France Facts - French Demographics

French has been an international language for centuries and is a common second language throughout the world. It is one of five official languages at the United Nations. 

In Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the West Indies, French has been a unifying factor, particularly in those countries where it serves as the only common language among a variety of indigenous languages and dialects.

Education Main article: Education in France

Education is free, beginning at age 2, and mandatory between ages 6 and 16. 

The public education system is highly centralized. Private primary and secondary education is primarily Roman Catholic. 

Higher education in France began with the founding of the University of Paris in 1150. 

It now consists of 69 universities and special schools, such as the Grandes Ecoles, technical colleges, and vocational training institutions.

Literacy:

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%

• male: 99%

• female: 99% 
  (1980 est.)

Three basic European ethnic stocks - Celtic, Latin, and Germanic (Frankish) - have blended over the centuries to make up its present population.

Figures and age structure

Population: 60,656,178 (July 2005 est. Metropolitan population). Total French population is about 62,300,000

Age structure:

• 0-14 years: 19% (male 5,719,502; female 5,448,608)

• 15-64 years: 65% (male 19,345,269; female 19,322,902)

• 65 years and over: 16% (male 3,849,783; female 5,643,627) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate:

• 0.38% (2000 est.)

• Birth rate: 12.27 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) France's birth rate was among the highest in Europe from 1945 until the late 1960s. 

Since then, its birth rate has fallen but remains higher than that of most other west European countries. Death rate: 9.14 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:

• At birth: 
  1.05 male(s)/female

• under 15 years: 
  1.05 male(s)/female

• 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female

• 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female

• total population: 
  0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 

• 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

• total population: 78.76 years

• male: 74.85 years

• female: 82.89 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 

• 1.75 children born / woman (2000 est.) 

Nationality:

• noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women)

• adjective: French

Immigration

• Net migration rate: 0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Traditionally, France has had a high level of immigration. More than 1 million Muslims immigrated in the 1960s and early 1970s from North Africa, especially Algeria. 

At the end of 1994, there were about 5 million persons of Muslim descent living in France.

Ethnic groups

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

Languages Main articles: French language, Languages of France

• French (only official language), 

• Occitan, Alsatian (German), Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, West Flemish (Dutch).

The French language derives from the vernacular Latin spoken by the Romans in Gaul, although it includes many Celtic and Germanic words.