ABSTRACT
France, with its 66 million citizens located in metropolitan France and overseas departments, is a leader among European nations and one of the most modern countries in the world. 1 It plays an influential global role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the G-8, the G-20, the European Union (EU) and other multilateral organizations. In recent decades, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proven central to the economic integration of Europe. The French Republic remains committed to a form of capitalism in which social equity is maintained by means of laws, tax policies and social spending that mitigate economic inequality. The French economy is diversified across all sectors, such as machinery, chemicals and automobiles. Despite stagnant growth (France’s real GDP per capita stagnated at around $35,000 in 2012 and 2013) and fiscal challenges, France’s borrowing costs have declined in recent years because investors remain attracted to the liquidity of French bonds. Nevertheless, the public debt/GDP ratio was at 90.3 per cent in 2012, with an upward trend. Average life expectancy is 82 years, and France has a literacy rate of 99 per cent. Most of the French people are Christian (almost 90 per cent); 5–10 per cent are Muslim.
