1
billion

_#_Currency: French franc (plural--francs); 1 French franc (F) = 100
centimes

_#_Exchange rates: French francs (F) per US$1--5.8 (May 1991),
5.4453 (1990), 6.3801 (1989), 5.9569 (1988), 6.0107 (1987), 6.9261
(1986), 8.9852 (1985)

_#_Fiscal year: calendar year

_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: French National Railways (SNCF) operates 34,568 km
1.435-meter standard gauge; 11,674 km electrified, 15,132 km double or
multiple track; 2,138 km of various gauges (1.000-meter to 1.440-meter),
privately owned and operated

_#_Highways: 1,551,400 km total; 33,400 km national highway;
347,000 km departmental highway; 421,000 km community roads; 750,000 km
rural roads; 5,401 km of controlled-access divided autoroutes; about
803,000 km paved

_#_Inland waterways: 14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 3,059 km; refined products, 4,487 km; natural
gas, 24,746 km

_#_Ports: maritime--Bordeaux, Boulogne, Brest, Cherbourg, Dunkerque,
Fos-Sur-Mer, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen, Sete, Toulon;
inland--42

_#_Merchant marine: 133 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,141,276
GRT/5,006,695 DWT; includes 8 short-sea passenger, 15 cargo, 18
container, 2 multifunction large-load carrier, 29 roll-on/roll-off cargo,
34 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 chemical tanker,
6 liquefied gas, 2 specialized tanker, 11 bulk; note--France also
maintains a captive register for French-owned ships in the Kerguelen
Islands (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and French Polynesia

_#_Civil air: 195 (1989 est.)

_#_Airports: 470 total, 460 usable; 246 with permanent-surface
runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 34 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
136 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

_#_Telecommunications: highly developed system provides satisfactory
telephone, telegraph, radio and TV broadcast services; 39,200,000
telephones; stations--40 AM, 138 (777 relays) FM, 216 (8,902 relays) TV;
25 submarine coaxial cables; communication satellite earth stations
operating in INTELSAT, 3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean, EUTELSAT,
MARISAT, and domestic systems

_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy (including Naval Air), Air Force, National
Gendarmerie

_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 14,366,492; 12,077,706 fit for
military service; 395,128 reach military age (18) annually

_#_Defense expenditures: $29.7 billion, 3.6% of GDP (1990)
_%_
_@_French Guiana
(oversea