France
Telephones - main lines in use:
33,905,400 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
41,683,100 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: highly developed
domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay; extensive
introduction of fiber-optic cable; domestic satellite system
international: country code - 33; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (with total of 5 antennas - 2 for Indian Ocean and 3 for
Atlantic Ocean), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region); HF
radiotelephone communications with more than 20 countries
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 41, FM about 3,500 (this figure is an approximation and includes
many repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios:
55.3 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
584 (plus 9,676 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions:
34.8 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.fr
Internet hosts:
2,396,761 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
62 (2000)
Internet users:
21.9 million (2003)
Transportation France
Railways:
total: 29,519 km
standard gauge: 29,352 km 1.435-m gauge (14,481 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 167 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Highways:
total: 893,100 km
paved: 893,100 km (including 12,000 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2002)
Waterways:
8,500 km (1,686 km accessible to craft of 3,000 metric tons) (2000)
Pipelines:
gas 14,232 km; oil 3,024 km; refined products 4,889 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Bordeaux, Calais, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Marseille,
Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg
Merchant marine:
total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 703,639 GRT/889,705 DWT
by type: cargo 4, chemical tanker 6, liquefied gas 4, passenger 3,
passenger/cargo 30, petroleum tanker 8, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 6 (Sweden 5, Switzerland 1)
registered in other countries: 139 (2005)
Airports:
478 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 283 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 95 914 to 1,523 m: 82 under 914 m: 65 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 195 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 72 under 914 m: 120 (2004 est.)
Heliports: 3 (2004 est.)
Military France
Military branches:
Army (includes Marines, Foreign Legion, Army Light Aviation), Navy
(includes naval air), Air Force (includes Air Defense), National
Gendarmerie
Military service age and obligation:
17 years of age with consent for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 17–49: 13,676,509 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 17–49: 11,262,661 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 389,204 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$45,238.1 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2.6% (2003)
Transnational Issues France
Disputes - international:
Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,
and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims
Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and the French
overseas department of French Guiana; France asserts a territorial
claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew
and Hunter Islands, east of New Caledonia
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for and consumer of South American cocaine,
Southwest Asian heroin, and European synthetics
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@French Guiana
Introduction French Guiana
Background:
First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of
notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency
launches its communication satellites from Kourou.
Geography French Guiana
Location:
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Brazil and Suriname
Geographic coordinates:
4 00 N, 53 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 91,000 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km
water: 1,850 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries: total: 1,183 km border countries: Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km
Coastline: 378 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain:
low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 m
Natural resources:
bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish,
niobium, tantalum, clay
Land use: arable land: 0.14% permanent crops: 0.05% other: 99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001)
Irrigated