Digby Jones: German carmakers and French wine exporters will Britain a bargain
France has the largest area of any nation in Western Europe and is located between the Mediterranean Sea to the southeast and the Bay of Biscay and English Channel to the north and west of France has a total area of 547,030 square kilometers 211.208 miles square and a coastline of 3,427 kilometers 2,130 miles It shares borders with Andorra, Monaco, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain has an area of about four-fifths the size of Texas.
Paris, the capital, is the largest city in France and in Europe outside Russia, and welcomes about one sixth of the country's population Other cities with over one million people whose are Lyon, Marseille and Lille.
The population of France was estimated at 59,329,691 in 2000, with a slow growth rate of 0 38 percent of French population is about one fifth of the total population of Europe and ranks third in Europe and sixteenth in the world It has about 106 inhabitants per square km or about 275 people per square mile around a sixth of the total population live in the Paris region ethnic groups in France include Celtic and Latin strains with Teutonic, Slavic, d North African, Indochinese, and Basque minorities overseas represent 6 3 percent of the population.
Although the majority of the population of 65 percent is between the ages of 15 and 64, about 16 percent are older than 65. The 19 percent remaining are 14 and under at the turn of the 19th century, France was the most populous country in Europe, but by the late 19th and early 20th century, France had the lowest birth rate of the continent because of the government's efforts and the baby world growth after the war, however, France has reached a birth rate of 21 per 1 000 people in the postwar This growth decreased to 18 and 13 6 per 1000 in 1963 and 1989, respectively present birth rate in France is at December 27 births per 1000 inhabitants according to 2000 estimates were 9 France 14 deaths per 1 000 during the same.
Year The influx of immigrants in France in the last quarter of the 20th century, however, moderated the downward trend in the population is estimated that France has received 0 66 Net migrants per 1,000 people in 2000. The ratio men and women is almost Oneto-one in almost all age strata of the French population, with the exception of those over 65, where it is 0 68 men for each woman mainly because hope female life at birth is about 83 years, while it is only 75 life expectancy for men the average of the total population of 79.
In 2000, France was the sixteenth most populous nation in the world, the French population is expected to decrease from 2025 when France will rank twenty-fifth in the world The United Nations Development Program UNDP estimates that the population reach 61.662 million in 2025, but dropped to 59.883 million in 2050, with 30 percent of the population over 80 years this number was 16 percent in 2000. This means that the potential support ratio the number of people aged 15 to 64 years for each person aged 65 or over in 2050 or half of its 1999 level in other words, every 2 people working support a retired person by 2050, doubling the charge of the company for 1999-2050 provide care and benefits for the elderly.
immigration policies Archaic make France an unattractive for foreigners seeking work or asylum, even though the need for more workers has been recognized by many government offers generous family support programs and health, although they are not encouraged necessarily those of growth of the population with health problems, the unemployed and pensioners are protected from bankruptcy by the social security system Some cities have even tried to implement their own programs to encourage the growth of the population, but they aim to French or European races, so quickly denounced the racist overall, the government's efforts to solve the serious problem subpopulation of the near future have not been successful.
France is among the most industrialized countries in the world, he is a member of the G8 group of countries that includes seven major industrial democracies and Russia In 1999, French GDP was almost identical to that of the Britain and comfortably larger than that of Italy.
Approximately 19 3 percent of GDP was generated by manufacturing in France in 1999, as against 17 8 percent in the US and 18 5 percent in the UK manufacturing sector contributes about 20 percent of GDP in Italy, Germany and Japanese investment in the industrial manufacturing sector was 141 billion francs in 1999 These figures excluded energy production industries and agriculture.
Companies operating in the industrial manufacturing sector produces a variety of products such as consumer goods, items related to the automotive industry and equipment such as electronics, machinery and intermediate goods The established name for french products in the fashion world aid to France exports of perfumes and even flowers the consumer goods industry has made nearly 200 billion francs sales abroad in 1999 the contribution of automotive industry figures of French exports in 1999 was almost 300 billion francs France is one of the largest producers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles worldwide, with Japan, the US and Germany.
The major manufacturing companies are located in the Ile-de-France, Rhône-Alpes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and the Pays de Loire industrial areas emerged around the Channel and the Mediterranean Sea in order to reduce costs shipping products imported raw materials While some French companies such as Renault and Airbus, are world famous, most French companies are qualified to moderate to small But small businesses tend to be ineffective on the world market because of strong competition from companies based in countries with labor costs or more and better cheaper production technologies the competitive pressure was strongly felt with the unification of the European markets under the aegis of the EU, in which the movement of capital and labor is not limited within small and relatively inefficient companies fr ançaises can adapt, labor and capital can go elsewhere with the advent of the euro, many French companies had to restructure and fusions.
The big European aircraft manufacturing company Airbus, which is based in France, but also supported by Germany and Britain with more than 4,200 aircraft orders placed by international customers from April 2001, Airbus is the leading world production Airbus and Boeing of the United States are competing, and they have conflicting ideas about the future of air travel in the world's perception of future demand and air transport habits shapes aircraft design to produce Airbus estimates that huge aircraft with a short flying distance will shape demand in the future Boeing, on the other hand, believes that passengers will fly miles long and smaller air time will show that one is on the right track.
