France has historically been an important producer of agricultural products.[160] Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and EU subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer and exporter in Europe[161] (representing alone 20% of the EU's agricultural production[162]) and the world's third biggest exporter of agricultural products.[163]
Wheat, poultry, dairy, beef, and pork, as well as an internationally recognized processed foods are the primary French agricultural exports. Rosé wines are primarily consumed within the country, but champagne and Bordeaux wines are major exports, being known worldwide. EU agriculture subsidies to France have decreased for the last years, but still amounted to $8 billion in 2007.[164] This same year, France sold 33.4 billion euros of transformed agricultural products.[165]
Agriculture is thus an important sector of France's economy : 3.5% of the active population is employed in agriculture,[162] whereas the total agri-food industry made up 4.2% of French GDP in 2005.[162]
Labour market
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This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2013)
The French GDP per capita is similar to the GDP per capita of other comparable European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.[166] GDP per capita is determined by (i) productivity per hour worked, which in France is the highest of the G8 countries in 2005, according to the OECD,[167] (ii) the number of hours worked, which is one the lowest of developed countries,[168] and (iii) the employment rate. France has one of the lowest 15–64 years employment rates of the OECD countries: in 2004, only 69% of the French population aged 15–64 years were in employment, compared to 80% in Japan, 79% in the UK, 77% in the US, and 71% in Germany.[169]
France's public debt, from 1978 to 2009
This gap is due to the very low employment rates at both age extremes: the employment rate of people aged 55–64 was 38.3% in 2007, compared to 46.6% in the EU15;[170] for the 15–24 years old, the employment rate was 31.5% in 2007, compared to 37.2% in EU25.[171] These low employment rates are explained by the high minimum wages which prevent low productivity workers – such as young people – from easily entering the labour market,[172] ineffective university curricula that fail to prepare students adequately for the labour market,[173] and, concerning the older workers, restrictive legislation on work and incentives for premature retirement.[174][175] It has been argued that French laws that protect full-time workers have the effect of trapping highly educated youth into temporary and informal employment, because of the difficulty and expense of dealing with formal full-time employees.[176]
The unemployment rate decreased from 9% in 2006 to 7% in 2008 but remains one of the highest in Europe.[177][178] In June 2009, the unemployment rate for France was 9.4%.[179] Shorter working hours and the reluctance to reform the labour market are mentioned as weak spots of the French economy in the view of the right, when the left mentions the lack of government policies fostering social justice. Liberal economists have stressed repeatedly over the years that the main issue of the French economy is an issue of structural reforms, in order to increase the size of the working population in the overall population, reduce the taxes' level and the administrative burden.
Keynesian economists have different answers to the unemployment issue, and their theories led to the 35-hour workweek law in the 2000s (decade), which turned out to be a failure in reducing unemployment. Afterwards, between 2004 and 2008, the Government made some supply-oriented reforms to combat unemployment but met with fierce resistance,[180] especially with the contrat nouvelle embauche and the contrat première embauche which both were eventually repealed.[181] The current Government is experiencing the revenu de solidarité active to redress the negative effect of the revenu minimum d'insertion on work incentive.
With 79.5 million foreign tourists in 2011,[13] France is ranked as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of the United States (62.3 million in 2011) and China (57.6 million in 2011). This 79.5 million figure excludes people staying less than 24 hours in France, such as Northern Europeans crossing France on their way to Spain or Italy during the summer. It is third in income from tourism due to shorter duration of visits.[183]
The Mont Saint-Michel is one of the most visited sites of France
France has 37 sites inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost, but also Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon, and others), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage (such as Collonges-la-Rouge or Locronan) are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (litt. "The Most Beautiful Villages of France").
The "Remarkable Gardens" label is a list of the over two hundred gardens classified by the French Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks. France also attracts many religious pilgrims on their way to St. James, or to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées that hosts a few million visitors a year.
France, and especially Paris, have some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world, but also the Musée d'Orsay, mostly devoted to impressionism, and Beaubourg, dedicated to Contemporary art.
The Château de Chambord is one of the many French royal residences of the Loire Valley.
