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Chosen category: Top 10 facts about GEOs

Top 10 facts about France

18.02.2021

693

CONTENTS:

1. Geography and population in France
2. Official language in France
3. Currency in France
4. Internet in France
5. Economic development in France
6. Job in France
7. Working days and holidays in France
8. The mentality of French people
9. Advertising in France
10. Cryptocurrency in France

1. Geography and population in France

General information about France

Capital: Paris
Area: 640,000 km2
International Direct Dial Code: +33
Top-level domain/ TLD: .fr
Population: 67,500,000

France is the largest state in Western Europe. It borders in the northeast with Belgium and Luxembourg, in the east - with Germany, Switzerland and Italy, in the south - with Spain.
France has the record number of time zones. Despite the fact that the country's territory located in one zone, if we take into account all the overseas departments and other territories, it turns out that France has 12 time zones.

Paris is the capital of France, the most beautiful and elegant city in the world, a symbol of love and romance, fashion and sophistication.

The age structure of the population of France is shared as follows:

- 24.6% under the age of 20
- 57.4% between the ages of 20 and 64
- 18% over the age of 65

The gender composition of the population of France as of January 1, 2015 was shared as follows:

- 34,110,000 women (51.45%);
- 32,190,000 men (48.55%).

The structure of the economically active population of France: men – 16,312 (53.5%); women – 14,188 (46.5%). At the same time, only 42.2% of the economically active population is in the most able-bodied ages (20-60 years old), moreover, about 43% of this group are people from 40 years old and older.
The vast majority of the economically active population of France is employed in the service sector. About 71.5% of the French are employed here. The industrial sector (including transport and communications) employs 24.4% of the economically active population of France, and agriculture - only 4.1%.

2. Official language in France

One of the most multinational countries of the Old World, France has become home to dozens of nationalities. You can hear Spanish and Arabic, Portuguese and Italian, Berber and Polish on the streets of Paris, Marseille and Lille. Although only French was and remains the official state language of France.

Some statistics and facts
  • There are about 75 languages and dialects in use in the country, of which 24 are the languages of the local population, and the rest were brought to the territory of France by immigrants.
  • The government recognizes regional and few languages, despite their lack of official status.
  • The authorities require commercial advertisements in the country to be available in French. In non-commercial publications, the rules are not so strict.
  • At least 85% of the country's population consider French as their native language, spoken by their parents.
  • 2% of respondents speak German and Arabic at home.

3. Currency in France

The official currency in France since 2002 is the Euro. €1* ≈ $1.2 *1 EUR - Euro (at the exchange rate for January 2021)

4. Internet in France

Popular social networks among the French people

1. Facebook is the most popular social network in the country. The French use it in the same way as in other countries of the world. They post photos, share their news and thoughts, communicate with each other in messenger.
2. SkyRock is a French social network that has been operating since 2002 and is one of the 10 most popular social networks in the world. The network has over 2 million users. It’s originally remind our Live Journal, now it is a mix of LJ and Instagram.
3. Instagram.
4. Well, Telegram completes the list. The most popular messaging service. Even Macron uses Telegram to communicate with officials and with a circle of close people.

The spread of smartphones and the Internet

Almost 84% of French people have internet access at home. This is much higher than the world average. At the same time, there are more “digital outsiders” in France than in the UK or Germany. 61% of the French population has smartphones with internet access. Android is the most popular mobile operating system.

Online shopping

E-commerce in France is growing rapidly - at 11% per year. The e-commerce market, estimated at nearly $57 billion. It is the 3rd largest in Europe. This makes France a good place to develop e-commerce. A fifth part of online purchases are made by using a mobile phone. Pickup of purchased online goods is especially popular. Thus, 26% of all purchases in France are made with Internet.

Online payments

72% of all online purchases are paid by credit or debit card. This is higher than in any other Western European country. Electronic wallets account takes 16% of the market. At the same time, the most popular provider is PayPal, but alternative services - Visa Checkout and French PayLib - are encroaching on it. However, this does not mean that building a business in the local e-wallet market is easy. In early 2017, French bank Crédit Agricole refused Kwixo e-wallet, which had been operating since July 2011.

5. Economic development in France

The French Republic is a highly developed state, a space and nuclear power. It is dominated by the economic system, which is commonly called statist. This means that the high level of economic development in France is achieved thanks to the public sector.

