LYCOS RETRIEVER 
France: Western Europe
built 617 days ago
More than half of France's trade is with other European Union members. Japan, the United States, and China are ... important trading partners. Leading exports are machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, agricultural products, iron and steel products, textiles, and clothing. Leading imports are crude oil, machinery and equipment, agricultural products, chemicals, and iron and steel products. Nuclear energy furnishes 75% of all electricity produced in France. The chief ports are Rouen, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Brest, Saint-Nazaire, Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulon, Dunkirk, and Marseilles.
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The Carolingians ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of France. His descendants, the Direct Capetians, the House of Valois and the House of Bourbon, progressively unified the country through a series of wars and dynastic inheritance. The monarchy reached its height during the 17th century and the reign of Louis XIV. At this time France possessed the largest population in Europe (see Demographics of France) and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. French became, and remained for some time, the common language of diplomacy in International affairs. Much of the Enlightenment occurred in French intellectual circles, and major scientific breakthroughs were achieved by French scientists in the 18th century.
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Air France today operates 1,700 daily flights with a fleet of 378 aircraft, including a regional fleet of 122 aircraft. Air France and KLM together gave birth to Europe's leading air transport group in May 2004. Both airlines now offer their customers a combined network, which includes a total of 236 destinations in 109 countries. Air France is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with worldwide destinations, flights and services. Air France was founded in 1933. Please visit Air France on the Web at http://www.airfrance.com/corporate.
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France plays an influential global role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the G-8, the EU, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the WTO, la Francophonie and other multilateral institutions. Among NATO members, France is second only to the United States in terms of troops deployed abroad. The French will take over the rotating EU presidency from July-December 2008 and plan to focus on immigration, energy, the environment, and European defense during their term.
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France is divided into 26 administrative regions. 22 are in metropolitan France (21 are on the continental part of metropolitan France; one is the territorial collectivity of Corsica), and four are overseas regions. The regions are further subdivided into 100 departments which are numbered (mainly alphabetically). This number is used in postal codes and vehicle number plates amongst others. Four of these departments are found in the overseas regions and are simultaneously overseas regions and overseas departments and are an integral part of France (and the European Union) and ... enjoy a status similar to metropolitan departments. The 100 departments are subdivided into 341 arrondissements which are, in turn, subdivided into 4,032 cantons.
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The economy of France is large, diverse, and one of the most highly developed in the European Union (EU). It is a leading manufacturing nation, producing goods such as automobiles, electrical equipment, machine tools, and chemicals. France is the EU’s most important agricultural nation—shipping cereals, wine, cheese, and other agricultural products to the rest of Europe and the world. In recent decades service industries, including banking, retail and wholesale trade, communications, health care, and tourism, have come to dominate the French economy.
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