the context of the collapse of the colonial system most of French colonies in Africa won independence. In 1962, after a bloody war, Algeria gained independence. Pro-French Algerians moved to France, where they formed a rapidly growing Muslim minority.
Mass unrest of youth and students (May events in France, 1968), caused by the aggravation of economic and social contradictions, as well as a general strike, led to an acute political crisis; President Charles de Gaulle, founder of the Fifth Republic, resigned (1969) and died on November 9, 1970, a year later.
In general, the post-war development of France was characterized by the accelerated development of industry and agriculture, the promotion of national capital, economic and socio-cultural expansion into the former African and Asian colonies, active integration within the European Union, the development of science and culture, the strengthening of social support measures, counteracting the "Americanization » culture.
Foreign policy under President de Gaulle was characterized by a desire for independence and for the "restoration of the greatness of France." In 1960, after successful tests of its own nuclear weapons, the country joined the "nuclear club", in 1966 France withdrew from the military structure of NATO (it returned only during the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy), Charles de Gaulle did not support European integration processes either.
The Gaullist Georges Pompidou was elected the second president of the Fifth Republic in 1969, and in 1962-1968. served as prime minister.
In 1974, after the death of Pompidou, he was replaced by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, a liberal and pro-European politician, founder of the centrist party Union for French Democracy.
From 1981 to 1995, the socialist François Mitterrand held the presidency.
From May 17, 1995 to May 16, 2007, Jacques Chirac, who was re-elected in 2002, was president. He is a neo-Gaullist politician. Under him, in 2000, a referendum was held on the issue of reducing the term of office of the president in the country from 7 to 5 years. Despite the very low turnout (about 30% of the population), the majority in the end still spoke in favor of reducing the term (73%).
In connection with the growing number of people from African countries in France, the problem of migrants has worsened, many of whom are Muslims: 10% of the population of France are non-indigenous Muslims (mostly from Algeria). On the one hand, this causes an increase in the popularity of far-right (xenophobic) organizations among the native French, on the other hand, France becomes the scene of riots and terrorist attacks. North African immigration originates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The slowdown in the rate of natural population growth and the shortage of labor in France against the background of the economic recovery made it necessary to attract foreign labor. The main areas of application of immigrant labor are construction (20%), industries with the use of conveyor production (29%) and the service and trade sector (48.8%). Due to low training, North Africans often become unemployed. In 1996, the average unemployment rate among foreigners from the Maghreb countries reached 32%. Currently, immigrants from the Maghreb countries make up more than 2% of the population of France and are located mainly in three regions of the country with centers in Paris, Lyon and Marseille.
On May 16, 2007, the candidate from the Union for a Popular Movement party, Nicolas Sarkozy, a native of Jewish family who emigrated to France from Hungary.
On July 21, 2008, the French Parliament narrowly supported the draft constitutional reform proposed by President Sarkozy. The current constitutional reform has become the most significant of the entire existence of the Fifth Republic, amending 47 of the 89 articles of the 1958 document. The bill included three parts: strengthening the role of parliament, updating the institution of executive power, and granting citizens new rights.
The most important changes:
- the president can serve no more than two consecutive terms;
- Parliament acquires the right to veto certain decisions of the president;
- limited government control over the activities of parliamentary committees;
- at the same time, the president receives the right to speak annually before parliament (this has been prohibited since 1875 in order to maintain the separation between the two authorities);
- a referendum is envisaged on the entry of new members into the EU.
The adoption of the new law caused active controversy. Critics of the project point out that the president will still receive the main benefits. Sarkozy is already being called the "hyper-president" and even the new "monarch" of France.
In March 2010, regional elections were held in France. Based on the results of two rounds of voting, 1,880 advisers to regional councils were elected. Elections were held in all 26 regions of the country, including 4 overseas ones. The current regional elections have already been dubbed a test of strength before presidential elections 2012
The election was won by the opposition coalition "Left Union" (UG) led by the "Socialist Party" (PS). The coalition also includes the parties "Europe-Ecology" and "Left Front". In the first round, they scored 29%, 12% and 6%, respectively, while the presidential party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), only 26%. According to the results of the second round, the "Left Union" received 54% of the votes, thus, out of 22 European regions of France, preference was given to it in 21. Sarkozy's party left behind only the Alsace region.
The success of the far-right National Front, which received in the second round a total of about 2 million votes, that is, 9.17%, was also quite unexpected. The party passed to the second round of voting in 12 regions of the country, respectively, in each of them received an average of 18% of the vote. Jean-Marie Le Pen himself, who headed the party list in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, achieved the best result in the history of his party here, gaining 22.87% of the vote and securing 21 out of 123 deputy mandates in the local council for his supporters. In northern France, in the Sever-Pas-de-Calais region, the Front National, whose local list was headed by the party leader's daughter Marine Le Pen, received 22.20% of voters, guaranteeing the NF 18 out of 113 seats in the regional council
Population
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The population of France totaled 63.8 million inhabitants in 2008, and already in January 2010 - 65.4 million people. 62.8 million people live on the continental territory. In terms of population, the state ranks 20th among 193 UN member countries. The population density in France is 116 people/km². According to this indicator, the country ranks 14th among the countries of the European Union. The total fertility rate in France is one of the highest in Europe - 2.01 children per woman of reproductive age. There are 57 urban settlements in France with a population of more than 100,000 people. The largest of them (for 2005): |
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| In 2006, 10.1% of the population are of foreign origin (that is, they were not French citizens at the time of birth), of which 4.3% received French citizenship. | |
National composition
The French political lexicon does not use the concept of "national minority" and even "nationality" in the sense that this word was understood in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. In the French lexicon, the word "nationality", "nationalité" means exclusively "citizenship", and the adjective "national, national", "national, nationale" means belonging to the state - the French Republic, since the Republic comes from the nation, that is, the people to which it belongs state, national sovereignty, which is recorded in Article 3 of the Constitution of the French Republic. Similarly, in the United States of America, for example, there are citizens of only one nationality - Americans, if you do not take into account foreigners living in it legally or illegally for one reason or another. Thus, all citizens of France are included in one category of official statistics - "French".
Soviet encyclopedias provide data for 1975 on the ethnic composition of the country, without, however, describing the methods of assessment: about 90% of the population were ethnic French. National minorities include Alsatians and Lorraine (about 1.4 million people), Bretons (1.25 million people), Jews (about 500 thousand people), Flemings (300 thousand people), Catalans (250 thousand . people), Basques (140 thousand people) and Corsicans (280 thousand people).
The Alsatians speak the Alemannic dialect of German, the Lorraine in its Frankish dialects. The literary language for most Alsatians is German. Most of the Alsatians are Catholics, among the villagers there are Protestants (Lutherans and Calvinists).
The Bretons speak the Breton language of the Celtic group of the Indo-European family, which has four dialects: Trégières, Cornish, Vannes and Leonard. It formed the basis of the literary language. Breton is spoken by about 200,000 people in the west of Brittany. In eastern Brittany, a dialect of French is common - Gallo. But the main idea is not language, but a common history, origin, special geographical origin, and hence special economic activities. Brittany is the center of the development of Celtic culture.
