France

France is a western European country of 65,500,000 people and 212,814 square miles (640,053 square kilometers), including territories in the Caribbean [Page 555]Sea (French Guiana, Guadalupe, and Martinique), the Pacific Ocean (New Caledonia, French Polynesia), and the southern Indian Ocean (Reunion and Mayotte). Paris is the country’s capital, principal city, and economic and cultural center. France is the world’s fifth largest economy with a 2009 nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $2,635,000,000. Its defense budget takes up 2.3% of the GDP, which makes it the third largest in the world and represents 4.2% of global military spending. France is one of the strongest military powers in the world, though it lags far behind the United States, which spends 43% of all global spending. French forces ...