France’s annual rate of population growth of 0.33 percent is low compared to most of the world. In 1800 France was the most populous nation in western Europe. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the birth rate in France declined relative to that of the rest of Europe, and the French population grew slowly. By the mid-20th century the population of France had fallen behind that of Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. (France’s population narrowly surpassed Italy’s in the 1990s). The slow growth of the French population can be partly attributed to the bloody wars of the Napoleonic era in the early 19th century and the two world wars in the 20th century. The early and wide-scale adoption of birth control by the French people also slowed population growth. Immigration, especially from Europe and North Africa, was a major source of French population growth during the 20th century. The population of France is projected to gradually begin declining sometime during the early 21st century.

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The age structure of France changed dramatically in the late 20th century, with elderly people accounting for an ever larger share of the total population. The segment of the population between the ages of 0 and 14 declined from 26.4 percent in 1960 to 18.2 percent in 2007, while the number of people aged 65 or older increased from 11.6 percent to 16.4 percent. The number of older people is growing in France, as it is in most industrialized nations, as a result of the low birth rate and medical advances that have prolonged life. Life expectancy in France is now 83.7 years for females—one of the highest expected longevities in the world—and 76.2 years for males. France’s infant mortality rate (the number of infants per 1,000 who die before the age of 1) is 4.2, one of the world’s lowest.

A. Principal Cities

The capital and largest city of France is Paris, with a population of 2,153,600 (2005 estimate). Located on the shores of the Seine, Paris dominates France economically, politically, and culturally. It is the nation’s leading industrial center, and most key services, including banking and finance, are concentrated there. Paris is the seat of the national government and home to France’s most prestigious educational and cultural institutions. About 10 million people live in the Paris metropolitan area, more than 15 percent of the country’s total population.

France’s second largest city is Marseille (820,900) on the Mediterranean coast. Marseille is a major seaport and a diversified manufacturing center. Founded by Greek mariners in the 6th century BC, Marseille has long served as an important commercial and trading city. Today, Marseille is socially and ethnically diverse, with a large immigrant population. The third largest city is Lyon (466,400) in east central France. Lyon is an industrial center located at the junction of the Saône and Rhône rivers. It is famous for its fine textiles, although other manufactures, including chemicals, automobiles, and petroleum products, are now more important. The urban area surrounding Lyon is the second largest in France, after greater metropolitan Paris.

Other major cities include Toulouse (435,000), a major manufacturing and trade center in southwestern France; Nice (347,900), a resort city on the French Riviera; and Nantes (281,800), a seaport on the Atlantic coast that is noted for shipbuilding, food processing, and other industries. Strasbourg (272,700) is the principal French port on the Rhine River and is also a major industrial center. Bordeaux (230,600) is a major seaport in southwestern France and the principal exporting center for one of the great French vineyard regions. Montpellier (244,300) is a commercial and manufacturing city in southern France. Lille (225,100), an industrial city in northern France, is situated amid a cluster of cities that have a combined population exceeding 1 million. According to 1999 population estimates, more than 25 additional French cities had populations surpassing 100,000.

B. Ethnic Groups

The predominant ethnic stock in France is mixed, the result of thousands of years of ethnic mixing. A succession of migrating and invading groups, including Celts, Romans, and Germanic peoples, have left their ethnic imprint among the French people. The very name for the nation, France, comes from the Germanic Franks, who invaded the area as the Roman Empire collapsed.

The French government has long pursued an active campaign of assimilating ethnic minorities. The expansion of the French state, completed by the mid-17th century, brought centralized rule over diverse peripheral ethnic groups. As late as the French Revolution in 1789, less than half the population spoke French. After the revolution, the French government sought to build a unified nation-state based on a common language. The “law of the soil” (droit du sol), a key part of this effort, held that residency and ethnic identity were inseparable—that is, if a person lived in France, he or she was French. Only in recent years, under the prodding of the European Union (EU), did France extend any noteworthy rights or privileges to ethnic minorities. Instead, every effort was made to absorb them into the French mainstream, with considerable success.

B.1. Indigenous Ethnic Minorities

The indigenous ethnic minorities of France inhabit ancient homelands, all of which lie on the nation’s frontiers. In the far northern part of France live a people of Flemish descent, in and around the marshland town of Dunkerque in the historic region of Flanders. Flemings, many of whom speak a dialect of Dutch, harbor no separatist sentiment and have largely been assimilated. In the western peninsular region of Brittany live the Bretons, a people of Celtic descent (see Celts). Many Bretons seek cultural autonomy and resent French dominance. They present an overtly Celtic image to visitors, incorporating bagpipes and Celtic harps into their local musical traditions. Dozens of Breton-language schools have opened in Brittany since the early 1990s.

