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FRENCH TOURISM, TRADE, INDUSTRY

"France is one of the most highly industrialised countries in the world with high levels of technological capabilities and a large and diverse industrial base"

TOURISM

With at least 75 million foreign tourists per year, France is the most visited country in the world. It receives the third largest income in the world from tourism making it a significant contributor to the French economy. Tourists are drawn to France because of the cities of high cultural interest (particularly Paris), the many beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). France also attracts many religious pilgrims to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées département, that receives a few million tourists a year.

Trade
France is the second-largest trading nation in Western Europe (after Germany) with the total French trade of goods and services being $1.421 trillion in 2007. The two principal ports in France are Marseille and its annexes on the Mediterranean, and Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine on the English Channel. Most trade is conducted with other members of the European Union which are the destination of 70% of France’s exports.

Exports include cereals, wine, cheese, beef, pork, poultry, and other agricultural products to the rest of Europe and the world. Also exported are machinery, automobiles, aircraft and aircraft components, plastics, chemicals, electronic components, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, textiles, cosmetics, clothing and perfume.

INDUSTRY

France is one of the most highly industrialised countries in the world with high levels of technological capabilities and a large and diverse industrial base. Approximately 40% of the workforce is employed in the industrial sector while about half of the GNP comes from the same sector. Leading industrial sectors in France include telecommunications (including communication satellites), aerospace and defence, ship building (naval and specialist ships), pharmaceuticals, construction and civil engineering, chemicals, and automobile production.

France has an important aerospace industry led by the European consortium Airbus and is the only European power (excluding Russia) to have its own national spaceport (Centre Spatial Guyanais).

The leading manufacturing industries in France are metallurgy, mechanical and electrical engineering, chemicals, and textiles. France is one of Europe's leading producers of steel and aluminium. These and imported metals are fabricated into a wide range of mechanical and electrical equipment marketed throughout the world. French locomotives, turbines, electronics equipment, nuclear power plants and submarines, and television systems are famous for their innovative design, as are French automobiles, such as Citroën, Peugeot, and Renault, and French aircraft, such as Mirage, Concorde, and Airbus.

France is the most energy independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world.

A wide range of chemicals, including perfumes, pharmaceuticals, nitric acid, sulfuric acid and fertilizers are also produced. The French textile and garment industry has long been known for its high fashion, although in recent years the industry has lost many former markets to lower-priced imports from countries with lower labour costs.

France is also the most energy independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. France is the world's second-largest supplier of nuclear power after the United States. Hydroelectric plants operate on the Isère, Durance, Rhine, Rhône, and Dordogne rivers. A tidal power plant is located on the Rance River in Brittany. As a result of large investment in nuclear technology, almost 90% of the energy needs of the country are met by nuclear power plants.

Despite France’s highly industrialised economy and world renowned universities, France has comparatively fewer large multinational corporations than other countries of similar size and resources. Many French business enterprises are small to moderate in size, although the competitive business climate created by membership in the EU has forced many companies to be restructured and combined to form powerful corporations.

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