Disneyland Paris is France's and indeed Europe's most popular theme park, with 15,405,000 combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009.[184] The historical theme park Puy du Fou in Vendée is the second most visited park of France.[185] Other popular theme parks are the Futuroscope of Poitiers and the Parc Astérix.
With more than 10 millions tourists a year, the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur), in south-eastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region.[186] According to the Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, it benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year, 115 kilometres (71 mi) of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses, 14 ski resorts and 3,000 restaurants.[187] Each year the Côte d'Azur hosts 50% of the world's superyacht fleet, with 90% of all superyachts visiting the region's coast at least once in their lifetime.[188]
An other major destination are the Châteaux of the Loire Valley, this World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Nantes, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours, but in particular for its castles (châteaux), such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, de Chambord, d'Ussé, de Villandry and Chenonceau, which illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the French Renaissance.
The most popular tourist sites include: (according to a 2003 ranking[189] visitors per year): Eiffel Tower (6.2 million), Louvre Museum (5.7 million), Palace of Versailles (2.8 million), Musée d'Orsay (2.1 million), Arc de Triomphe (1.2 million), Centre Pompidou (1.2 million), Mont Saint-Michel (1 million), Château de Chambord (711,000), Sainte-Chapelle (683,000), Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (549,000), Puy de Dôme (500,000), Musée Picasso (441,000), Carcassonne (362,000)
The railway network of France, which as of 2008 stretches 29,473 kilometres (18,314 mi)[190] is the second most extensive in Western Europe after the German one.[191] It is operated by the SNCF, and high-speed trains include the Thalys, the Eurostar and TGV, which travels at 320 km/h (199 mph) in commercial use.[192][193] The Eurostar, along with the Eurotunnel Shuttle, connects with the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel. Rail connections exist to all other neighbouring countries in Europe, except Andorra. Intra-urban connections are also well developed with both underground services and tramway services complementing bus services.
There are approximately 1,027,183 kilometres (638,262 mi) of serviceable roadway in France, ranking it the most extensive network of the European continent.[194] The Paris region is enveloped with the most dense network of roads and highways that connect it with virtually all parts of the country. French roads also handle substantial international traffic, connecting with cities in neighboring Belgium, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. There is no annual registration fee or road tax; however, motorway usage is through tolls except in the vicinity of large communes. The new car market is dominated by domestic brands such as Renault (27% of cars sold in France in 2003), Peugeot (20.1%) and Citroën (13.5%).[195] Over 70% of new cars sold in 2004 had diesel engines, far more than contained petrol or LPG engines.[196] France possesses the Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge,[197] and has built many important bridges such as the Pont de Normandie.
There are 475 airports in France.[62] Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport located in the vicinity of Paris is the largest and busiest airport in the country, handling the vast majority of popular and commercial traffic and connecting Paris with virtually all major cities across the world. Air France is the national carrier airline, although numerous private airline companies provide domestic and international travel services. There are ten major ports in France, the largest of which is in Marseille,[198] which also is the largest bordering the Mediterranean Sea.[199][200] 12,261 kilometres (7,619 mi) of waterways traverse France including the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean through the Garonne river.
With an estimated population of 65.8 million people (as of 1 January 2011),[3] France is the 21st most populous country in the world.