French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said that France could achieve a significant economic recovery in 2021 with GDP growth of 6%, provided a successful vaccination campaign.

Distribution of financial services

Expanding access to financial services has been on France's political agenda for over 30 years. In 1984, the country passed new banking legislation giving every citizen the right to at least a basic bank account. As a result, last year only 3% of the French did not have a bank account.

The prevalence of credit cards is 44% - higher than the world average, but lower than in the region. France, like any other country in Europe, has a highly developed market for credit and debit cards. Moreover, most often, both functions are combined in one card.

6. Job in France

Average wages range up to €2,500 after taxes, without taxes - €3,000.

Average salary by profession per month

Teacher €1,400
Accountant - €3,500
Policeman - €6,000
Electrician - €2,000
Lawyer - €2,000

Average salary by region per month

Paris - €2,389
Toulouse - €2,037
Nice - €2,022
Lyon - €1,938
Marseille - €1,900

7. Working days and holidays in France

In 2000 for companies with more than 20 employees and, in 2002, for companies with 20 or fewer employees was introduced a law to reduce the official working week in France from 39 hours to 35 hours. Research by the Office for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that France is below the OECD average when it comes to hours worked, and therefore French employees have more leisure time on average. Approximately 15 hours per day are devoted to personal care and recreation (food, sleep, etc.).

  • January 1 - New Year
  • May 1 – Labor Day
  • May 8 - Victory Day
  • July 14 - Bastille Day
  • August 15 - Assumption Day
  • November 1 - All Saints Day
  • November 11 - Armistice Day
  • December 25 – Christmas
  • December 26 - Boxing Day (only in Moselle, Lower Rhine and Upper Rhine)

Floating public holidays in France

Good Friday (Easter Friday) and Easter Monday usually fall between March and April.

- Ascension (40 days after Easter Sunday, always Thursday - May time);

- Pentecost/ White Sunday (7th Sunday after Easter - May time);

- The Monday following Pentacost - Pentecost Monday (May time also).

There is a holiday almost every week in May, so you need to check in advance.

Shops are closed on Sundays.

Sunday for the French is a family day, when they prefer to relax: go out of town, ride bicycles, etc. The fact is that in France almost all shops are closed on Sundays. It’s better to stock up on everything you need on Friday or Saturday.

8. The mentality of French people

The main feature of the French is their slight pretense. They smile constantly, even if they are annoyed or displeased with you. However, this quality cannot be called bad, moreover, the French are quite friendly in public. They are very polite people, here even after an accident they often do not call traffic inspectors and solve the problem very quietly and calmly.

98% of French people were satisfied with online purchases in the end of 2020 (stable compared to last year). We even note that the share of people who are very satisfied with their online shopping increased by 4 points, from 48% to 52%.

9. Advertising in France

France is a special country: romance, aesthetics, art, refined taste - all this is characteristic of French advertising. And while most advertisers in the United States started out as copywriters, here the majority of the creative industry is artists. This is probably why advertising in France is laconic, but instead colorful, filled with images. French advertising is one of those, which is a pleasure to see.

10. Cryptocurrency in France

Cryptocurrency regulation in 2021 in France is distinguished by a very humane legislation in relation to digital assets. Legal business with them in the country is flourishing. Companies that want to engage in cryptocurrencies (custodian services, crypto exchanges, etc.) must undergo registration and certification with AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers, French Financial Markets Authority).

Please note:
  • In April 2019 the limit on the amount of investments in digital assets for insurance companies has been removed.
  • Tax levy from traders when converting to fiat money.
  • VAT will be charged for settlements with digital assets.
  • It is expected that by the beginning of 2021 more than 25,000 companies will accept bitcoins.
  • Bitcoins can be purchased almost anywhere, even at tobacco kiosks.
  • The attitude towards anonymous coins (Monero, Dash, Zcash) and projects developed on their basis (Libra, Gram) in the jurisdiction is sharply negative. It is assumed that they will be completely banned.
  • Blockchain technologies are widely used in the country, including at the government level.
  • In December 2019, an ICO was approved for the first time in France.
  • It is expected that in the first quarter of 2021, large-scale testing by the central bank of its own token will begin.

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