ters and
hot summers along the Mediterranean

Terrain: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west;
remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Rhone River delta -2 m
highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m

Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, zinc, potash

Land use:
arable land: 33%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 20%
forests and woodland: 27%
other: 18% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 16,300 sq km (1995 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding

Environment-current issues: some forest damage from acid rain; air
pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from
urban wastes, agricultural runoff

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography-note: largest West European nation; occasional strong, cold,
dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral

@France:People

Population: 58,804,944 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,674,417; female 5,411,685)
15-64 years: 65% (male 19,243,919; female 19,182,933)
65 years and over: 16% (male 3,759,565; female 5,532,425) (July 1998
est.)

Population growth rate: 0.31% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 11.68 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 9.12 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.69 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.51 years
male: 74.6 years
female: 82.62 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.63 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women)
adjective: French

Ethnic groups: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African,
Indochinese, Basque minorities

Religion