Environment—current issues: some forest damage from acid rain; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff
Environment—international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography—note: largest West European nation; occasional strong,
cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral
People
Population: 58,978,172 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,638,462; female 5,375,911)
15-64 years: 65% (male 19,302,121; female 19,235,235)
65 years and over: 16% (male 3,825,232; female 5,601,211) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.27% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 11.38 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 9.17 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)