The Flemings live in the north of the country, in the so-called French Flanders. They speak Southern Dutch. By religion, they are mostly Catholics. Corsicans (self-name "Corsi") inhabit the island of Corsica. They speak French. In everyday life, two Italian dialects are used: Chismontan and Oltremontan. They profess Catholicism.
Basques (self-name euskaldunak - "speaking Basque") in France inhabit the regions of Labour, Soule and Lower Navarre; in Spain - the provinces of Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Alava, Navarra. Basque is isolated, moreover, it is divided into dialects. The official languages spoken are French and Spanish. Basques profess Catholicism.
welfare
The minimum hourly wage in France (SMIC) is set and revised by the state. For 2010, it is 8.86€/hour, which corresponds to 1343.77€/month (hourly wages are converted into monthly wages by INSEE based on a 35-hour working week).
Approximately 10% of wages in France are at the SMIC level (for temporary jobs this share is 23%). At the same time, the total annual income of about half of working French people is at the SMIC level.
The distribution of salaries across the country is uneven: the Paris region leads by a wide margin of average wages - 27 thousand euros per year, the average wages of other regions fall on 18-20 thousand euros per year.
The family income is estimated per unit of consumption (PU) - the first adult in the family is considered as a unit, the rest of the family members under 14 years old for 0.3, 14 years and above - 0.5. Only 10% of French families have an income level of more than 35,700 € / MU, 1% - more than 84,500 € / MU, 0.1% - more than 225,800 € / MU, 0.01% - 687,900 € / MU.
Religion
France is a secular country, freedom of conscience is provided for by constitutional law. The doctrine of secularism (laїcité) was born and developed here, in accordance with the law of 1905, the state is strictly separated from all religious organizations. The secular nature of the republic is perceived as an identity. When the French nation ceases to be so united, then questions of a religious nature are perceived quite painfully.
According to polls conducted in 2005, 34% of French citizens stated that they "believe in the existence of God", 27% answered that they "believe in the existence of supernatural forces", and 33% stated that they are atheists and do not believe in the existence of such forces.
According to a survey conducted in January 2007, 51% of the French consider themselves Catholics, 31% identify themselves as agnostics and / or atheists, 10% declared that they belong to other religious movements or have no opinion on this matter, 6-8% - Muslims, 3% Protestants, 1% Jews. According to Le Monde, there are 5 million people in France who sympathize with Buddhism, but about 600,000 practice the religion. Of these, 65% practice Zen Buddhism.
Languages
The official language of the state is French, which is spoken by most of the population. It belongs to the Indo-European family of languages (Romance group, Gallo-Romance subgroup). Developed from vernacular Latin and moved further away from it than any other Romance language. Writing based on the Latin alphabet. Modern French comes from the so-called Langue d'Oil, a dialect of northern France, as opposed to Langue d'Oc, which was common in the south in the province of the same name. The separation of these two varieties of French was due to the way the word "yes" was pronounced. At present, Langue d'Oil has almost supplanted Langue d'Oc. Although to this day in France, various dialects of the French language are used. In 1994, a language law (Law Toubon) was adopted. It not only consolidated the French language as the language of the republic, but also protected the language from being forced out by foreign words, borrowings.
Physical and geographical characteristics
Geographical position
Most of France is located in Western Europe, its mainland borders Belgium in the north, Luxembourg and Luxembourg in the northeast, Switzerland in the east, Monaco and Italy in the southeast, Spain and Spain in the southwest. Andorra. France is washed by four bodies of water (English Channel, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea and Mediterranean Sea). In the west and north, the territory of the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean (the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel), in the south - by the Mediterranean Sea (the Gulf of Lion and the Ligurian Sea). Length maritime borders is 5500 kilometers. France is the largest country in Western Europe in terms of territory: it occupies almost one-fifth of the territory of the European Union, has vast maritime spaces (the exclusive economic zone extends over an area of 11 million square kilometers).
The state also includes the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea and more than twenty overseas departments and dependent territories. The total area of the country is 550 thousand km² (643.4 thousand km² together with overseas territories and departments).
Relief and geological structure
In the north and west of the country there are flat areas and low mountains. Plains make up 2/3 of the total area. The main mountain ranges are: the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Jura, the Ardennes, the Massif Central and the Vosges. The Paris Basin is surrounded by the Massif Armorican, the Massif Central, the Vosges and the Ardennes. Around Paris is a system of concentric ledges of ridges separated by narrow strips of plains. The Garon lowland, located in the southwest of France at the foot of the Pyrenees, is a flat area with fertile soils. The Landes, a triangular wedge-shaped area southwest of the lower Garonne, is characterized by less fertile soils and is planted with coniferous forests. The graben of the Rhone and Saone in southeastern France forms a narrow passage between the Alps in the east and the Massif Central in the west. It consists of a series of small depressions separated by highly dissected uplifted areas.
IN central regions and in the east - medium-altitude mountains (Massif Central, Vosges, Jura). The central massif, located between the basins of the Loire, Garonne and Rhone, is the largest massif that arose as a result of the destruction of the ancient Hercynian mountains. Like other ancient mountainous regions of France, it rose during the Alpine era, while the softer rocks in the Alps were crumpled into folds, and the dense rocks of the massif were broken up by cracks and faults. Deep-seated molten rocks rose along such disturbed zones, which was accompanied by volcanic eruptions. In the modern era, these volcanoes have lost their activity. Nevertheless, many extinct volcanoes and other volcanic landforms have been preserved on the surface of the massif. The Vosges, which separate the fertile Rhine Valley in Alsace from the rest of France, are only 40 kilometers wide. The smoothed and forested surfaces of these mountains rise above deep valleys. A similar landscape prevails in the north of the country in the Ardennes. The Jura Mountains, along which the border with Switzerland runs, are located between Geneva and Basel. They have a folded structure, composed of limestone, lower and less dissected compared to the Alps, but formed in the same era and have a close geological connection with the Alps.
In the southwest, along the border with Spain, the Pyrenees mountain range stretches. During the ice age, the Pyrenees were not subjected to powerful glaciation. There are no large glaciers and lakes, picturesque valleys and jagged ridges characteristic of the Alps. Due to the significant height and inaccessibility of the passes, communications between Spain and France are very limited.
In the southeast, the Alps partially form the border of France with and Switzerland (to Lake Geneva) and extend a little into southeastern France as far as the Rhone. In the high mountains, the rivers carved deep valleys, and the glaciers that occupied these valleys during the Ice Age widened and deepened them. Here is located highest point France - the highest mountain in Western Europe - Mont Blanc, 4807 m.
Climate
The climate in the European territory of France is moderately maritime, turning in the east into temperate continental, and on the south coast into subtropical. In total, three types of climate can be distinguished: oceanic (in the west), Mediterranean (in the south), and continental (in the center and east). Summer is quite hot and dry - the average temperature in July reaches + 23-25 degrees, while rains are typical for the winter months at an air temperature of + 7-8 °C.
The main share of precipitation falls on the period from January to April, and their total amount varies between 600-1000 mm. On the western slopes of the mountains, this figure can reach more than 2000 mm.
Water resources
All the rivers of France, with the exception of some overseas territories, belong to the Atlantic Ocean basin, and for the most part originate in the Massif Central, the Alps and the Pyrenees. The largest water arteries of the country:
The Seine (775 km) is a flat river that forms a widely branched system with large right tributaries of the Marne and Oise, and the left tributary of the Ionne. The Seine drains the Paris Basin and flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Le Havre. It is distinguished by an even distribution of flow throughout the year, which favors navigation, and is connected by canals to other rivers.