In southwestern France, where the Pyrenees and Atlantic Ocean meet, live the French Basques. Many French Basques share the separatist sentiments of the Basques across the border in Spain, but the French Basque country has not experienced the terrorist violence that has occurred for decades in Spanish territory. At the eastern end of the Pyrenees, in the Mediterranean region, is the Catalan homeland. French Catalonians share a language (see Catalan Language) and culture with the peoples of eastern Spain, where Catalan autonomy has been achieved and separatist sentiment is common. The French Catalonians, however, are not nearly so numerous, and they do not desire to secede from France. In recent decades, bilingual French-Catalan signs have become common.

In the Alsace-Lorraine area of eastern France live the Alsatians, a people whose native tongue is a dialect of High German. This ancient frontier area has been the object of disputes between French and Germanic rulers since the Middle Ages, and control over the region has changed hands many times. Since the end of World War II (1939-1945) the region has belonged to France. A desire for cultural autonomy is widespread in Alsace, but there is little sentiment for joining Germany. On the French-ruled island of Corsica in the Mediterranean live a people of Italian ancestry. Corsica’s most famous son, Napoleon Bonaparte (see Napoleon I), had an Italian surname. A movement seeking independence for Corsica has been active since the 1970s.

B.2. Immigrants

Immigrants account for about 7.5 percent of the total population of France. French immigrants come from diverse places, including Europe, North and Central Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean, and Asia. The largest immigrant group in France consists of people from the largely Islamic nations of North Africa, including Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Many Muslims from Turkey have also immigrated to France. An estimated 4 million Muslims, or followers of Islam, live in France, mainly within the nation’s largest cities.

France has a long history of immigration. A strong tradition of readily accepting immigrants as citizens dates to the French Revolution, which popularized new notions of citizenship and universal rights. During the 19th century, the French government recruited many immigrants to work the nation’s farmlands and in its expanding coal, steel, and textile industries. Until the mid-20th century, immigrants came largely from other Christian European countries, including Belgium, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Most of these immigrants were rapidly assimilated into the French population and culture.

Immigration significantly increased after World War II (1939-1945), when the nation’s postwar economic expansion generated an enormous need for workers. By the 1950s the main source of immigration had shifted from European countries to the largely Islamic countries of North Africa, the heart of France’s former colonial empire. In the mid-1970s France began to tighten its immigration policies in response to a slowing economy.

By the late 1970s immigration had become a controversial social issue in France. Many people worried that large numbers of recent immigrants appeared unwilling to adopt French customs and culture. Unlike earlier generations of European immigrants, the newcomers were often distinguishable by their skin color and Islamic religion, as well as by their food, dress, and music. Nationalist political movements, such as the National Front, emerged to promote anti-immigrant policies, including repatriation. These groups argued that immigration threatened French culture and social cohesion.

By the 1980s, heated political debate had arisen over the wearing of traditional Islamic head coverings by girls in public schools. In 2004 the French government passed legislation prohibiting students in primary and secondary schools from wearing conspicuous religious symbols. Although no specific religious symbols were mentioned in the legislation, many Muslims viewed the law as targeting the wearing of headscarves. Hostility toward immigrants has led to discrimination, social tensions, and episodes of violence.

C. Language

French is the official language of France and is spoken by the vast majority of people in the country. Modern French is a dialect of the langue d’oïl, a form of the French language that originated in northern France. This dialect developed in the Île de France, a historic province that includes Paris and much of the surrounding Paris Basin. Beginning in medieval times, the language of the Île de France gradually began to supplant other French dialects. Today it enjoys overwhelming dominance in French daily life, including in commerce, education, government, and culture.

In addition to French, regional languages are spoken in many areas. The most widely spoken regional language is Occitan, also called the langue d’oc (Languedoc), which is prevalent in southern France. Perhaps 5 or 6 million people speak Provençal, the major dialect of the langue d’oc. Virtually all of these speakers speak the dominant French language as well. The languages spoken north and south of the Loire River began diverging in the early Middle Ages and by the late 13th century had emerged as distinct languages. The langue d’oc is rooted in a Latin-derived regional culture that was once much more Mediterranean and Roman-influenced than the German-influenced culture of northern France. The French state’s historical drive to create a unified French language, in part by requiring state primary schools to teach in the language of the Île de France, has succeeded in assimilating the langue d’oc. In 1993, in a show of greater tolerance, the French government permitted state schools to teach regional languages, including the langue d’oc.