In 2004, the Institut Montaigne estimated that there were 51 million (85%) White people, 6 million (10%) North African people, 2 million (3.5%) Black people and 1 million (1.5%) people of Asian origin in Metropolitan France.[201][202]
In 2003, France's natural population growth (excluding immigration) was responsible for almost all natural population growth in the European Union. The natural growth (excess of births over deaths) rose to 302,432 in 2006,[203] its highest since the end of the baby boom in 1973. The total fertility rate rose to 2.01 in 2010,[3] from a nadir of 1.68 in 1994.[204] In the five years between January 2006 and January 2011, population growth was on average +0.58% per year.[203] In 2010, 27.3% of newborn in metropolitan France had at least one foreign-born parent and 23.9% had at least one parent born outside of Europe (parents born in overseas territories are considered as born in France).[205]
In 2008, the French national institute of statistics INSEE estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (born in France) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. More than 5 million are of European origin and about 4 million of Maghrebi origin. Immigrants aged 18–50 count for 2.7 millions (10% of population aged 18–50) and 5 millions for all ages (8% of population). 2nd Generation aged 18–50 make up 3.1 millions (12% of 18–50) and 6.5 millions for all ages (11% of population)[206][207][208]
In 2004, a total of 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa and 13,710 from Europe.[209] In 2008, France granted citizenship to 137,000 persons, mostly to people from Morocco, Algeria and Turkey.[210]
Although it is illegal for the French state to collect data on ethnicity and ancestry, a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958, some surveys, like the TeO ("Trajectories and origins") survey conducted jointly by INED and INSEE in 2008, are allowed to do it.[211][212] Before this survey, it was estimated that 5 million people are of Italian ancestry (the most numerous immigrant community),[213] between three million[214] and six million[215] people are of North African ancestry, 2.5 million people are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, 200,000 people are of Turkish ancestry,[216] and many more are of other European ethnic ancestry such as Spaniards, Portuguese, Poles, and Greeks.[213][217][218]
It is currently estimated that 40% of the French population is descended at least partially from the different waves of immigration the country has received.[219] Between 1921 and 1935 about 1.1 million net immigrants came to France.[220] An estimated 1.6 million pieds noirs returned to France as the country's North African possessions gained independence.[221][222]
France accepts about 200,000 legal immigrants each year.[223] France is the leading asylum destination in Western Europe with an estimated 50,000 applications in 2005 (a 15% decrease from 2004).[224] The European Union allows free movement between the member states. While UK and Ireland did not impose restrictions, France put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration.
The largest cities in France, in terms of metropolitan area population, are Paris (11,836,970), Lyon (1,757,180), Marseille (1,618,369), Lille (1,163,934), Toulouse (1,118,472), Bordeaux (1,009,313), Nice (999,678), Nantes (768,305) and Strasbourg (641,853).
A perennial political issue concerns rural depopulation. Over the period 1960–1999 fifteen rural départements experienced a decline in population. In the most extreme case, the population of Creuse fell by 24%
According to Article 2 of the Constitution, the official language of France is French,[225] a Romance language derived from Latin. Since 1635, the Académie française is France's official authority on the usage, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language, although its recommendations carry no legal power.
The French government does not regulate the choice of language in publications by individuals but the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace communications. In addition to mandating the use of French in the territory of the Republic, the French government tries to promote French in the European Union and globally through institutions such as La Francophonie. The perceived threat from anglicisation has prompted efforts to safeguard the position of the French language in France. Besides French, there exist 77 vernacular minority languages of France, eight spoken in French metropolitan territory (in continental Europe) and 69 in the French overseas territories.
From the 17th century to the mid-20th century, French served as the pre-eminent international language of diplomacy and international affairs as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe.[226] The dominant position of French language in international affairs has only been challenged recently by English, since the emergence of the USA as a major power.[46][227][228] Paradoxically, for most of the time period in which French served as an international lingua franca, it was not the native language of most Frenchmen: a 1794 report conducted by Henri Grégoire found that of the country's 25 million people, only three million spoke French natively; the rest spoke one of the country's many regional languages, such as Alsatian, Breton or Occitan.[229] Through the expansion of public education (particularly from the late 19th century onward), in which French was the sole language of instruction, as well as other factors such as increased urbanization and the rise of mass communication, French gradually came to be adopted by virtually the entire population, a process not completed until the 20th century.
As a result of France's extensive colonial ambitions between the 17th and 20th centuries, French was introduced to America, Africa, Polynesia, South-East Asia, and the Caribbean. French is the second most studied foreign language in the world after English,[230] and is a lingua franca in some regions, notably in Africa. The legacy of French as a living language outside Europe is mixed: it is nearly extinct in some former French colonies (Southeast Asia), while creoles, and pidgins based on French have emerged in the French departments in the West Indies and the South Pacific (French Polynesia). On the other hand, many former French colonies have adopted French as an official language, and the total number of French speakers is increasing, especially in Africa.
