The attractive France

· It is nonetheless in France that the city of the cities, Paris, is situated

· The European Disneyland

· 7 national parks

· 136 nature reserves

· 429 protected coastal areas

· 37 regional nature parks, together covering more than 7 % of France

· Restaurants with fresh meals

· Healthy and gentle climate, without the extreme hot temperatures like in Spain and Turkey

· Big forest- and mountain areas

· A kind nation

· Well educated physicians and dentists

· Well functioning state system

Geography

France lies in the south-western part of Europe ranging from the Mediterranean to the North See and from the Rhine to the Atlantic. To the north France borders to Belgium and Germany, to the south to Spain and the Mediterranean, to the East to Switzerland, Monaco and Italy and to the west it borders to the Atlantic, the Biscayan Bay and the English Canal.

The republic of France has an area of 551.670 sq. km. and has a coastline on approx. 3.500 km. The republic consists of the mother country in Europe and some overseas departments in Northern America, the Caribbean, South America, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and in Antarctica.

The name France means Land of the Franks. France is more than 12 times as big as Denmark.

France contains many various types of landscapes ranging from the coastal plains up north by the Atlantic and the North See to the gigantic mountain range the Pyrenees in the south and the Alps to the south-east with the highest top in the country, Mont Blanc (4807 m). Inland other mountain ranges are found such as the Massif Central, the Voges and the Jura.

France is also the biggest country in Western Europe and forms a fifth part of the total area of EU together with an extended sea area at its disposal, which is an exclusive economic area covering 11 million square kilometres.

France has a population of 62 million people (2004).

Population density: 111 people per sq. km.

· France (divided in 22 regions and 96 departments)

· 4 overseas departments: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana, Reunion

· 5 overseas territories: French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Fortuna, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Mayotte, Australian and Antarctic territories.

Larger cities in France

France has 57 urban areas with more than 100.000 inhabitants. The 5 biggest cities are: (population in 2001)

Paris with approx. 11,2 million inhabitants is the capital of France.

Lyon is second with a population of 1,7 million people.

Marseille has approx. 1,5 million inhabitants.

Lille has approx. 1,2 million people.

Toulouse has approx. 1 million inhabitants.

Mountains

Largest mountain range: the Alps (highest point is Mont Blanc (4807 m) and it’s also the highest point in Western Europe), Pyrenees, the Jura, the Ardennes, the Plateau of Auvergne and the Voges.

Mont Blanc, the Alps, 4807 m

Mont Ventoux, the Pyrenees, 1912 m

Puy de Sancy, Massif Central, 1886 m

Crêt de la Neige, the Jura, 1720 m

Grand Balon, the Voges, 1421 m

Language

The majority of the population in France has French as their mother tongue, and it is also the official language in the country. Some of the more significant regional languages are Occitan, Corsican, Breton, Catalan, Basque, Dutch and Alsace.

Currency unit:

1 Euro = 7,46 DKK

The French kitchen

French cooking is so varied it can only be compared with the Chinese or Peruvian kitchen.

Traditionally each region in France has its own characteristic cooking: In the north-east you normally use butter, crème fraiche and apples; in Provence you use olive oil, herbs and tomatoes; in the south-west you use duck fat, foie gras and Carl Johan-mushrooms and in the north-east of France the food is a bit similar to German food with fat, sausages, beer and sauerkraut. There are several other traditional kitchens than these regional ones such as the local kitchens in the Loire Valley with their freshwater fishes and white wines and the Basque-kitchen with its good use of tomatoes and chilli. Nowadays the regional differences in the kitchens have become smaller because of growing number of emigrations from the regions among other things. However the local French kitchen is beginning to make a comeback.

The foreign opinion of the French kitchen originates from the delicious food in Paris served in fine restaurant to astronomical prices. This tradition for cooking is inspired by Northern France but with much more sophistication. However typical French cooking doesn’t have much in common with this kind of food.

Wine and cheese are two very important ingredients in the French kitchen. France is also known for its many wines and cheeses.

Exotic cooking such as Chinese and North African is beginning to have an impact on the modern French cooking.

Religion

76 % of the French population is Catholics. The second-largest religion is Islam which is practised by 5 % of the population. Approximately 2 % of the population is Protestants and 1 % is Jews.

The population consists of 92 % French people, 3 % North Africans, 2 % Germans and 3 % others nationalities.

The property market and statistics

It is not only in Denmark that the property market has been experiencing price rises. It has also happened in most of Europe including France. Up until now the prices in France has been constantly rising since 1998. The paper Nouvel Observateur has recently announced that the market in France in general over the last 7 years has risen with nearly 100 %. In popular areas such as Paris and the French Riviera the rise has been even bigger. The average residential square metre price in the first quarter of 2005 was around 5.218 Euro on Côte d’Azur (Alpes-Martimes). A freehold flat of 50 sq. m. should in relation to this cost in theory 260.000 Euro. The reported price index is however only an average price based on information from the land register on all the sales of real estate from Menton and parts of Northern Nice in Cannes. The price index is therefore not without reserve but it still gives good impression of the prices.

The economic situation

France has a complex market economy. The French economy is highly developed and is focused on high technology. It is considered to be the world’s sixth biggest economy next after USA, Japan, German, China and Great Britain.

According to WTO France was the fifth largest goods exporter in 2003 next after USA, German, Japan and China and it was the fourth largest importer next after USA, German and China.

The most important mineral resources in France are coal and ion from the Loire Valley and bauxite from the southern parts of France.

France is the second-largest producer of nuclear energy next after USA.

The growth rate in France was on 1,2 % in 2005, which was somewhat below the Governments expectations. The French economy has however improved during 2006 and the growth rate is expected to reach 2 %.

The unemployment has on 9,8 % in 2005, but it has tended to fall since spring in 2006. In relation is that the unemployment was approx. 8,4 % in the beginning of 2007, which was the lowest in 24 years.

The inflation in France was 1,5 % in 2005 which is a drop of 0,6 percentage points since 2004.

The public shortfall was on 2,9 % of GNP in 2005, which is the first time since 2002 that it has been below 3 % and in 2006 had been lowered to below 2 %. The dept amounted to 1117 billion Euro in 2005 equivalent to 66 % of the GNP compared to the 65,6 % in 2004.

 The environment

· Areas of fields and forestry cover a total area of 48 million hectare equivalent to 82 % of the French territory. The forest base alone covers 30 % and is the third largest in Europe next after Sweden and Finland.

· The forest base has increase 46 % since 1945 and is doubled within a period of 200 years.

· There are 136 different kinds of trees within the borders of France which is exceptional for a European country, and the number of mammals is rising. Within the past 20 years deer population has doubled and the roe deer population has tripled.

The Government has committed 28,8 billion Euro to protect of the environment and preserve the nature which is equivalent to 469 Euro per capita. Water purification and garbage collection account for 75 % of the total amount.

France has signed a large number of international treaties and conventions; among others the UN conventions about climate, biodiversity and drought.

The climate

France has 3 types of climate:

· Oceanic climate (west)

· Mediterranean climate (south)

· Continental climate (centre and east)

France has a temperate climate with warm summers and cold winters. The temperatures can vary significantly between the regions. The weather is normally milder in the Mediterranean areas and around 10 degrees warmer which means freezing temperatures are seldom. Except for the areas in the Alps France is spared for extreme temperatures.