Irrigated land:
total: 26,190 sq km;
metropolitan France: 26,000 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
metropolitan France: flooding; avalanches; midwinter windstorms;
drought; forest fires in south near the Mediterranean
overseas departments: hurricanes (cyclones), flooding, volcanic
activity (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion)
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-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85,
Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
largest West European nation
People France
Population: total: 62,752,136 note: 60,876,136 in metropolitan France (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.3% (male 5,704,152/female 5,427,213)
15-64 years: 65.3% (male 19,886,228/female 19,860,506)
65 years and over: 16.4% (male 4,103,883/female 5,894,154) (2006
est.)
Median age: total: 39.1 years male: 37.6 years female: 40.7 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.35% (2006 est.)