National Holiday(s): include date & event/celebration
Fete de la Federation, 14 July (1790); note - although often incorrectly referred to as Bastille Day, the celebration actually commemorates the holiday held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille (on 14 July 1789) and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy
Description of Executive Branch/Powers
Chief of state
Head of government
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president at the suggestion of the prime minister
Description of Legislative Branch/Powers
bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of the Senate or Senat (348 seats - 328 for metropolitan France and overseas departments and regions of Guadeloupe, Martinque, French Guiana, Reunion, and Mayotte, 2 for New Caledonia, 2 for French Polynesia, 1 for Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, 1 for Saint-Barthelemy, 1 for Saint-Martin, 1 for Wallis and Futuna, and 12 for French nationals abroad; members indirectly elected by departmental electoral colleges using absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed for departments with 1-3 members and proportional representation vote in departments with 4 or more members; members serve 6-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 3 years) and the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (577 seats - 556 for metropolitan France, 10 for overseas departments, and 11 for citizens abroad; members directly elected by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed to serve 5-year terms)
Description of Judicial Branch/Powers
highest court(s): Court of Cassation or Cour de Cassation (consists of the court president, 6 divisional presiding judges, 120 trial judges, and 70 deputy judges organized into 6 divisions - 3 civil, 1 commercial, 1 labor, and 1 criminal); Constitutional Council (consists of 9 members) judge selection and term of office: Court of Cassation judges appointed by the president of the republic from nominations from the High Council of the Judiciary, presided by the Court of Cassation and 15 appointed members; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Council members appointed - 3 by the president of the republic and 3 each by the National Assembly and Senate presidents; members serve 9-year, non-renewable terms with one third of the membership renewed every 3 years subordinate courts: appellate courts or Cour d'Appel; regional courts or Tribunal de Grande Instance; first instance courts or Tribunal d'instance
Suffrage (who is allowed to vote)
18 years of age; universal
Name of THEIR Ambassador to the U.S.
Ambassador Gerard ARAUD
Location of THEIR embassy in the U.S.
4101 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007
Location(s) of THEIR consulate(s) in the U.S. (just the name/s of city/ies is fine)
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC
Name of U.S. Ambassador to THEM
Ambassador Jane D. HARTLEY
Location of U.S. embassy THERE
2 Avenue Gabriel, 75382 Paris Cedex 08
Location(s) of U.S. consulate(s) THERE (just the name/s of city/ies is fine)
Marseille, Strasbourg
Name of THEIR representative to UN
Francois Delattre
Video or audio (from YouTube??) of their national anthem being played
"La Marseillaise" (The Song of Marseille)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g
National Symbol(s)
Gallic rooster, fleur-de-lis, Marianne (female personification); national colors: blue, white, red
Descriptions of International Disputes
Madagascar claims the French territories of Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; France asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew and Hunter Islands, east of New Caledonia
Quantity of refugees inside country AND country(ies) of origin of refugees
24,220 (Sri Lanka); 14,195 (Russia); 14,182 (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 12,500 (Serbia and Kosovo); 11,824 (Cambodia); 10,652 (Turkey); 8,132 (Vietnam); 6,944 (Laos); 6,005 (Guinea); 5,179 (Syria); 5,006 (Mauritania) (2015)
Quantity of Internally Displaced Persons
No data available
Quantity of Stateless Persons
1,326
Description of current human trafficking issues related to this country
The Government of France estimates that the majority of the 18,000 women in France's commercial sex trade are likely forced into prostitution.
Description of Illicit Drug trafficking/use
metropolitan France: transshipment point for South American cocaine, Southwest Asian heroin, and European synthetics French Guiana: small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe Martinique: transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe
Chief of State (official public face of government)
Emmanuel Macron
Head of Government (actual leader of government)
Bernard Cazeneuve
three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red; known as the "Le drapeau tricolore" (French Tricolor), the origin of the flag dates to 1790 and the French Revolution when the "ancient French color" of white was combined with the blue and red colors of the Parisian militia; the official flag for all French dependent areas