1985 Edition

Agriculture

Western Europe's foremost producer; main products — beef, dairy products, France (continued) French Guiana cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; self-sufficient for most temperate zone foodstuffs; food shortages — fats and oils, tropical produce

limited vegetables for local consumption; rice, corn, manioc, cocoa, bananas, sugar

main crop — coconuts

Aid

donor — bilateral economic aid commitments (ODA and OOF), $29.7 billion (197082)

economic — bilateral commitments, ODA and OOF (FY70-79), from Western (non-US) countries, $700 million, no military aid

France $91 million (1978)

Airfields

465 total, 451 usable; 244 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m, 34 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 128 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

1 1 total, 1 1 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 in

38 total, 38 usable; 14 with permanent-surface runways, 2 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 14 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Area

547,026 km2; four-fifths the size of Texas; 34% cultivated; 24% meadow and pasture; 27% forest; 15% waste, urban, or other

Branches

presidentially appointed Prime Minister heads Council of Ministers, which is formally responsible to National Assembly; bicameral legislature — National Assembly (491 members), Senate (304 members) — restricted to a delaying action; judiciary independent in principle

Army of the Ground, Navy, Army of the Air, National Gendarmerie

executive: Prefect appointed by Paris; legislative — popularly elected 16member General Council and a Regional Council composed of members of the local General Council and of the locally elected deputy and senator to the French parliament; judicial, under jurisdiction of French judicial system

30-member Territorial Assembly, popularly elected; 5-member Council of Government, elected by Assembly; popular election of two deputies to National Assembly and one senator to Senate in Paris

Budget

(proposed for 1985) expenditures, 995 billion francs; revenues, 857 billion francs; deficit, 138 billion francs

$101 million (1982)

$180million in 1979; ODA and OOF commitments from Western (non-US countries)

Capital

Paris

Cayenne

Papeete

Civil air

355 major transport aircraft (1982)

no major transport aircraft

about 6 major transport aircraft

Coastline

3,427 km (includes Corsica, 644 km) People

378 km People

about 2,525 km People

Communists

600,000 claimed; Communist voters, 4 million in 1981 elections

Communist party membership negligible

Crude steel

17.6 million metric tons produced (1983), 322 kg per capita

Elections

National Assembly — every five years, last election June 1981, direct universal suffrage, two ballots; Senate — indirect collegiate system for nine years, renewable by one-third every three years, last election September 1983; President, direct, universal suffrage every seven years, two ballots, last election May 1981 Political parties and leaders: majority coalition— Socialist Party (PS), Lionel Jospin; Communist Party (PCF), Georges Marchais; Left Radical Movement (MRG), Francois public (RPR, formerly UDR), Jacques Chirac; Union for French Democracy (federation of PR, CDS, and RAD), Jean Lecanuet; Republicans (PR), Francois Leotard; Center for Social Democrats (CDS), Pierre Mehaignerie; Radical (RAD), Andre Rossinot

General Council elections normally are held every five years; last election February 1983 Political parties and leaders: Guianese Socialist Party (PSG), Raymond Tarcy (senator), Leopold Helder; Union of the Guianese People (UPG), weak leftist party allied with, but also reported to have been absorbed by, the PSG; Rally for the Republic (RPR), Hector Rivierez

every five years, last in May 1982 Political parties and leaders: Tahoeraa Huiraatira (Gaullist), Gaston Flosse; Ai'a Api (New Country Party), Emile Vernaudon; Here Ai'a; la Mana (Socialist)

Electric power

88,446,000 kW capacity (1984); 320.035 billion kWh produced (1984), 5,832 kWh per capita

31,000 kW capacity (1984); 138 million kWh produced (1984), 1,725 kWh per capita

71,000 kW capacity (1984); 263 million kWh produced (1984), 1,610 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, and Basque minorities

66% black or mulatto; 12% Caucasian; 12% East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian; 10% other

78% Polynesian, 12% Chinese, 6% local French, 4% metropolitan French

Exports

$89.9 billion (f.o.b., 1983); principal items — machinery and transportation equipment, foodstuffs, agricultural products, iron and steel products, textiles and clothing, chemicals

$35.4 million (1981); shrimp, timber, rum, rosewood essence

$21 million (1977); principal products— coconut products (79%), mother-ofpearl (14%), vanilla (1971)

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 7 1 3,530 metric tons ( 1 982); exports (includes shellfish, etc.) $316 million, imports $1,045 million (1983)

catch 1,450 metric tons (1982 est.)

GDP

$518 billion (1983), $9,478 per capita; 66% private consumption, 16.4% government consumption, 16% investment (including government); 1981 real growth rate, .7%; average annual growth rate (197383), 2.3%

A$931.3 million (1980), US$6,400 per capita (1980)

GNP

$120 million (1976), $1,935 per capita

Government leader

Francois MITTERRAND, President (since May 1981)

Bernard COURTOIS, Prefect of the Republic (since 1984)

Alain OHREL, High Commissioner and President of the Council of Government (since 1983), appointed by French Government; Gaston FLOSSE, Vice President of the Council of Government (since May 1982; highest elected official in the territory)

Highways

1,533,940 km total; 33,400 km national highway; 347,000 km departmental highway; 421,000 km community roads; 750,000 km rural roads; 5,209 km of controlled-access divided "autoroutes"; approx. 803,000 km paved

680 km total; 510 km paved, 170 km improved and unimproved earth

Imports

$97.9 billion (f.o.b., 1983); principal items — crude petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel products, foodstuffs, agricultural products

$245.9 million (1981); food (grains, processed meat), other consumer goods, producer goods, and petroleum

$419 million (1977); principal items — fuels, foodstuffs, equipment

Inland waterways

14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

460 km, navigable by small oceangoing vessels and river and coastal steamers; 3,300 km possibly navigable by native craft

