conventional long form: French Republic
conventional short form: France
local long form: Republique Francaise
local short form: France

FR

republic

Paris

22 regions (regions, singular - region);
Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Bretagne,
Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Corse, Franche-Comte, Haute-Normandie,
Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine,
Midi-Pyrenees, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardie,
Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Rhone-Alpes
note: metropolitan France is divided into 22 regions (including the
"territorial collectivity" of Corse or Corsica) and is subdivided into
96 departments; see separate entries for the overseas departments
(French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion) and the overseas
territorial collectivities (Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon)

Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso
Islands, Juan de Nova Island, New Caledonia, Tromelin Island, Wallis
and Futuna
note: the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica

486 (unified by Clovis)

National Day, Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)

28 September 1958, amended concerning election of
president in 1962, amended to comply with provisions of EC Maastricht
Treaty in 1992; amended to tighten immigration laws 1993

civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of
administrative but not legislative acts

18 years of age; universal

chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC (since 17 May 1995)
head of government: Prime Minister Lionel JOSPIN (since 3 June 1997)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
suggestion of the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
election last held 23 April and 7 May 1995 (next to be held by May
2002); prime minister nominated by the National Assembly majority and
appointed by the president
election results: Jacques CHIRAC elected president; percent of vote,
second ballot - Jacques CHIRAC (RPR) 52.64%, Lionel JOSPIN (PS) 47.36%

bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the
Senate or Senat (321 seats - 296 for metropolitan France, 13 for
overseas departments and territories, and 12 for French nationals
abroad; members are indirectly elected by an electoral college to
serve nine-year terms; elected by thirds every three years) and the
National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (577 seats; members are
elected by popular vote under a single-member majoritarian system to
serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 27 September 1998 (next to be held
September 2001); National Assembly - last held 25 May-1 June 1997
(next to be held NA May 2002)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - RPR 99, UDC 52, DL 47, PS 78, PCF 16, other 29; National
Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PS 245, RPR
140, UDF 109, PCF 37, PRS 13, MEI 8, MDC 7, LDI-MPF 1, FN 1, various
left 9, various right 7

Supreme Court of Appeals or Cour de Cassation, judges
are appointed by the president from nominations of the High Council of
the Judiciary; Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionnel,
three members appointed by the president, three members appointed by
the president of the National Assembly, and three appointed by the
president of the Senate; Council of State or Conseil d'Etat

Citizens Movement or MdC [Jean Pierre
CHEVENEMENT]; Democratic Force or FD ; Ecology Gereration
or GE ; French Communist Party or PCF ;
Independent Ecological Movement or MEI ; Left
Radical Party or PRG (previously Radical Socialist Party or PRS and
the Left Radical Movement or MRG) ; Liberal
Democracy or DL (originally Republican Party or PR) ;
Movement for France or LDI-MPF ; National Center
of Independents and Peasants or CNIP ; National Front or
FN ; National Front-National Movement [Bruno
MEGRET]; Popular Party for French Democracy or PPDF [Herve de
CHARETTE]; Radical Party or RRRS ; Rally for the
Republic or RPR ; Reformers' Movement or MR
; Socialist Party or PS ; The
Greens (Les Verts) ; The Right (La Droite)
; Union for French Democracy or UDF (coalition of UDC,
FD, RRRS, PPDF) ; Union of the Center or UDC [leader
NA]

Communist-controlled labor
union (Confederation Generale du Travail) or CGT, nearly 2.4 million
members (claimed); independent labor union or Force Ouvriere, 1
million members (est.); independent white-collar union or
Confederation Generale des Cadres, 340,000 members (claimed); National
Council of French Employers (Conseil National du Patronat Francais) or
CNPF or Patronat; Socialist-leaning labor union (Confederation
Francaise Democratique du Travail) or CFDT, about 800,000 members
(est.)

ACCT, AfDB, AsDB, Australia
Group, BDEAC, BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECA
(associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, FZ, G- 5, G-
7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, InOC, Intelsat, Interpol,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA,
NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security
Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH,
UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCL, WEU,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission: Ambassador Francois V. BUJON DE L'ESTANG
chancery: 4101 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone:  (202) 944-6000
FAX:  (202) 944-6166
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles,
Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco

chief of mission: Ambassador Felix G. ROHATYN
embassy: 2 Avenue Gabriel, 75382 Paris Cedex 08
mailing address: PSC 116, APO AE 09777
telephone:  (1) 43-12-22-22
FAX:  (1) 42 66 97 83
consulate(s) general: Marseille, Strasbourg

three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side),
white, and red; known as the French Tricouleur (Tricolor); the design
and colors are similar to a number of other flags, including those of
Belgium, Chad, Ireland, Cote d'Ivoire, and Luxembourg; the official
flag for all French dependent areas