It is estimated that between 300 million[231] and 500 million[232] people worldwide can speak French, either as a mother tongue or a second language
Wheat, poultry, dairy, beef, and pork, as well as an internationally recognized processed foods are the primary French agricultural exports. Rosé wines are primarily consumed within the country, but champagne and Bordeaux wines are major exports, being known worldwide. EU agriculture subsidies to France have decreased for the last years, but still amounted to $8 billion in 2007.[164] This same year, France sold 33.4 billion euros of transformed agricultural products.[165]
Agriculture is thus an important sector of France's economy : 3.5% of the active population is employed in agriculture,[162] whereas the total agri-food industry made up 4.2% of French GDP in 2005.[162]
Labour market
Gnome globe current event.svg
This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2013)
The French GDP per capita is similar to the GDP per capita of other comparable European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.[166] GDP per capita is determined by (i) productivity per hour worked, which in France is the highest of the G8 countries in 2005, according to the OECD,[167] (ii) the number of hours worked, which is one the lowest of developed countries,[168] and (iii) the employment rate. France has one of the lowest 15–64 years employment rates of the OECD countries: in 2004, only 69% of the French population aged 15–64 years were in employment, compared to 80% in Japan, 79% in the UK, 77% in the US, and 71% in Germany.[169]
France's public debt, from 1978 to 2009
This gap is due to the very low employment rates at both age extremes: the employment rate of people aged 55–64 was 38.3% in 2007, compared to 46.6% in the EU15;[170] for the 15–24 years old, the employment rate was 31.5% in 2007, compared to 37.2% in EU25.[171] These low employment rates are explained by the high minimum wages which prevent low productivity workers – such as young people – from easily entering the labour market,[172] ineffective university curricula that fail to prepare students adequately for the labour market,[173] and, concerning the older workers, restrictive legislation on work and incentives for premature retirement.[174][175] It has been argued that French laws that protect full-time workers have the effect of trapping highly educated youth into temporary and informal employment, because of the difficulty and expense of dealing with formal full-time employees.[176]
The unemployment rate decreased from 9% in 2006 to 7% in 2008 but remains one of the highest in Europe.[177][178] In June 2009, the unemployment rate for France was 9.4%.[179] Shorter working hours and the reluctance to reform the labour market are mentioned as weak spots of the French economy in the view of the right, when the left mentions the lack of government policies fostering social justice. Liberal economists have stressed repeatedly over the years that the main issue of the French economy is an issue of structural reforms, in order to increase the size of the working population in the overall population, reduce the taxes' level and the administrative burden.
Keynesian economists have different answers to the unemployment issue, and their theories led to the 35-hour workweek law in the 2000s (decade), which turned out to be a failure in reducing unemployment. Afterwards, between 2004 and 2008, the Government made some supply-oriented reforms to combat unemployment but met with fierce resistance,[180] especially with the contrat nouvelle embauche and the contrat première embauche which both were eventually repealed.[181] The current Government is experiencing the revenu de solidarité active to redress the negative effect of the revenu minimum d'insertion on work incentive.
With 79.5 million foreign tourists in 2011,[13] France is ranked as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of the United States (62.3 million in 2011) and China (57.6 million in 2011). This 79.5 million figure excludes people staying less than 24 hours in France, such as Northern Europeans crossing France on their way to Spain or Italy during the summer. It is third in income from tourism due to shorter duration of visits.[183]
The Mont Saint-Michel is one of the most visited sites of France
France has 37 sites inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost, but also Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon, and others), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage (such as Collonges-la-Rouge or Locronan) are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (litt. "The Most Beautiful Villages of France").
The "Remarkable Gardens" label is a list of the over two hundred gardens classified by the French Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks. France also attracts many religious pilgrims on their way to St. James, or to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées that hosts a few million visitors a year.
France, and especially Paris, have some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world, but also the Musée d'Orsay, mostly devoted to impressionism, and Beaubourg, dedicated to Contemporary art.
The Château de Chambord is one of the many French royal residences of the Loire Valley.
Disneyland Paris is France's and indeed Europe's most popular theme park, with 15,405,000 combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009.[184] The historical theme park Puy du Fou in Vendée is the second most visited park of France.[185] Other popular theme parks are the Futuroscope of Poitiers and the Parc Astérix.
