France

The French Republic is located in Western Europe and borders the nations of Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Italy on the west and Spain on the south. It faces the English Channel to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea on the southeast. France covers 212,935 square miles and has a resident population of some 60 million, including 3.2 million foreigners. The population is 72 percent Catholic, 8 percent Muslim, 2 percent Protestants, 1 percent Jewish, 1 percent Buddhist, and 6 percent unaffiliated. The national language is French, although there are several regional languages as well (Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Dutch, German, and Provencal). Greater powers of selfgovernment were granted to the overseas departments of Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion in 1982; these former colonies had enjoyed departmental status since 1946, and regional status since 1974. France also encompasses the “territorial collectivities” of Mayotte, St. Pierre, and Miquelon, and the overseas territories of French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futunas.

France is a republic. The legislative branch is bifurcated: The two-house Parliament consists of a Senate, indirectly elected by an electoral college, and the National Assembly, directly elected by popular vote. The government is headed by the prime minister (Lionel Jospin, since June 1997) who is nominated by the General Assembly, and appointed by the popularly elected president (Jacques Chirac, since May 1995) who is chief of state.

France operates under the civil law tradition (as distinguished from the common law tradition). The Code Napoléon, the French civil code, enacted in 1804, was the main influence on the civil codes of many nations of continental Europe and Latin America. Criminal justice is based on inquisitorial rather than adversarial principles. The juge d'instruction is arguably the most important figure, a magistrate who has considerable powers in examining witnesses and assessing evidence.

The unified French police forces are divided into the National Police, which is responsible for urban areas with more than 10,000 people, and the Gendarmerie (military police), which covers all other areas. The French Ministry of the Interior reports that the National Police and the Gendarmerie together solved less than one-third of all crimes reported in 1999. However, over three-fourths of all homicides and rapes were reported cleared. The courts, prisons, and juvenile institutions are also unified and centralized.