The Garonne (650 km) originates in the Spanish Pyrenees, flows through Toulouse and Bordeaux, and forms a vast estuary, the Gironde, when it flows into the ocean. Main tributaries: Tarn, Lot and Dordogne.
Rhone (812 km) - the deepest river in France, starts in the Swiss Alps from the Rhone Glacier, flows through Lake Geneva. Near Lyon, the Saone River flows into it. Other major tributaries are the Durance and the Isère. The Rhone is characterized by a fast turbulent flow and has a large hydroelectric potential. A number of hydroelectric power plants have been built on this river.
The Loire (1020 km) is the longest river in France, starting in the Massif Central. It receives many tributaries, the main ones being Allier, Cher, Indre and Vienne. The Loire rises in the French Massif Central, crosses the southern part of the Paris Basin and flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Nantes. The water level in this river fluctuates greatly, so there are frequent floods.
The canal system connects the main rivers of the country, including the Rhine, along which partly passes the eastern border of the country and which is one of the most important inland communications in Europe. Rivers and canals are of great importance for the French economy.
Flora and fauna
Forests occupy 27% of the country's territory. In the northern and western regions of the country, walnut, birch, oak, spruce and cork trees grow. On the mediterranean coast palms and citrus. Among the representatives of the fauna, deer and fox stand out. Roe deer inhabit the alpine regions, and the wild boar has been preserved in remote forests. There are also a large number of various kinds birds, including migratory ones. Reptiles are rare, and among snakes, only one poisonous one is an ordinary viper. Many types of fish live in coastal sea waters: herring, cod, tuna, sardine, mackerel, flounder and silver hake.
Protected areas
The French national park system consists of nine parks located both in European France and in its overseas territories. The parks are managed by the government agency Management national parks France. They occupy 2% of the territory of European France, and are visited by 7 million people a year.
In France, there is also a structure of regional natural parks, introduced by law on March 1, 1967. Regional natural parks are created by agreement between local authorities and the central government, and their territory is reviewed every 10 years. As of 2009, there are 49 regional natural parks in France.
Economy
France is a highly developed industrial and agrarian country, it occupies one of the leading places in the world in terms of industrial production. Gross domestic product has a value of 1.9 trillion euros (2.6 trillion dollars) in 2009. GDP per capita in the same year was 30.691 euros (42.747 dollars). The IMF predicts an increase in France's GDP by 21% by 2015. France is the 6th economic power in the world after the USA, and. With a metropolitan area of 551,602 km² and a population of 64 million including overseas territories, France is considered a "big" country. And its economic weight allows it to play one of the key roles in the international arena. France enjoys its natural advantages, ranging from a central geographical position in Europe to having access to the main trade routes of Western Europe: the Mediterranean Sea, the English Channel, the Atlantic.
In this regard, the Common European Market, formed in 1957, was a beneficial factor in the development of French enterprises, although the former colonies and overseas territories continue to be significant commercial partners.
Industry
Mining of iron and uranium ores, bauxite. The leading sectors of the manufacturing industry are mechanical engineering, including automotive, electrical and electronic (TV sets, washing machines, etc.), aviation, shipbuilding (tankers, sea ferries) and machine tool building. France is one of the world's largest producers of chemical and petrochemical products (including caustic soda, synthetic rubber, plastics, mineral fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and others), ferrous and non-ferrous (aluminum, lead and zinc) metals. French clothing, shoes, jewelry, perfumes and cosmetics, cognacs, cheeses (about 400 varieties are produced) are very famous on the world market.
Agriculture
France is one of the largest producers of agricultural products in Europe, occupies one of the leading places in the world in terms of the number of cattle, pigs, poultry and the production of milk, eggs, and meat. Agriculture accounts for approximately 4% of GDP and 6% of the country's working population. French agricultural products account for 25% of EU production. Agricultural land covers an area of 48 million hectares, which represents 82% of the metropolitan area. A characteristic feature of the socio-economic structure is the rather small size of farms. The average land area is 28 hectares, which exceeds the corresponding figures for many EU countries. There is great fragmentation in land ownership. More than half of the farms exist on the owners' land. Large farms are the leading force in production. 52% of agricultural land falls on farms larger than 50 hectares, which make up 16.8% of their total number. They provide more than 2/3 of products, occupying a dominant position in the production of almost all branches of agriculture. The main branch of agriculture is meat and dairy cattle breeding. Grain farming predominates in crop production; the main crops are wheat, barley, corn. Winemaking (the world's leading wine producer), vegetable growing and horticulture are developed; floriculture; fishing and oyster farming. Agricultural products: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; a fish. Agriculture is highly industrialized. It is second only to the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Denmark in terms of saturation with machinery and the use of chemical fertilizers. Technical equipment, the increase in farming agriculture has led to an increase in the level of self-sufficiency of the country in agricultural products. For grain, sugar, it exceeds 200%, for butter, eggs, meat - over 100%.
Winemaking
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Only Italy competes with France in wine production. Each province grows its own grape varieties and produces its own wines. Dry wines predominate. Such wines are usually named according to the grape variety - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. Blended wines, that is, from a mixture of grape varieties, are named according to the area. Champagne, Anjou, Bordeaux and Burgundy wines are especially famous in France.
Another famous drink is cognac. It is a type of brandy or grape vodka. There are other varieties, such as Armagnac. In France, it is customary to call cognac only the drink that is made in the vicinity of the city of Cognac. Cognac is usually not eaten with anything, occasionally gourmets set off the aftertaste with black radish.
In Normandy, another strong drink is common - Calvados.
Energy and mining
Every year, France consumes about 220 million tons of various types of fuel, while nuclear power plants play a significant role in energy production, generating three-quarters of the electricity produced (58 power units with a total capacity of 63.13 GW as of June 1, 2011). France's largest electricity producer is the historical monopoly Électricité de France (EDF).
France's hydroelectric network is the largest in Europe. About 500 hydroelectric power stations are located on its territory. France's hydroelectric power plants generate 20,000 MW of power.
Forests make up more than 30% of the territory, placing France in third place after Sweden and Finland in terms of their area among the countries of the European Union. Since 1945, the forest area in France has increased by 46%, and in the last 200 years it has doubled. There are 136 species of trees in France, which for European country great rarity. The number of large animals is also increasing here: over the past 20 years, the number of deer has doubled, and the number of roe deer has tripled.
France has significant reserves of iron ore, uranium ores, bauxites, potash and rock salts, coal, zinc, copper, lead, nickel, oil, and timber. The main regions of coal production are Lorraine (9 million tons) and the coal basins of the Massif Central. Since 1979, coal imports have exceeded production. Currently, the largest suppliers of this type of fuel are the USA, Australia and South Africa. The main consumers of oil and oil products are transport and thermal power plants, while France imports oil from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Great Britain, Norway, Russia, Algeria and a number of other countries. Gas production does not exceed 3 billion cubic meters. m. One of the largest gas fields in France - Lac in the Pyrenees - is mostly exhausted. The main gas suppliers are Norway, Algeria, Russia, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Nigeria and Belgium. Gaz de France is one of the largest gas companies in Europe. The main activities of the company are the exploration, production, marketing and distribution of natural gas. In order to preserve and increase the natural wealth of France, the state created:
– 7 national parks (for example, Parc national de la Vanoise, Parc national de la Guadeloupe, Parc National des Pyrénées, etc.),
— 156 nature reserves,
— 516 biotope protection zones,
- 429 sites protected by the Coast Guard,
- 43 natural regional parks, covering more than 12% of the entire territory of France.