Labor force

23.4 million (1983); 54.5% services, 29.5% industry, 8.5% agriculture; 8.5% unemployed

23,265 (1980); services, government, and commerce 60.6%; industry 21.2%; agriculture 18.2%; information on unemployment unavailable

Land boundaries

2,888 km Water

1,183 km Water

Language

French (100% of population); rapidly declining regional patois — Provencal, Breton, Germanic, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish

French

Legal system

civil law system with indigenous concepts; new constitution adopted 1958, amended concerning election of President in 1962; judicial review of administrative but not legislative acts; legal education at over 25 schools of law

French legal system; highest court is Court of Appeals based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana

based on French; lower and higher courts

Limits of territorial waters

12 nm (fishing 200 nm; exclusive economic zone 200 nm)

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (economic, including fishing, 200 nm)

12 nm (fishing 200 nm; economic zone 200 nm)

Literacy

99%

73%

Major industries

steel, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, chemicals, automobiles, food processing, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics

construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining

maintenance of French nuclear test base, tourism

Major trade partners

(1983) imports— 49% EC, 13% petroleum exporting countries, 7.7% US, 2.7% USSR, 2.6% Japan, 1.6% other Communist countries; exports — 50% EC, 25.3% petroleum exporting countries, 6.0% US, 2.4% USSR, 1.7% other Communist countries, 1% Japan

exports — 54% US, 17% Japan, 15% France, 5% Martinique; imports— 53% France, 15% Trinidad and Tobago, 10% US (1981)

imports — 59% France, 14% US; exports— 86% France

Member of

ADB, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, ELDO, EMA, EMS, ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDE— Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC— International Whaling Commission, NATO (signatory), OAS (observer), OECD, South Pacific Commission, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO Economy

WFTU Economy

Military budget

proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1984, $20 billion; about 18.1% of proposed central government budget North Atlantic Ocean Sctrtflonil map IV Land 90,909 km2; slightly smaller than Maine; 90% forest; 10% waste, built on, inland water, and other, of which .05% is cultivated and pasture

Military manpower

males 15-49, 13,997,000; fit for military service 11,864,000; 430,000 reach military age (18) annually

males 15-49, 20,000; 14,000 fit for military service French Polynesia South Pacific Ocean lies Marquises % "'^•i .PAPEETE 4'v -£, * j> Tahiti ... **%. Set regional map X Land About 4,000 km2; larger than Rhode Island Water

Monetary conversion rate

8.40 French francs=US$l (4 January 1984)

9.65 French francs=US$l (January 1985)

127.05 Colonial Francs Pacifique (CFP)=$US1 (February 1984) Communications High'ways. 3,700 km, all types

National holiday

National Day, 14 July

Nationality

noun — Frenchman (men); adjective— French

noun — French Guianese (sing., pi.); adjective — French Guiana

noun — French Polynesian(s); adjective — French Polynesian

Official name

French Republic

Department of French Gui-

Territory of French Polynesia

Organized labor

approximately 20% of labor force Government

7% of labor force Government

Other political or pressure groups

Communist-controlled labor union (Confederation Generate du Travail) nearly 2.4 million members (claimed); Socialist-leaning labor union (Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail — CFDT) about 800,000 members est; independent labor union (Force Ouvriere) about 1,000,000 members est.; independent white collar union (Confederation Generale des Cadres) 340,000 members (claimed); National Council of French Employers (Conseil National du Patronat Francais— CNPF or Patronat)

Pipelines

crude oil, 3,458 km; refined products, 4,344 km; natural gas, 24,746 km

Political subdivisions

22 regions with 96 metropolitan departments

2 arrondissements, 19 communes each with a locally elected municipal council

five districts

Population

55,094,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 0.4%

82,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 2.9%

166,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 2.3%

Ports

8 major, 16 secondary

1 major (Cayenne), 7 minor

1 major, 6 minor

Railroads

French National Rail ways (SNCF) operates 34,599 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 10,660 km electrified, 15, 132 km double or multiple track; 2,138 km of various gauges (1.000-meter to 1.440-meter), privately owned and operated

none

Religion

90% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 1% Muslim (North African workers), 6% unaffiliated

predominantly Roman Catholic

mainly Christian; 55% Protestant, 32% Catholic Government

Shortages

crude oil, natural gas, textile fibers, most nonferrous ores, coking coal, fats and oils

Suffrage

universal over age 18; not compulsory

universal over age 18

universal adult

Telecommunications

highly developed system provides satisfactory telephone, telegraph, and radio and TV broadcast services; 29.37 million telephones (54.2 per 100 popl.); 58 AM, 323 FM, 396 TV stations; 21 submarine coaxial cables; 2 communication satellite ground stations with total of 7 antenDefense Forces

fair openwire and radio-relay system with about 18,100 telephones(25.9 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces Defense is the responsibility of France

17,302 telephones (12.9 per 100 popl.); 72,000 radio and 14,000 TV sets; 5 AM, 2 FM, 6 TV stations; 1 ground satellite station Defense Forces Defense is responsibility of France

Type

republic, with President having wide powers

overseas department and region of France; represented by one deputy in French National Assembly and one senator in French Senate

overseas territory of France

Voting strength

(first ballot, 1981 election) diverse left, Socialist 36.12%; RPR, 20.8%; UDF, 19.2%; Communist, 16.17%; Left Radical, 1.39%; diverse right, 2.8%; diverse left, 2.05%; other 1.47%

(1982 election) Tahoeraa Huiraatira, 13 seats; Ai'a Api, 3 seats; Here Ai'a, 6 seats; la Mana, 3 seats; Independents, 4 seats; Te E'a Api, 1 seat Economy