Several other regional languages are spoken in France. About 1 million people living in Alsace speak a dialect of High German. Perhaps 600,000 people speak Breton, a Celtic language based in Brittany. (See also Breton Literature). About 250,000 people speak Catalan in the Pyrenees region. Some 80,000 people speak Basque, another language based in the Pyrenees. Flemish, a Dutch dialect used in the French portion of Flanders in the north, is spoken by perhaps 60,000 people. Corse, an Italian dialect used on the island of Corsica, is spoken by about 100,000 people. Many of France’s various immigrant populations also retain their separate languages, including Arabic and Turkish.

D. Religion

Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in France. More than 80 percent of the French population officially identifies with this faith, although only a minority claim to be practicing Catholics. About 5 percent of the population practices Islam, France’s second most popular religion. A small minority, about 2 percent of the population, is Protestant. Many Protestants fled France during the 16th and 17th centuries to escape Catholic persecution, and few parishes survived. About 1 percent of the population is Jewish (see Judaism). More than 10 percent of the people claim no religion.

Secularization has made deep inroads in France, greatly diminishing the role of the once-powerful Catholic Church. The extent of secularization varies from one region to another. The most highly secularized regions are the Paris Basin and the Mediterranean coast. The largest percentages of practicing Catholics live in rural areas, including Flanders to the north, Brittany to the west, Alsace to the east, and the Basque country in the southwest. The great pilgrimage town of Lourdes in the southwest, at the foot of the Pyrenees, draws millions of visitors annually.

The French Jewish community, although small, has long played an important role in the nation’s economy and culture. An estimated 530,000 French citizens are Jewish, accounting for about one-third of the total Jewish population in Europe. In recent decades, many Muslim immigrants from former French colonies in North Africa have settled in France, leading to a significant expansion of the Islamic faith there. Immigrants have also brought other religions to France, including Buddhism and Hinduism.

The church and state have been officially separated in France since 1905. During the 19th century, the Christian and Jewish religions were subsidized by the state. Popular opposition to the Catholic Church, and to church control of public education, resulted in legislation prohibiting the payment of public funds to Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish clergy. This legislation, and subsequent measures, led to the withdrawal of official state recognition of any religion.

E. Education

The French constitution guarantees all permanent residents a basic education. School attendance is compulsory for students aged 6 to 16, and all public schools up to the university level are free. Higher public education is free for all students who qualify. There are also about 10,000 private schools and colleges in France, most controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. About one in six students under the age of 16 attends private schools. The adult literacy rate in France is 99 percent, one of the world’s highest.

Public education in France is highly centralized. The centralization of state control over school administration began in the early 19th century under Napoleon I. Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, most schools were administered by the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the main features of the modern educational system were adopted in the late 19th century, under the leadership of Education Minister Jules Ferry. A series of laws, enacted between 1881 and 1886, provided for free, compulsory public education entirely under government control. Among later modifications were the establishment of free tuition in secondary and technical schools, the separation of church and state in education in 1905, and the extension of compulsory school attendance to the age of 16 in 1959.

Today, the central government’s administrative role is strongest in primary and secondary education. Metropolitan France is divided into 27 educational districts called académies. Each district is under the jurisdiction of a rector, who is accountable to the ministry of education. The ministry is responsible for maintaining schools, hiring and allocating staff, defining academic programs and curricula, and other matters. The ministry also supervises private schools.

As a result of student unrest in 1968, in which strong demands were made for greater decentralization in higher education, the government created an independent ministry of universities. Prior to 1968, the universities were organized into facultés, or schools, according to the subject taught, and were directly administered by the ministry of education. Afterward, they were reorganized into autonomous multidisciplinary universities, and students and faculty were given a voice in university administration. Under the reform, most of France’s large universities were restructured into smaller units. The University of Paris, the largest, was split into 13 independent universities, 3 of which were formed from the oldest unit, the Sorbonne.