On guard environment France allocated 47.7 billion euros in 2006, which is 755 euros per inhabitant. Waste water and waste processing accounts for 3/4 of this waste. France is a party to many international agreements and conventions, including those developed by the United Nations on climate, biodiversity and desertification.
Transport
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Rail connection
Rail transport in France is very developed. Local and night trains, including TGV ("Trains à Grande Vitesse" - high-speed trains) connect the capital with all major cities in the country, as well as with neighboring European countries. The speed of these trains is 320 km/h. The French railway network is 29,370 kilometers long and is the longest railway network in Western Europe. Rail links exist with all neighboring countries except Andorra.
Metro in France is available in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Rennes. Rouen has a partially underground high-speed tram. In addition to the metro system, Paris has a RER (Reseau Express Regional) network connected simultaneously with the metro system and the suburban train network.
Automobile communication
Net highways densely covers the entire territory of the country. The total length of roads is 951,500 km.
The main roads of France are divided into the following groups:
Highways - the name of the road is made up of the letter A followed by the road number. Permissible speed - 130 km / h, the mandatory presence of gas stations every 50 km, a concrete dividing strip, no traffic lights, pedestrian crossings.
National roads - prefix N. Permissible speed - 90 km / h (with a concrete dividing strip - 110 km / h).
Departmental roads - prefix D. Permissible speed - 90 km / h.
In cities, the speed limit is 50 km/h. The use of seat belts is mandatory. Children under 10 years of age must be transported in special seats.
Air transport
There are about 475 airports in France. 295 of them have paved or concrete runways, and the remaining 180 are unpaved (data for 2008). The largest French airport is Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, located in the suburbs of Paris. The national French carrier Air France operates flights to almost all countries of the world.
Trade and services
Export: engineering products, including transport equipment (about 14% of the value), cars (7%), agricultural and food products (17%; one of the leading European exporters), chemical products and semi-finished products, etc.
Tourism
However, international tourism income is much higher in the US ($81.7 billion) than in France ($42.3 billion), which is explained by the shorter stay of tourists in France: those who come to Europe tend to visit neighboring, no less attractive country. In addition, the French tourist is more family than business, which also explains the lower costs of tourists in France.
In 2010, about 76.8 million people visited France, an absolute record. The external balance of French tourism is positive: in 2000 tourism income was 32.78 billion euros, while French tourists traveling abroad spent only 17.53 billion euros.
What no doubt attracts visitors to France is the great variety of landscapes, long lines of ocean and sea coasts, temperate climate, many different monuments, as well as the prestige of French culture, cuisine and lifestyle.
Culture and art
France has a huge cultural heritage. It is rich, varied, reflecting wide regional differences, as well as the influence of immigration waves from different eras. France gave civilization great mathematicians, numerous philosophers, writers, artists, the Age of Enlightenment, the language of diplomacy, a certain universal concept of man, and much more. French has been one of the main international languages for many centuries, and to a large extent retains this role to this day. For long periods of its history, France was the main cultural center spreading its achievements all over the world. In many areas, such as fashion or cinema, she still maintains a leading position in the world. Paris is the headquarters of UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Architecture
On the territory of France, significant monuments of both ancient architecture, primarily in Nimes, and the Romanesque style, which was most widespread in the 11th century, have been preserved. Characteristic representatives of the latter are, for example, the cathedrals in the Basilica of Saint Saturnin in Toulouse, the largest Romanesque church in Europe, and the Church of Notre-Dame-la-Grand in Poitiers. However, medieval French architecture is primarily known for its Gothic structures. The Gothic style originated in France in the middle of the 12th century, the first Gothic cathedral was the Basilica of Saint-Denis (1137-1144). The cathedrals of Chartres, Amiens and Reims are considered the most significant works of the Gothic style in France, but in general a huge number of Gothic style monuments remain in France, from chapels to huge cathedrals. In the 15th century, the period of the so-called “flaming Gothic” began, from which only a few examples have come down to us, like the Saint-Jacques tower in Paris or one of the portals of the Rouen Cathedral. In the 16th century, starting from the reign of Francis I, the Renaissance begins in French architecture, well represented by castles in the Loire Valley - Chambord, Chenonceau, Cheverny, Blois, Azay-le-Rideau and others - as well as the Palace of Fontainebleau.
The 17th century is the heyday of baroque architecture, characterized by the creation of large palace and park ensembles, such as Versailles and the Luxembourg Gardens, and huge domed buildings, like the Val de Grace or Les Invalides. Baroque was replaced by classicism in the 18th century. This era includes the first examples of urban planning, with straight streets and perspectives, the organization of urban space, such as the Champs Elysees in Paris. Examples of classicist architecture proper include many Parisian monuments, such as the Pantheon (the former church of Saint-Genevieve) or the Madeleine Church. Classicism is gradually moving into the Empire style, the style of the first third of the 19th century, the standard of which in France is the arch on Place Carruzel. In the 1850s and 1860s, a complete replanning of Paris was carried out, as a result of which it took on a modern look, with boulevards, squares and straight streets. In the years 1887-1889, the Eiffel Tower was erected, which, although it met with significant rejection by contemporaries, is currently considered one of the symbols of Paris. In the 20th century, modernism spread around the world, in the architecture of which France no longer played a leading role, but in France, however, excellent examples of style were created, such as the church in Ronchamp, built by Le Corbusier, or built according to a specially designed plan of the business district of Paris La Defense with the Grand Arch.
art
Although France produced remarkable examples of medieval art (sculpture of Gothic cathedrals, painting by Jean Fouquet, book miniature, the top of which is considered to be the Magnificent Hours of the Duke of Berry by the Limburg brothers) and the art of the Renaissance (Limoges enamels, painting by Francois Clouet, the Fontainebleau school) and the 17th century (Georges de Latour ), French art was always in the shadow of other countries, primarily Italy and the Netherlands. In the 17th century, the greatest French masters (painters Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain, sculptor Pierre Puget) spent a significant part of their lives in Italy, which at that time was considered the center of world art. The first style of painting that arose in France was the Rococo style in the 18th century, the largest representatives of which were Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher. In the second half of the 18th century, French painting, passing through the still lifes of Chardin and the portraits of women by Greuze, came to classicism, which dominated French academic art until the 1860s. The main representatives of this trend were Jacques Louis David and Dominique Ingres.
At the same time, pan-European artistic movements developed in France, which differed significantly from the official academic direction: romanticism (Theodore Géricault and Eugene Delacroix), orientalism (Jean-Leon Gerome), the realistic landscape of the Barbizon School, the most prominent representatives of which were Jean-Francois Millet and Camille Corot, realism (Gustave Courbet, partly Honore Daumier), symbolism (Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau). However, it was only in the 1860s that French art made a qualitative breakthrough, which brought France into the undisputed leadership in world art and allowed it to maintain this leadership until the Second World War. This breakthrough is associated primarily with the work of Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas, and then with the Impressionists, the most notable of which were Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley, as well as Gustave Caillebotte.
