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• Population: 
58,109,160 (1998 est.) 
 
• Age structure: 
 
0-14 years: 
19% (female 5,438,447; male 5,700,143) 
 
15-64 years: 
65% (female 18,889,771; male 19,001,536) 
 
65 years and over: 
16% (female 5,433,276; male 3,645,987) (1997 est.) 
 
• Population growth rate: 
0.5% (1998 est.) 
 
• Birth rate: 
13 births/1,000 population (1997 est.) 
 
• Death rate: 
9.29 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.) 
 
• Net migration rate: 
0.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.) 
 
• Infant mortality rate: 
6.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.) 
 
• Life expectancy at birth: 
 
total population: 
78.37 years 
 
male: 
74.5 years 
 
female: 
82.44 years (1997 est.) 
 
• Total fertility rate: 
1.8 children born/woman (1997 est.) 
 
• Nationality: 
 
noun: 
Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women) 
 
adjective: 
French 
 
• Ethnic divisions: 
Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities 
 
• Religions: 
Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North African workers) 1%, unaffiliated 6% 
 
• Languages: 
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) 
 
• Literacy: 
age 15 and over can read and write  
 
total population: 
99% 
 
• Labor force: 
24.17 million 
 
by occupation: 
services 61.5%, industry 31.3%, agriculture 7.2% (1997) 
 
• Women in the Labor Force:

35% (1997) 
 
• Refugee Information:
 
From the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)