Environment:
current issues: some forest damage from acid rain; air pollution from
industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes,
agricultural runoff
natural hazards: flooding
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping,
Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Desertification, Law of the Sea
Note: largest West European nation; occasional warm tropical wind
known as mistral
@France:People
Population: 58,109,160 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (female 5,438,447; male 5,700,143)
15-64 years: 65% (female 18,889,771; male 19,001,536)
65 years and over: 16% (female 5,433,276; male 3,645,987) (July 1995
est.)
Population growth rate: 0.46% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 9.29 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)