At the same time, other prominent figures were the sculptor Auguste Rodin and Odilon Redon, who did not belong to any currents. Paul Cezanne, who first joined the Impressionists, soon abandoned them and began to work in a style later called Post-Impressionism. Post-impressionism also includes the work of such major artists as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as new artistic movements that constantly emerged in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which then spread throughout Europe, influencing other art schools. These are pointillism (Georges Seurat and Paul Signac), the Nabis group (Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Edouard Vuillard), Fauvism (Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Raoul Dufy), cubism (the early works of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque). French art also responded to the main trends of the avant-garde, such as expressionism (Georges Rouault, Chaim Soutine), the painting of Marc Chagall, or the surrealist works of Yves Tanguy. After the German occupation in the Second world war France has lost its leadership in world art.
Literature
The earliest monuments of literature in Old French that have come down to us date from the end of the 9th century, but the heyday of French medieval literature begins in the 12th century. Epic (The Song of Roland), allegorical (The Romance of the Rose) and satirical (The Romance of the Fox) poems, chivalric literature, primarily Tristan and Isolde and the works of Chrétien de Troyes, poetry of the Trouvers are created. At the same time, in southern France, in the 12th century, the poetry of the troubadours, who wrote in the Old Provençal language, reached its peak. Most Outstanding Poet medieval France was François Villon.
Rabelais' proto-novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" marked the divide between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in French literature. The greatest master of Renaissance prose not only in France, but also on a pan-European scale, was Michel Montaigne in his "Experiences". Pierre Ronsard and the poets of the Pleiades tried to "ennoble" the French language on the model of Latin. The development of the literary heritage of antiquity reached a new level in the 17th century, with the onset of the era of classicism. French philosophers (Descartes, Pascal, La Rochefoucauld) and playwrights of the grand secle (Corneille, Racine and Molière), and to a lesser extent prose writers (Charles Perrault) and poets (Jean de La Fontaine) gained all-European fame.
During the Enlightenment, French enlightenment literature continued to dictate the literary tastes of Europe, although its popularity did not last long. Among the most significant monuments of French literature of the 18th century are three novels: Manon Lescaut, Dangerous ties”, “Candide”. The rationally impersonal poetry of that time is now practically not reprinted.
After the French Revolution, the era of romanticism comes, beginning in France with the work of Chateaubriand, the Marquis de Sade and Madame de Stael. The traditions of classicism turned out to be very tenacious, and French romanticism reached its peak relatively late - in the middle of the century in the work of Victor Hugo and several less significant figures - Lamartine, de Vigny and Musset. The ideologist of French romanticism was the critic Sainte-Beuve, and his most popular works are the historical adventure novels of Alexandre Dumas.
Beginning in the 1830s, a realistic trend became more and more noticeable in French literature, in the direction of which the “poet of feelings” Stendhal and the concisely laconic Mérimée evolved. Honoré de Balzac ("The Human Comedy") and Gustave Flaubert ("Madame Bovary") are considered the major figures of French realism, although the latter defined himself as a neo-romantic ("Salambo"). Under the influence of "Madame Bovary", the "school of Flaubert" was formed, generally defined as naturalism and represented by the names of Zola, Maupassant, the Goncourt brothers and the satirist Daudet.
In parallel with naturalism, a completely different literary direction. The literary group of the Parnassians, represented, in particular, by Theophile Gauthier, set as its task the creation of "art for art's sake." The first of the “damned poets” adjoins the Parnassians, Charles Baudelaire, the author of the epochal collection “Flowers of Evil”, which threw a bridge from the era of “violent” romanticism (Nerval) to the pre-decadent symbolism of Verlaine, Rimbaud and Mallarmé.
During the 20th century, fourteen French writers were awarded the Nobel Prize. The most striking monument of French modernism is Marcel Proust's "flow novel" In Search of Lost Time, which grew out of the teachings of Henri Bergson. André Gide, the influential publisher of the Nouvelle Revue Française magazine, was also in the position of modernism. The work of Anatole France and Romain Rolland evolved towards social satirical issues, while Francois Mauriac and Paul Claudel tried to comprehend the place of religion in the modern world.
In the poetry of the early 20th century, Apollinaire's experimentation was accompanied by a revival of interest in "Racine" verse (Paul Valéry). In the prewar years, surrealism (Cocteau, Breton, Aragon, Eluard) became the dominant direction of the avant-garde. In the post-war period, surrealism was replaced by existentialism (the stories of Camus), with which the dramaturgy of the "theater of the absurd" (Ionesco and Beckett) is associated. The largest phenomena of the era of postmodernism were the "new novel" (ideologist - Robbe-Grillet) and a group of language experimenters ULIPO (Raymond Quenot, Georges Perec).
In addition to authors who wrote in French, in France, especially in the 20th century, also the largest representatives of other literatures worked, such as, for example, the Argentinean Cortazar. After the October Revolution, Paris became one of the centers of Russian emigration. At different times, such significant Russian writers and poets as, for example, Ivan Bunin, Alexander Kuprin, Marina Tsvetaeva or Konstantin Balmont worked here. Many, like Gaito Gazdanov, have already established themselves as writers in France. Many foreigners, like Beckett and Ionesco, began to write in French.
Music
French music has been known since the time of Charlemagne, but world-class composers: Jean Baptiste Lully, Louis Couperin, Jean Philippe Rameau - appeared only in the Baroque era. The heyday of French classical music came in the 19th century. The era of romanticism is represented in France by the works of Hector Berlioz, primarily his symphonic music. In the middle of the century, such famous composers as Camille Saint-Saens, Gabriel Fauré and Cesar Franck wrote their works, and at the end of the 19th century a new direction of classical music developed in France - impressionism, associated with the names of Eric Satie, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. In the 20th century, the classical music of France develops in the mainstream of world music. Well-known composers, including Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc, are formally united in the Sixes group, although there is little in common in their work. The work of Olivier Messiaen cannot be attributed to any direction of music at all. In the 1970s, the technique of “spectral music”, which later spread throughout the world, was born in France, in which music is written taking into account its spectrum of sound.
In the 1920s, jazz spread in France, the largest representative of which was Stéphane Grappelli. French pop music developed along a different path than English-language pop music. So, the rhythm of the song often follows the rhythm of the French language (such a genre is referred to as chanson). In chanson, the emphasis can be placed both on the words of the song and on the music. In this genre of extraordinary popularity in the middle of the XX century. reached Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour. Many chansonniers themselves wrote poems for songs, such as Georges Brassens. In many regions of France, folk music is being revived. As a rule, folk groups perform compositions from the beginning of the 20th century, using piano and accordion.
In the second half of the XX century. In France, ordinary pop music also spread, the performers of which were, for example, Mireille Mathieu, Dalida, Joe Dassin, Patricia Kaas, Mylene Farmer, Lara Fabian, Lemarchal Gregory.
The French made a particularly significant contribution to electronic music. Jean-Michel Jarre, Space and Rockets were among the pioneers of this genre. The synthesizer played a central role in early French electronics, along with science fiction and outer space aesthetics. In the 1990s, other electronic genres developed in France, such as trip-hop (Air, Télépopmusik), new age (Era), house (Daft Punk), etc.
