France basic facts :
Capital: Paris
Government: Republic
Currency; euro or € (EUR)
Area: 547,030 km2
Population: 61,538,322 (April 2007) in non-overseas France
Language: French, some regional languages and dialects
Religion: (numbers of unclear basis) Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Muslim 5%-10%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, unaffiliated 4%
Calling Code: 33
Internet TLD: .fr
Time Zone: UTC +1
Facts you may not know?
- The French drive on the right hand side of the road.
- The 24 hour clock is used and ‘h’ separates the hours and minutes. For instance, 5.30pm would be 17h30.
- The numeric form for dates is in the order of: day/month/year.
- The national holiday of France since 1880 is the Fête Nationale (National Holiday), colloquially known as le 14 juillet, officially celebrating the Fête de la Fédération (14 July 1790) and not the storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789) as is often believed, even by a majority of French people, and is the reason why the holiday is referred to as Bastille Day in English. On the occasion of the Fête de la Fédération, celebrated exactly one year after the storming of the Bastille, all the representatives of the provinces of France gathered on the Champ de Mars in Paris in presence of the King Louis XVI and proclaimed the national unity of France. They vowed to remain faithful to "the Nation, the Law, the King".
© Written by E.J.Clarke.
If you are looking for property in France, or general international property listings for sale and for rent start your search by looking in the French Property For sale section of this Directory.
