Geography—note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
People
Population: 59,113,439 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,822,901; female 5,522,122)
15-64 years: 65% (male 19,393,706; female 19,103,882)
65 years and over: 16% (male 3,821,181; female 5,449,647) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.24% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 11.9 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 10.64 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.78 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)