Rock music in France is not as popular as in northern Europe However, this genre is also well represented on the French stage. Among the patriarchs of French rock of the 1960s and 70s, it is worth noting the progressive Art Zoyd, Gong, Magma. The key bands of the 80s are post-punks Noir Désir, metallers Shakin "Street and Mystery Blue. The most successful bands of the last decade are metallers Anorexia Nervosa and rapcore performers Pleymo. The latter are also associated with the French hip-hop scene. This "street" style is very popular among non-indigenous people, Arab and African immigrants. Some performers from immigrant families have achieved mass fame, such as K. Maro, Diam's, MC Solaar, Stromae. June 21 is widely celebrated as Music Day in France.
Theatre
The tradition of theatrical performances in France dates back to the Middle Ages. During the Renaissance, theatrical performances in the cities were tightly controlled by the guilds; thus, the guild "Les Confrères de la Passion" had a monopoly on the performances of the mysteries in Paris, and at the end of the 16th century - in general on all theatrical performances. The guild rented a theater space. In addition to public theaters, performances were given in private homes. Women could participate in performances, but all the actors were excommunicated. In the 17th century, theatrical performances were finally divided into comedies and tragedies, and the Italian commedia dell'arte was also popular. Permanent theaters appeared; in 1689 two of them were merged by decree of Louis XIV to form the Comédie Francaise. It is currently the only French repertory theater funded by the government. Traveling troupes of actors spread throughout the provinces. At the end of the 17th century, classicism completely dominated the French theater, with the concept of the unity of place, time and action. This concept ceased to be dominant only in the 19th century, with the emergence of romanticism, and then realism and decadent movements. Sarah Bernard is considered the most famous French dramatic actress of the 19th century. In the 20th century, the French theater was subject to avant-garde trends, later it was strongly influenced by Brecht. In 1964, Ariana Mnushkina and Philippe Léotard created the Théâtre du Soleil, designed to bridge the gap between actors, playwright and spectators.
There is a strong circus school in France; in particular, in the 1970s, the so-called “new circus” arose here (simultaneously with Great Britain, Australia and the USA), a type of theatrical performance in which the plot or theme is conveyed by the audience using the methods of circus art.
Cinema
Despite the fact that France was the place where cinema was invented at the end of the 19th century, the modern image of French cinematography was formed after the Second World War, after understanding the legacy of the war and the German occupation. After a series of anti-fascist films, an important appeal of French cinema to humanism took place. After the war, the best film adaptations of the French classics gained worldwide fame: The Parma Convent (1948), Red and Black (1954), Teresa Raquin (1953). Back in the late 1950s, very important role The innovative film by A. Rene "Hiroshima, my love" (1959) played a role in the development of French cinema. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, brilliant actors gained fame: Gerard Philip, Bourville, Jean Marais, Marie Cazares, Louis de Funes, Serge Reggiani and others.
At the peak of the "new wave" of French cinema, more than 150 new directors come in a short time, among which the leading places were taken by Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Claude Lelouch, Claude Chabrol, Louis Mal. Then came the hitherto famous musical films directed by Jacques Demy - "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964) and "Girls from Rochefort" (1967). As a result, France has become one of the centers of world cinema, attracting the best filmmakers from all over the world. Directors such as Bertolucci, Angelopoulos or Ioseliani, for example, made films wholly or partly produced by France, many foreign actors starred in French films.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a whole galaxy of actors appeared in French cinema, among which the most famous are Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon, Annie Girardot. French comedians Pierre Richard and Coluche became popular.
Modern French cinema is a rather sophisticated cinema, in which the psychology and drama of the plot are combined with some piquancy and artistic beauty of the shooting. The style is determined by fashion directors Luc Besson, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Francois Ozon, Philippe Garrel. Actors Jean Reno, Audrey Tautou, Sophie Marceau, Christian Clavier, Matthew Kassovitz, Louis Garrel are popular. The French government actively promotes the development and export of national cinema.
Since 1946, the International Film Festivals in Cannes have been held. In 1976, the annual national film award "Cesar" was established.
freemasonry
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In continental Europe, Freemasonry is most numerous in France, both in terms of the number of members of Masonic lodges and the number of Grand Lodges in one country. It is represented by all directions of all obediences available in the world. There are more than 200,000 Freemasons in France. Traditionally, the most represented in France are the lodges of the liberal direction, such as the Grand Orient of France, the Order of the "Right of Man", the Grand Women's Lodge of France, the Grand Mixed Lodge of France, the Grand Lodge of France of the Memphis-Misraim Rite, the Grand Symbolic Lodge of France of the Memphis Mizraim Rite. Masons were many prominent figures of France, who left their mark on the history of the country and influenced its development. The members of the Masonic lodges were: Voltaire, Hugo, Jaurès, Blanqui, Rouget de Lisle, Briand, Andre Citroen and many more… |
| Mariana. One of the emblems of French Freemasonry. (1879) | |
Education and science
Education in France is compulsory from 6 to 16 years of age. Basic principles of French education: freedom of teaching (public and private institutions), free education, neutrality of education, laicism of education.
Higher education
Higher education is available only with a bachelor's degree. The higher education system in France is distinguished by a wide variety of universities and disciplines offered. Most higher education institutions are state-owned and are subordinate to the French Ministry of Education. Historically, France has developed two types of higher education institutions:
universities
"Great Schools"
Universities train teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists.
"high schools"
They train highly professional specialists in the field of engineering, management, economics, military affairs, education and culture. You can enter a higher school after two or three years of study in preparatory classes in the chosen direction. Students who have completed the first two years of higher education at the university with honors can also enter “higher schools” without competition, but the number of places for them is quite limited (no more than 10%). After the preparatory classes, students pass one or more competitions for admission to "higher schools". Usually one competition unites several schools at once.
For "high schools" teaching engineering, there are six competitions for admission:
Ecole Polytechnic;
ENS;
Mines Ponts;
Centrale-Supelec;
CCP;
e3a.
"High Schools" are in fact opposed to the state system of higher university education in France and with great difficulty lend themselves to comparative classification at the international level. Training in " higher schools ah” is considered much more prestigious in France than universities (which bear some of the imprint of a second-rate system, as they do not involve any selection for admission and operate on the principle of free enrollment and free education). Unlike universities, higher schools have to pass difficult entrance exams with a large competition for applicants. It is much more difficult to enter the “Higher Schools”, but the professional prospects after graduation are incomparably better: graduates are not only guaranteed full employment, but most often the most prestigious and profitable jobs in the public and private sectors.
Students of some Schools, such as ENAC (National School of Civil Aviation), receive scholarships as future civil servants. Created on the initiative of state authorities and private entrepreneurs to train specialists in specific areas of economic activity or employees of public authorities. Thus, the higher pedagogical schools train teachers, the Polytechnic School and the Saint-Cyr School train military specialists, the National Historical and Archival School train archivists and keepers of the national heritage. The higher schools also include five Catholic institutions. The program of "Higher Schools" usually has two cycles. The first two-year preparatory cycle can be completed both on the basis of the Big School itself and on the basis of some elite lyceums. At the end of the second cycle, the student receives a diploma from the Big School. Upon graduation, graduates are required to work in the public service for 6-10 years, thus reimbursing the state's expenses spent on their education. In addition, there are many special schools of departmental subordination.