Another area where French companies are strong in building and civil engineering However, a recent declining enrollment trend in science courses in the country is a major concern for education authorities France is the second largest producer row and the first exporter food processed food products such as wine, cheese and pasta in Europe, it is the fourth largest exporter of chemicals, rubber and plastics; and third in the pharmaceutical and pharmaco-chemical products.
Mining is not an area in which France is competing, and only a very small fraction of the workforce to less than 1 percent is engaged in mining Regarding coal, two major areas produce most of the coal in France coal basin of Lorraine between Metz and the North-de-Calais coalfield, near Lille most of these fields have no economic reserves compared to other large producers because they not have sufficient quantities in some cases, or are difficult to extract many coal fields have been closed since the 1950s.
France is among the largest bauxite producers in Europe and also plays a role in the production of natural gas in mainland France's position may be threatened, however, if some Asian companies gain access to the European market, although -Internet tariff regulations EU Member States have put France in enjoy a strong position France is an oil importer, but treats the oil at home to produce more petroleum products that are sold in Canada and the foreign.
France has a developed credit market that savings channels for investors very efficiently and in large volumes, the market capitalization of shares listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, the fifth largest in the world, accounts for about 32 percent of French GDP the market capitalization at the end of 1997 reached an amazing 4 trillion francs the Paris stock exchange is a capital market used internationally, and foreign investors own about 35 percent of French equities This puts Paris in an advantageous position to attract more international capital with the help of the euro, the common currency of the EU in an effort to adapt to the introduction of the new currency, all asset management companies in France began to offer their services in euro from January 1999, the date when the euro was introduced as the common currency of Europe since not all EU and encor e less European countries decided to adopt the euro as their currency, the authorities of the Paris Bourse think it has comparative advantage in the stock markets in these countries because it can provide more opportunities via its reach international audience the Paris Bourse has undergone extensive technological and legal restructuring to become more favorable to investors in the international market According to data from the stock exchange, foreign investment in the Paris Stock Exchange tripled in the monthly trade since the beginning of 1998 largely due to the restructuring of trade exchange has commercial relations with the Chicago Mercantile exchange and the stock exchanges of Sao Paolo, Toronto, Brussels, Lisbon, Tunis, Casablanca, Warsaw and Amman, among others, french bond market is among the leaders of the world and ranks second after its American counterpart.
The French banking system is also very competitive on the world market Crédit Agricole, Compagnie Financière Paribas, Caisses d'Epargne and Groupe Banque National Paris Ranking among the top 25 banks in the world In Europe, banks are allowed to participate in activities normally reserved for commercial banks or investment banks or the United States in a united Europe, there will be a central bank, while the national central banks are largely autonomous.
Such as banking and the stock market, the French insurance industry is also a global player, ranking among the top 5 in the global insurance market Although the French insurance companies have a global presence, 60 percent of their total international activity is carried out within the EU borders Like other sectors of insurance, insurers are French institutional investors the largest share of investments in the insurance sector is in the form bonds, to 69 percent of stocks represent only 15 percent of investments, and the rest is the real estate, commercial paper and other assets French insurers saw their overall value rose 16 percent from 1996 to 1997 the introduction the common currency should boost profits in the insurance sector.
Over 60 million tourists visit France every year, making it one of the largest tourist centers in the world Visitors are attracted by its haute couture or high fashion, beautiful scenery, historical, and cultural activities in Paris, the center of the tourist trade of France, offers attractions such as the Louvre's famous art museum, restaurants, the Eiffel Tower, and the beautiful works of architecture along the Seine river with its large about 67 million annual tourists, France lags behind the US and Spain in 1997, France had a surplus in tourism in the balance of payments accounts, over 100,000 companies directly or indirectly involved in tourism 1997 generated more than 100 billion french francs investment in the sector is close to 15 billion francs in the same year according to the Tourism Ministry, there were approximately 634 640 people employed in the different categories of the tourism sector, including travel agencies, restaurants and hotels Abo ut one sixth of this figure is used for less full time.
Aron, Raymond The French economy A study in paradoxes The Atlantic Monthly in June 1958.
Brogna Brunner, editor France Time Almanac 2000 Boston, MA Time Inc. in 2000.
Economist Intelligence Unit Country Profile France London Economist Intelligence Unit, 2000.
Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry Welcome MINEFI Accessed February 2001.
Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies INSEE Accessed January 2001.
United Nations Report on Human Development 2000 New York Oxford University Press, 2000.
United Nations Program for World Population Trends Accessed January 2001.
French franc FRF A franc equals 100 cents Coins are in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 francs, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents paper currency is CHF 50 cuts, 100, 200 and 500 in 1999, the European Union in the EU, of which France is a member, has introduced a new currency called the euro as the common currency among the participating member countries the euro is expected to circulate among the members of European monetary Union EMU in 2002. When this happens, it will be the single currency in the Member States, including France, the exchange rate between the euro and the franc is set at June 56 francs per euro Both the franc and the euro now float against all other currencies exchange rate for 1 US dollar was 0 98 euros to the creation of the euro, but it has lost substantial value since then, there are 100 cents in one room euro come in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 and 2 euro s Bank Notes will be issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500.
Machinery and transport equipment, chemical products, steel products, agricultural products, textiles and clothing.
Crude oil, machinery and equipment, chemicals, agricultural products.
Export of French cars, export, french, cars.