The new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will set about implementing a wide-ranging programme of reform, including much-needed changes to boost labour market flexibility. He will be aided by a strong personal mandate and the support of a large parliamentary majority, but is likely to proceed cautiously to avoid provoking social dissent. The new government's fiscal package should facilitate a slight acceleration of real GDP growth in 2008-09. |
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| Key Reports Available for France |
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| Land area | | Metropolitan France, 543,965 sq km; including 52% used for agriculture and 31.4% woods or forests (1997); excludes overseas territories and departments | | Population | | 61.9m (January 1st 2008, preliminary estimate for metropolitan France) | | Main towns | | Population of urban areas in '000 (1999) | | Paris (capital): 9,644 | | Marseille/Aix-en-Provence: 1,350 | | Lyon: 1,349 | | Lille: 1,000 | | Nice: 889 | | Toulouse: 761 | | Bordeaux: 754 | | Nantes: 545 | | Toulon: 520 | | Douai-Lens: 519 | | Strasbourg: 427 | | Climate | | Temperate, oceanic in the west, continental in the east, Mediterranean in the south | | Weather | | Normal annual weather conditions, at Meteo France weather stations (1961-90 readings): maximum average temperature, 14.2°C at Montpellier, minimum, 9.6°C at Nancy; maximum average rainfall, 923 mm at Bordeaux, minimum, 591 mm at Clermont-Ferrand | | Languages | | French and—regionally—Provencal, Alsatian, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Occitan | | Measures | | Metric system | | Currency | | Euro = 100 cents | | Average exchange rates in 2007: US$1.37:€1; £0.68:€1 | | Exchange rates on May 26th 2008: US$1.58:€1; £0.80:€1 | | Time | | 1 hour ahead of GMT | | Public holidays | | January 1st (New Year’s Day), March 24th (Easter Monday), May 1st (Ascension and Labour Day), May 8th (1945 Victory Day), May 12th (Whit Monday), July 14th (Bastille Day), August 15th (Assumption), November 1st (All Saints Day), November 11th (Remembrance Day), December 25th (Christmas Day) | | SOURCE: Country Profile |
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