A special place among all institutions of education and advanced training, and even among Les Grandes Ecoles, is occupied by the National School of Administration under the Prime Minister of France - ENA. ENA is in the first place not so much in terms of the level of education (it is clearly superior in international recognition to the Polytechnic School), but in terms of the prospects for career growth and success in life. Students and graduates of the school are called "enarks" (fr. énarque). The vast majority of French AEN graduates (about six thousand since 1945) became leading government politicians, heads of French institutions, parliamentarians, senior officials, diplomats and members of international organizations, judges of higher instances, lawyers of the Council of State, administrative and financial controllers of the highest rank, heads and top management of the largest state and international firms and banks, mass media and communications. AEN gave France two presidents, seven prime ministers, a large number of ministers, prefects, senators and deputies of the National Assembly. The Soviet equivalent of ENA could be considered the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Diplomatic Academy of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Academy of National Economy under the Council of Ministers of the USSR taken together. The modern Russian equivalent of ENA is the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation, and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation combined.
The science
In France, there is a large center for scientific research - CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique - national center for scientific research).
In the field of nuclear energy, the CEA (Comissariat à l "énergie atomique) research center stands out.
In the field of space research and space instrument design, CNES (Centre national d "études spatiales) is the largest scientific center in France. CNES engineers also developed several projects together with Soviet engineers.
France is actively involved in European scientific projects, such as the Galileo satellite navigation system project or the Envisat project, a satellite that studies the Earth's climate.
media
Television and radio broadcasting
In 1995, 95% of French families had a TV set in their home.
Several state-owned (France-2, France-3, France-5, Arté - the latter jointly with Germany) and private (TF1, Canal + (paid channel), M6) television companies operate in the decimeter range.
With the advent of digital terrestrial television in 2005, the range of available free-to-air channels has expanded. Since 2009, a gradual phasing out of analogue television begins, the complete shutdown of which in France is planned by 2013.
Many thematic public radio stations broadcast in the FM band: France Inter, France Info (news), France Bleu (local news), France Culture (culture), France Musique (classical music, jazz), FIP (music), Le Mouv" ( youth rock radio station) and others.
France has a radio station, Radio France internationale (RFI), with an audience of 44 million people and broadcasting in 13 languages.
In 2009, it is planned to determine the conditions for the transition of radio stations to digital broadcasting in order to completely abandon analog technologies by 2011. Songs on French radio should take up at least 40% of the time.
Magazines and newspapers
Popular magazines are Paris Match (illustrated weekly news), Femme actuelle, Elle and Marie-France (magazines for women), L'Express, Le Point and Le Nouvel Observateur ( news weeklies), Télé7 jours (television programs and news).
Among daily newspapers of national importance, Le Figaro, Le Parisien, Le Monde, France Soir and La Liberation have the largest circulations. The most popular trade magazines are L'Equipe (sports) and Les Echos (business news).
Since the early 2000s, free daily press, financed by ads, has proliferated: 20 Minutes (leading French press in terms of readership), Direct matin, the international newspaper Metro, as well as many local publications.
There are also many daily regional newspapers, the most famous of which is the Ouest-France, which has a circulation of 797,000, almost double the circulation of any of the national dailies.
Sport
Olympic Games
French athletes have been participating in the Olympic Games since 1896. In addition, the competitions of the Summer Olympic Games were held twice in Paris - in 1900 and 1924, Winter Olympic Games were held three times in three different cities - in Chamonix (1920), Grenoble (1968) and Albertville (1992).
Football
The French national football team won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championship in 1984 and 2000.
Tour de France bicycle race
Since 1903, the most prestigious cycling race in the world, the Tour de France, has been held in France. The race, which starts in June, consists of 21 stages, each of which lasts one day.
Holidays
The main holidays are Christmas (December 25), New Year, Easter, Bastille Day (July 14).
1) About 67 million people now live in France. Like any ordinary European country, it uses a modern type of reproduction, and demographic policy is aimed at creating economic incentives to increase the birth rate.
2) The composition of the French by age and gender is as follows: children from 0-14 years old make up 18.5% of the total population (of which boys - 6.1 million, and girls - 4.9 million), the proportion of people from 15-14 64 years old occupies a niche of 66%, in which there are 20.94 million men and 20.91 million women; only 16.3% of people aged 65 and over, of which 4.6 million belong to men, and 6.1 million to women.
3) France is provided with labor resources for 27.76 million people. Half of the working-age population is people aged 40 and over. With the French retiring at 67, there is a long-term labor shortage. Fortunately, migration allows you to straighten it.
4) Regarding ethnic composition France, then the vast majority (90%) are French, the remaining 10% are occupied by: Alsatians and Lorraine - German peoples, numbering 1.4 million people, Bretons - Celtic people of 1.1 million people, 500 thousand Jews and 250 thousand Catalans (Spanish people)
5) 10.4% of the unemployed account for 30 million able-bodied population (mostly university graduates). 61.4% of people are employed in the service sector, 24.6% in industry, and 4.5% in agriculture
6) A feature of the accommodation of the French is their suburban accommodation, while they go to work in the center. Two tendencies of French settlement: business (closer to the business centers of algomerations) and recreational (closer to recreation areas and the coast). The vast majority of labor migrants live in the central areas of cities.
7) The French are 77% living in cities (and areas adjacent to the city) and 23% live in rural areas. The largest algomerations are: Paris with a population of 2.3 million, Marseille - with 1.7 million, Lyon - with 1.4 million, Lille - 1.3 million, Nice - 344 thousand. A city in France, due to administrative traditions, is considered locality in 1000 people. What we call a city here is divided into municipalities and then combined into an agglomeration. The growth of the urban population is increasing by 1% annually.
8) Rural settlement directly depends on the type of products produced by the farmer: the main livestock areas are located in the north-west of the country, buckwheat and oats are planted in the north-west, rye is grown on the poor soils of the central part, and in the south, in the delta of the Rhone River, they grow rice. It should be noted that 50% of the population employed in agriculture goes to animal husbandry.
Today National composition France has a wide range, acquired through visiting immigrants. The total population is over 65 million people. What ethnic groups live in the French territories?
french ethnos
About 6 million citizens who have received French citizenship are immigrants. Once upon a time, Franks, Visigoths and Burgundians inhabited French territories in all regions. The outskirts of the state were occupied by the Bretons, Flemings, Catalans, Corsicans. Alsatians also lived there.
The current position of the ethnic composition of France is more diverse than in the ancient and Middle Ages. The ethnos of this state is now the following:
- French people;
- Italians;
- Moroccans;
- Turks;
- Portuguese;
- Algerians.
Citizens from African countries occupy 40% of the national composition. 35% of citizens moved from Europe to France. Asian peoples are represented in the minority - only 13%.
The French account for about 75% of the total population. The remaining 25%, just, and belong to the above groups.
There are many religions in France. So Catholics in the country are 83%, Muslims 6%, Protestants 2%, Jews 1%, the remaining percentages belong to small religious beliefs, atheists and sects.