With more than 10 millions tourists a year, the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur), in south-eastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region.[186] According to the Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, it benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year, 115 kilometres (71 mi) of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses, 14 ski resorts and 3,000 restaurants.[187] Each year the Côte d'Azur hosts 50% of the world's superyacht fleet, with 90% of all superyachts visiting the region's coast at least once in their lifetime.[188]
An other major destination are the Châteaux of the Loire Valley, this World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Nantes, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours, but in particular for its castles (châteaux), such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, de Chambord, d'Ussé, de Villandry and Chenonceau, which illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the French Renaissance.
The most popular tourist sites include: (according to a 2003 ranking[189] visitors per year): Eiffel Tower (6.2 million), Louvre Museum (5.7 million), Palace of Versailles (2.8 million), Musée d'Orsay (2.1 million), Arc de Triomphe (1.2 million), Centre Pompidou (1.2 million), Mont Saint-Michel (1 million), Château de Chambord (711,000), Sainte-Chapelle (683,000), Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (549,000), Puy de Dôme (500,000), Musée Picasso (441,000), Carcassonne (362,000)
The railway network of France, which as of 2008 stretches 29,473 kilometres (18,314 mi)[190] is the second most extensive in Western Europe after the German one.[191] It is operated by the SNCF, and high-speed trains include the Thalys, the Eurostar and TGV, which travels at 320 km/h (199 mph) in commercial use.[192][193] The Eurostar, along with the Eurotunnel Shuttle, connects with the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel. Rail connections exist to all other neighbouring countries in Europe, except Andorra. Intra-urban connections are also well developed with both underground services and tramway services complementing bus services.
There are approximately 1,027,183 kilometres (638,262 mi) of serviceable roadway in France, ranking it the most extensive network of the European continent.[194] The Paris region is enveloped with the most dense network of roads and highways that connect it with virtually all parts of the country. French roads also handle substantial international traffic, connecting with cities in neighboring Belgium, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. There is no annual registration fee or road tax; however, motorway usage is through tolls except in the vicinity of large communes. The new car market is dominated by domestic brands such as Renault (27% of cars sold in France in 2003), Peugeot (20.1%) and Citroën (13.5%).[195] Over 70% of new cars sold in 2004 had diesel engines, far more than contained petrol or LPG engines.[196] France possesses the Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge,[197] and has built many important bridges such as the Pont de Normandie.
There are 475 airports in France.[62] Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport located in the vicinity of Paris is the largest and busiest airport in the country, handling the vast majority of popular and commercial traffic and connecting Paris with virtually all major cities across the world. Air France is the national carrier airline, although numerous private airline companies provide domestic and international travel services. There are ten major ports in France, the largest of which is in Marseille,[198] which also is the largest bordering the Mediterranean Sea.[199][200] 12,261 kilometres (7,619 mi) of waterways traverse France including the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean through the Garonne river.
With an estimated population of 65.8 million people (as of 1 January 2011),[3] France is the 21st most populous country in the world.
