Country Profile

Background: Celts, Greeks and other peoples had colonized Gaul (ancient France) when the Romans politically unified the region in the 1st century BC. Christian Merovingian and Carolingian kings battled to centralize royal control during the early medieval period. Power was finally consolidated under the Captains (987-1328), who laid the foundations of the modern French state with Paris as its capital.

After the world war 1, the allied and Free French forces liberated France in 1944, leading to the restoration of democracy under the Fourth Republic. France’s 30-year post-war economic boom ended in the mid-1970s, and in 1981 an unprecedented long period of left-wing rule began under François Mitterrand.

• Population: 60.1 million (UN, 2003)
• Capital: Paris
• Major language: French
• Major religion: Christianity
• Life expectancy: 75 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Euro = 100 cents
• Main exports: Machinery and transport equipment, agricultural products, including wine
• GNI per capita: US $22,240 (World Bank, 2002)
• Internet domain: .fr
• International dialling code: +33

Links: BBC Website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm

Timeline of Major Events in Recent History:
 

1914-18 World War I - Massive casualties in trench wars in northeastern France.

1918 - Anglo-French offensive - backed by fresh American troops - forces Germany to an armistice on 11 November. By the end of the war 1.3 million Frenchmen had been killed and more than twice that number wounded or crippled.

1919 - Peace Treaty of Versailles.

1920-25 - Postwar reconstruction.

1936-38 - Rise of Popular Front.

Resistance and liberation

1939-45 World War II - Germany occupies France. Vichy regime established. General de Gaulle, undersecretary of war, establishes government-in-exile in London and, later, Algiers. Rise of French Resistance.

Paris-born artist Claude Monet led impressionist movement

1944 - Allied forces land at Normandy leading to liberation of France. De Gaulle sets up provisional government. Purge against former collaborators.

1946 - De Gaulle resigns as provisional president, replaced by Socialist Félix Gouin.

1946-58 - Fourth Republic: marked by economic reconstruction and the start of the process of independence for many of France's colonies,

1951 - France joins West Germany and other European nations in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) - leading to the formation in 1957 of the European Economic Community (EEC).

1954 First Indochina War ends - French defeated at Battle of Dien Bien Phu in northwestern Vietnam.

Algerian War of Independence begins.

1956 - Colonial rule ends in Morocco and Tunisia.

Fifth Republic

1958 - De Gaulle returns to power and founds the Fifth Republic.

GENERAL DE GAULLE He advocated strong presidency and state role in economy

1962 - Algeria gains independence from French colonial rule.

1968 May - Student protests escalate into national strike.

1969 - De Gaulle leaves office. Georges Pompidou elected president.

1970 - De Gaulle dies of stroke.

1974 - Pompidou dies, succeeded by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

1981 - Socialist candidate François Mitterrand is elected president.

1986 - Centre-right victory in legislative elections of 1986 leads to "co-habitation" - a left-wing president and a right-wing prime minister, Jacques Chirac.

1988 - Mitterrand re-elected.

1992 - France signs Maastricht Treaty on European union.

PARIS Renowned for its beauty, 'city of light' inspired artists, thinkers Named after Parisii, Celtic tribe who inhabited site City planner Baron Haussmann laid out much of modern Paris in 19th century Population 2.1 million (1999 census)

1995 - Jacques Chirac elected president, ending 14 years of Socialist presidency.

France attracts international condemnation by conducting a series of nuclear tests in the Pacific.

1997 - Lionel Jospin becomes prime minister.

2000 September - Chirac embroiled in corruption scandal. He dismisses newspaper allegations as lies.

2001 June - Compulsory military service abolished.

2002 January - Euro replaces Franc, first minted in 1360.

Jospin resigns, Chirac re-elected

2002 May - Jacques Chirac re-elected president, trouncing National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of voting. Le Pen's showing in the first round sent shockwaves across France and Europe and galvanised French voters into mass street demonstrations.

FRANCOIS MITTERRAND Founder of the Socialist Party was president for 13 years Born in Jarnac, 1916 1946: Elected to National Assembly 1981: Elected as president at third attempt; re-elected in 1988 Died in Paris, 1996

Lionel Jospin, the main left-wing presidential contender whom Le Pen knocked out in the first round, resigns the premiership and the Socialist Party leadership.

Chirac nominates Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a 53-year-old moderate right-winger, as interim prime minister.

2002 June - Landslide victory in legislative elections for centre-right coalition, the UMP, means Chirac allies dominate parliament. Raffarin's centre-right government confirmed in office, marking an end to the "cohabitation" years when Chirac had to work with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Le Pen's National Front fails to win a single seat.

2002 November - Widespread public sector strikes over government privatisation plans bring country to a standstill.

Moves toward devolution

2003 March - Constitution changed to allow devolution to regions and departments of powers over economic development, transport, tourism, culture and further education. Amendments also provide for local referenda, to give people more say in local decisions.

French film is hailed, but US movies fill country's cinemas

2003 May/June - Proposed pension reforms spark industrial action as workers protest against prospect of having to pay higher contributions over longer periods.

2003 July - Corsica referendum, first to follow March constitutional amendments, narrowly votes against establishment of unified assembly with limited powers to raise and spend taxes. Paris had hoped that a yes vote would end separatist violence.

Parliament approves controversial reforms to pension system.

2003 August - Health ministry estimates that more than 11,000 people died in a severe heatwave in the first part of the month. Temperatures in Paris soared above 40C. Most of the victims were elderly.

2004 January - Alain Juppe, leader of President Chirac's UMP party and a former French premier, convicted of involvement in corrupt party funding arrangements. He appeals.

2004 February - National Assembly backs controversial bill banning overtly religious symbols in state schools, including the Islamic headscarf, Jewish skullcap, Sikh turban and large crucifixes.

2004 March - President Chirac's UMP routed in regional elections. Prime Minister Raffarin resigns but is reappointed almost immediately.

2004 May - Several people killed as roof collapses at Charles De Gaulle airport terminal building in Paris.