The French educational system is competitive. After two or three years of optional preschool activities, students attend a primary (elementary) school from age 6 to 11. Secondary education is divided into two phases. In the first phase, students attend a collège (middle school) until the age of 15. During the second phase, students either take academic courses in general lycées (secondary schools) or take technical and vocational courses in separate institutions called professional lycées. Students attending professional lycées typically earn a professional certificate or diploma after one to three years of study. The general lycée program lasts three years and ends with a comprehensive nationwide examination for the baccalauréate degree, which is required to enter the universities. The baccalaureate examination is rigorous; only two-thirds of those taking the test typically pass it the first time.

The university sector has gradually expanded to offer a wider range of educational opportunities and serve an increasing number of students. In 1966 several instituts universitaires de technologie (technological institutes, or IUTs) were founded. These schools depart from the general studies of the traditional university and specialize in technology subjects. Community colleges, called antennes universitaires, have been established in medium-sized towns such as Blois, Troyes, Tarbes, Beauvais, and Bayonne. In 1991 the government adopted an ambitious program designed to enlarge the system of higher education. By the early 2000s there were 100 IUTs and 87 universities in France. Besides the Universities of Paris I-XIII, noted French institutes of higher education include the Universities of Aix-Marseille I-III, the Universities of Lille I-III, the Universities of Lyon I-III, the Universities of Nancy I-II, and the Universities of Strasbourg I-III.

Alongside the universities is an elite network of graduate schools, known as the grandes écoles. Admission to the grandes écoles is limited by special competitive examinations. Founded by Napoleon Bonaparte (see Napoleon I), these prestigious schools train executives for the highest positions in business and government. Among the best known of these schools are the École Polytechnique (Polytechnic School), founded in 1794 to instruct military professionals, and the École Nationale d’Administration (National School of Administration), a training ground for government leaders.

In a unique category are the Collège de France, founded in 1530, and the Académie Française (French Academy), founded in 1635. The Collège de France invites eminent scholars from all over the world to lecture publicly on their research. Membership in the Académie Française is limited to 40 of the nation’s most prominent citizens, the immortels. The Académie was established in 1635 to uphold the highest standards in the French language and literature, and it is responsible for the publication of the standard grammar and dictionary of the French language. It is the oldest of the five learned societies that make up the prestigious Institut de France.

F. Social Structure

The French Revolution swept away many of the ancient legal privileges enjoyed by the nobility and the clergy and established the principle of legal equality among all citizens. Yet the revolution did not erase sharp distinctions among social groups, nor did it fundamentally alter the distribution of wealth. France still retained a rigid social structure in the early 20th century, with little mobility among social groups. The social strata included peasants, craft and factory workers, shopkeepers, merchants, civil servants, intellectuals, landowners, and petty nobility.

The old social order changed considerably after World War II, as the postwar economic expansion brought growing affluence to an ever larger share of the French population. The vast expansion of the middle classes reduced inequality of wealth and blurred the lines between many social groups. Today power, success, and money are more important than birth in determining a person’s social status.

Another sweeping change in postwar France is the growing role of women in society. Beginning in the early 1970s, women began entering the workforce in increasing numbers, many taking jobs in the expanding service sector. Today women constitute 45.9 percent of all French workers. However, women tend to be concentrated in low-paying jobs, and they are more likely than men to be unemployed. In recent decades women have also played a growing role in politics. Women won the right to vote in 1944; today they account for 53 percent of the French electorate. Many women have pursued successful careers in politics, but their representation in the national parliament is still lower than in most other nations in the European Union (EU).

Many social divisions remain visible in France. A privileged elite composed mainly of leading politicians, senior civil servants, business leaders, and wealthy families still retains a strong grasp on the levers of power. The middle classes are highly stratified. Among white-collar workers, two different groups have emerged: the successful, upwardly mobile senior executives and professionals with expanding spending power and stable jobs, and a growing mass of people in clerical, retail, and food-service jobs for whom unemployment and lower living standards have become increasingly the norm. Blue-collar workers remain, to some extent, economically and socially segregated; only a small proportion of university students come from blue-collar households. The number of blue-collar workers has steadily declined in recent years as the economy has shifted from jobs in industry to those in the service sector.

G. Way of Life

For centuries the French have taken pride in the sophistication of their culture, the beauty of their spoken language, and their diverse accomplishments in literature, the arts, and sciences. Even French cuisine and clothing fashions have long been a source of national pride. During the second half of the 20th century, as French society grew increasingly middle class and consumer oriented, a new set of attitudes and pursuits appeared alongside these elitist cultural attitudes. Material comforts, such as homes, new appliances, and automobiles, became synonymous with a high standard of living.