In 2004, the Institut Montaigne estimated that there were 51 million (85%) White people, 6 million (10%) North African people, 2 million (3.5%) Black people and 1 million (1.5%) people of Asian origin in Metropolitan France.[201][202]
In 2003, France's natural population growth (excluding immigration) was responsible for almost all natural population growth in the European Union. The natural growth (excess of births over deaths) rose to 302,432 in 2006,[203] its highest since the end of the baby boom in 1973. The total fertility rate rose to 2.01 in 2010,[3] from a nadir of 1.68 in 1994.[204] In the five years between January 2006 and January 2011, population growth was on average +0.58% per year.[203] In 2010, 27.3% of newborn in metropolitan France had at least one foreign-born parent and 23.9% had at least one parent born outside of Europe (parents born in overseas territories are considered as born in France).[205]
In 2008, the French national institute of statistics INSEE estimated that 11.8 million foreign-born immigrants and their direct descendants (born in France) lived in France representing 19% of the country's population. More than 5 million are of European origin and about 4 million of Maghrebi origin. Immigrants aged 18–50 count for 2.7 millions (10% of population aged 18–50) and 5 millions for all ages (8% of population). 2nd Generation aged 18–50 make up 3.1 millions (12% of 18–50) and 6.5 millions for all ages (11% of population)[206][207][208]
In 2004, a total of 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa and 13,710 from Europe.[209] In 2008, France granted citizenship to 137,000 persons, mostly to people from Morocco, Algeria and Turkey.[210]
Although it is illegal for the French state to collect data on ethnicity and ancestry, a law with its origins in the 1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958, some surveys, like the TeO ("Trajectories and origins") survey conducted jointly by INED and INSEE in 2008, are allowed to do it.[211][212] Before this survey, it was estimated that 5 million people are of Italian ancestry (the most numerous immigrant community),[213] between three million[214] and six million[215] people are of North African ancestry, 2.5 million people are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, 200,000 people are of Turkish ancestry,[216] and many more are of other European ethnic ancestry such as Spaniards, Portuguese, Poles, and Greeks.[213][217][218]
It is currently estimated that 40% of the French population is descended at least partially from the different waves of immigration the country has received.[219] Between 1921 and 1935 about 1.1 million net immigrants came to France.[220] An estimated 1.6 million pieds noirs returned to France as the country's North African possessions gained independence.[221][222]
France accepts about 200,000 legal immigrants each year.[223] France is the leading asylum destination in Western Europe with an estimated 50,000 applications in 2005 (a 15% decrease from 2004).[224] The European Union allows free movement between the member states. While UK and Ireland did not impose restrictions, France put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration.
The largest cities in France, in terms of metropolitan area population, are Paris (11,836,970), Lyon (1,757,180), Marseille (1,618,369), Lille (1,163,934), Toulouse (1,118,472), Bordeaux (1,009,313), Nice (999,678), Nantes (768,305) and Strasbourg (641,853).
A perennial political issue concerns rural depopulation. Over the period 1960–1999 fifteen rural départements experienced a decline in population. In the most extreme case, the population of Creuse fell by 24%
According to Article 2 of the Constitution, the official language of France is French,[225] a Romance language derived from Latin. Since 1635, the Académie française is France's official authority on the usage, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language, although its recommendations carry no legal power.
The French government does not regulate the choice of language in publications by individuals but the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace communications. In addition to mandating the use of French in the territory of the Republic, the French government tries to promote French in the European Union and globally through institutions such as La Francophonie. The perceived threat from anglicisation has prompted efforts to safeguard the position of the French language in France. Besides French, there exist 77 vernacular minority languages of France, eight spoken in French metropolitan territory (in continental Europe) and 69 in the French overseas territories.
From the 17th century to the mid-20th century, French served as the pre-eminent international language of diplomacy and international affairs as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe.[226] The dominant position of French language in international affairs has only been challenged recently by English, since the emergence of the USA as a major power.[46][227][228] Paradoxically, for most of the time period in which French served as an international lingua franca, it was not the native language of most Frenchmen: a 1794 report conducted by Henri Grégoire found that of the country's 25 million people, only three million spoke French natively; the rest spoke one of the country's many regional languages, such as Alsatian, Breton or Occitan.[229] Through the expansion of public education (particularly from the late 19th century onward), in which French was the sole language of instruction, as well as other factors such as increased urbanization and the rise of mass communication, French gradually came to be adopted by virtually the entire population, a process not completed until the 20th century.
As a result of France's extensive colonial ambitions between the 17th and 20th centuries, French was introduced to America, Africa, Polynesia, South-East Asia, and the Caribbean. French is the second most studied foreign language in the world after English,[230] and is a lingua franca in some regions, notably in Africa. The legacy of French as a living language outside Europe is mixed: it is nearly extinct in some former French colonies (Southeast Asia), while creoles, and pidgins based on French have emerged in the French departments in the West Indies and the South Pacific (French Polynesia). On the other hand, many former French colonies have adopted French as an official language, and the total number of French speakers is increasing, especially in Africa.
It is estimated that between 300 million[231] and 500 million[232] people worldwide can speak French, either as a mother tongue or a second language
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