The birth rate in this state is almost the highest in Europe. Two more babies are born there every year than the inhabitants die. From this we can conclude that the demographics in the country are all right.
About 60% of the state's inhabitants live in cities. The favorable French climate allows the remaining 40% to feel comfortable in the rural provinces.
France is a multicultural country. It has a fairly high standard of living, so it is an attractive option for moving.
Population density 107 people. per 1 km2, which is 2-3 times lower than in neighboring countries, although in some areas (Paris basin, Provence, Cote d'Azur) the density index is several times higher than the average. 75% of the population lives in cities (2002).
Population movements have historically been characterized by alternating long-term sharp rises and strong falls. The demographic growth for 1896-1946 was only 0.3 million people, and for 1946-2002 - 20 million people. The main part of the increase occurred in the 1950s-70s, in 1980-2002 - only 4.9 million people.
Natural population growth is 4% at 13% and mortality is 9%. The persistence of a relatively high level of natural increase is explained by long-term positive changes in the population reproduction regime and the expansion of immigration. The improvement in the reproduction regime is manifested in a rather high (for a European country) birth rate, despite a decrease in the number of marriages and an increase in divorces, an increase in the average age of marriage, and an increase in the participation of women in social production. There is a steady decrease in mortality rates due to a decrease in infant mortality (4 per 1000 newborns) and an increase in the average. The latter is equal to 79.05 years (including 75.17 years for men and 82.5 years for women), one of the first places in the world.
The ratio of men and women is 48.6: 51.4. The age structure is characterized by a pronounced tendency to aging. The proportion of people aged 0-14 years is 18.5%, 15-64 years old - 65.2%, 65 years and older - 16.3% (2002).
Due to the rapid rise in the importance of older generations, economic growth active population behind the overall population growth. Number of employed 26.6 million people. Only 45.8% of the economically active population is in the most able-bodied ages (20-60 years), and 40.6% of this group are people aged 40 and over.
According to forecasts, if current demographic trends continue, the population of France will increase by only 5 million people by 2050. At the same time, at least 1/3 of the inhabitants will be over 60 years old, and only 20% will be younger than 20. The economically active population will grow until 2006, and then it will begin to decline (by 2020 by 750 thousand people compared to 2002).
An important component of the situation in France is immigration, which provided for the 2nd half. 20th century about 1/4 . In the 1980s - ser. 90s the annual influx of immigrants was up to 100 thousand people, with ser. 1990s as a result of state restrictions, it decreased to 50 thousand people. In 2002, there were 3.3 million resident foreigners in France, i.e. residents who have not received citizenship rights. It is purchased annually by about 100 thousand people; their children and grandchildren are classified by official statistics as French. Taking into account such categories, at least 15 million people from other countries now live in France - almost 25% of the population.
In 2002, 40.3% of immigrants were Europeans (mainly from , and ), 43% were Africans (mainly from , and ). Immigrants, especially immigrants from, have low industrial skills; the possibility of their employment in the conditions of the current stage of the scientific and technological revolution is small, and adaptation to the norms of life of the new homeland is difficult due to deep intercultural differences. The socio-economic problems arising in this regard (unemployment, crime) are manifested in political life by the accelerated growth of the influence of extreme right-wing parties.
France is characterized by a high level of educational preparation of the population. In 2002, the education system covered 14 million 390 thousand pupils and students, St. 1 million teachers, professors. 6.6% of the population have higher education, 15.1% have specialized secondary education. In 2002, 79% of lyceum graduates became bachelors. In terms of the total amount of spending on education and in terms of their share in GDP, France is one of the first places in the world.
The vast majority of the population is French. Several small ethnic minorities arose historically in the border regions, many of which formerly belonged to other countries. Now minorities do not exceed 6.5% of the population. The largest are the Alsatians, as well as the Bretons, Flemings, Corsicans, Basques and Catalans. Their cultural features, traditions, languages are considered in France as important elements of the common cultural heritage and are carefully preserved.
By religion, the vast majority of the French - (83-88%). The second largest denomination is Muslims, far ahead of Protestants and Jews (respectively 5-10, 2 and 1% of the population).
Population of France has about 63 million people. (according to other sources 63,718,187 people or 64,057,790 or 63,573,000). 60,876,136 people live on the French mainland. In terms of population, France ranks 20th among 192 UN member states.
Population density in France 108 people per 1 sq. km. According to this indicator, France ranks 14th among the countries of the European Union. However, since almost two-thirds of the territory of France is occupied by meadows, mountains and forests, in the rest of the territory the density reaches 289 people per 1 sq. km. km.
National composition: French (94%), Portuguese, Algerians, Italians, Moroccans, Turks, Basques.
About 5 million people are of foreign origin (immigrants, or their parents or grandparents were immigrants), of which 2 million have French citizenship. There are an average of 1.52 migrants per 1,000 people. About 8 million inhabitants are Muslims.
The total fertility rate in France is one of the highest in Europe - 1.98 children per woman of reproductive age. At the same time, the highest birth rate is observed among immigrants (for example, among the Chinese).
Sex and age structure of the population
0-14 years: 18.6% (male population 6,129,729; female population 5,838,925);
15-64 years old: 65% (male population 20,963,124; female population 20,929,280);
65 years and over: 16.4% (male population 4,403,248; female population 6,155,767) (2009).
Average age:
The entire population is 39.4 years;
Men - 38 years;
Women - 40.9 years (according to 2008)
Male to female ratio: total population - 0.956 (2007)
Population dynamics
Birth rate - 12.73 births / 1000 people (2008)
Mortality - 8.48 deaths / 1000 people (2008)
Natural increase - 0.574% (2008)
Predictions regarding territorial differences
As the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research suggests, if current trends continue:
- the population will continue to be concentrated in the southern and western regions of continental France;
- the population of some northeastern regions will decrease;
- in half of the regions, the number of deaths will exceed the number of births;
- this situation will increase the impact of migration on the development of the demographic situation;
- with the aging of the “baby boom” generation, the average age of the population will increase everywhere;
- the Île-de-France region will be the least affected by this aging;
- the regions with the least natural increase will be those where the population under the age of 20 and from 20 to 59 will decrease the most.
Urban and rural population
A city is considered to be a settlement with a population of at least 1000 people:
- rural population - 23%;
- urban population - 77%.
Population of the largest cities: Cities with a population of 1 to 3 million people: Paris - 2.2 million (2009) Marseille - 1.6 million (2007) Lyon - 1.4 million (2007) Lille - 1.3 million (2007) Toulouse - 1.1 million (2007)
Rural population density: A high level of rural population density (more than 97 people per 1 km2) is typical for the fertile regions of Northern France, the sea coast of Brittany, the plains of Alsace and the valleys of the Rhone and Saone rivers.
Language
The official language is French.
Many dialects are used: Breton - in Brittany, Basque and Catalan - in the Pyrenees, Provençal - in Provence, Flemish - in Flanders (near Dunkirk), as well as German (in Alsace and Lorraine) and Italian (southern coast of Corsica) dialects.
Religion
Catholicism is practiced by 4/5 of the country's population, 1/4 of the population regularly attends church. About 12% of the population, including over 1/3 of those living in the Parisian metropolitan area, consider themselves atheists. Muslims (mostly migrants from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Mali and Mauritania) make up 3%.
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