Despite the concentration of the French population in urban areas, nearly 60 percent of French people live in houses, rather than in apartment buildings. Most dwellings are comfortable and have modern conveniences. In 1962 less than 20 percent of French housing had central heating. By the 1990s nearly 80 percent had central heating, at least one telephone, and access to hot water. Housing is in short supply, and housing costs, as a share of household budgets, have risen in recent decades. Outlays for housing absorb about one-fifth of all household spending.

The French enjoy a wide range of sports and recreational activities. Millions of people belong to sports clubs, the most common of which are devoted to soccer, tennis, a bowling game called boules, and basketball. The most popular professional sports are soccer and bicycle racing (see Cycling). The monthlong Tour de France, the world’s most famous and prestigious bicycle race, has been held annually since 1903. Horse racing at Longchamps and Auteuil in Paris and automobile racing at Le Mans also draw large crowds. The French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris attracts international attention.

Many French people enjoy eating, drinking, and socializing at sidewalk cafes, which are prevalent in most cities and towns. The cinema is also very popular, drawing some 15 million patrons each year. Music concerts are well attended throughout France, and many provincial towns host their own music, theater, and dance festivals.

The French are famous for their cuisine, and fine food remains an important part of the French way of life. Thousands of regional dishes are popular in France. Beloved ingredients include generous amounts of garlic, olive oil, butter, cream, and local cheeses and wines. French dishes that have risen to national and international prominence include a seafood soup called bouillabaisse, crepes, quiches, andouillette sausage, and a goose-liver paste called pâté de foie gras. Breads and pastries are a daily staple and are widely available at local bakeries, known as boulangeries.

The traditional French meal pattern is to eat a light breakfast, a large lunch, and a somewhat lighter dinner. French wines are often served with lunch or dinner. In recent decades fast food has grown in popularity, especially among young people, and elaborate meals are increasingly reserved for special occasions. The movement toward convenience in eating is also evident in the growing consumption of frozen and prepackaged foods.

The French are devoted to holidays and vacations. In addition to the Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Easter holidays, the religious feast days of Mardi Gras in the spring, Pentecost in May or June, Assumption Day on August 15th, and All Saint’s Day on November 1st are celebrated across France. The national holiday, Bastille Day on July 14th, commemorates the fall of the Bastille in the French Revolution. Most French workers are entitled to five weeks of paid vacation annually, and travel abroad has become increasingly popular. August is the most popular month for vacation, leading to enormous congestion in resort areas at that time of year.

H. Social Issues

Despite the generally high living standards enjoyed by many French citizens, the nation has not escaped serious social problems. One of the most pressing issues is the apparent formation of a permanent underclass. During the 1990s, unemployment consistently exceeded 10 percent of the workforce—a high rate by the standards of the more prosperous countries of the European Union (EU)—and it declined only marginally in the early 2000s. The unemployed include blue-collar workers unable to find work in an economy increasingly dominated by services and high-quality manufactures; immigrants, especially from countries in North Africa; and large numbers of women and young people. Unemployment rates are highest in the old coal- and steel-producing regions of northern France and along the Mediterranean coast. Strikes and labor unrest are common in France. Student protests are also prevalent and bear some relationship to the difficulty young people have in finding good jobs.

A serious social issue related to the persistence of high rates of unemployment has been a rise in crime and violence, particularly among youth. During the 1990s the number of people aged 13 to 18 jailed for violent crime nearly tripled. Youth violence and other criminal activity are often associated with gangs in the tough, low-income housing projects that ring many French cities. Most of these complexes were originally built in the 1960s and 1970s to help solve housing shortages, but they soon became homes for the disadvantaged and underprivileged. Immigrants tend to be concentrated in these housing projects, and unemployment usually far exceeds the national average. Major riots erupted in some of these complexes in the 1980s and 1990s. Some critics put part of the blame for the rise in crime and youth violence on the French state, blaming the government for failing to integrate immigrant populations into French society.

Racism is an enduring social problem in France. The most significant expressions of contemporary racism are anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant racism. Most of the violence directed against Jewish people in recent decades has been symbolic, such as anti-Semitic graffiti and the desecration of synagogues and graves. Immigrants, especially those bearing visible signs of ethnic and cultural difference, have also been targets of racial violence in recent years. The anti-immigrant National Front, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, blames immigrants, particularly people from North Africa, for high unemployment and urban violence in France. National programs are in place to address racism, including the diversification of France’s police force, but many underlying problems remain.

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