Demographics of France

Historic overview

Starting around 1800, the historical evolution of the population in France has been extremely atypical in the Western World. Unlike the rest of Europe, France did not experience a strong population growth in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The birth rate in France diminished much earlier than in the rest of Europe. Consequently, population growth was quite slow in the 19th century, and the nadir was reached in the first half of the 20th century when France, surrounded by the rapidly growing populations of Germany and the United Kingdom, experienced virtually zero growth. This, and the bloody losses in France's population due to the First World War, may explain the sudden collapse of France in 1940 during the Second World War. France was often perceived as a country irremediably on the decline. At the time, theories based on races were quite popular, and the dramatic demographic decline of France was often attributed (particularly in Nazi Germany, and also in some conservative circles in England and elsewhere) to the genetic characteristics of the French "race", a race destined to fail in the face of the Germanic and Anglo-Saxon races. These racial theories were ironicaly proven wrong right when they were offered, as the population of French descent living in French Canada was in those days experiencing the fastest population growth that was ever achieved by any Caucasian people around the world (not even Russia in its wildest population growth of the 19th century).

To better understand the demographic decline of France, it should be noted that France was historically the largest nation of Europe. During the 17th century one fifth of Europe’s population was French. Between 1815 and 2000, if the population of France had grown at the same rate as the population of Germany during the same time period, France's population would be 110 million today. If it had grown at the same rate as England and Wales, France's population would be 150 million today. And if we start the comparison at the time of King Louis XIV (the Sun King), then France would have the same population as the United States! This helps understand why France was so overwhelming in Europe at the time of Louis XIV or Napoleon, and it shows how much of a demographic decline the country experienced after 1800.

After 1945 however, France suddenly underwent a demographic recovery that no one could have foreseen. It is a fact that in the 1930s the French government, alarmed by the decline of France's population, had passed laws to boost the birth rate, giving state benefits to families with children. Nonetheless, no one can quite satisfactorily explain this sudden and unexpected recovery in the demography of France, which was often portrayed as a "miracle" inside France. This demographic recovery was again atypical in the Western World, in the sense that although the rest of the Western World experienced a baby-boom immediately after the war, the baby boom in France was much stronger, and above all it lasted longer than in the other countries of the Western World. In the 1950s and 1960s France enjoyed a population growth of 1% a year, which is the highest growth in the history of France, not even matched in the best periods of the 18th or 19th centuries!

After 1975, France's population growth has significantly diminished, being more in tune with the rest of Europe, but it still remains slightly faster than in the rest of Europe, and much faster than in the end of the 19th century or the first half of the 20th century. At the turn of the millennium, population growth in France is the fastest of Europe, matched only by Ireland and the Netherlands. However, it is significantly slower than in North America, where population trends have diverged from Europe after the 1970s.

The ranking below will help understand the past, present, and future weight of France's population in Europe and in the world:
(historical populations are counted in the 2004 borders)

• until 1795 metropolitan France was the most populous country of Europe, above even Russia, and the third most populous country in the world, behind only China and India
  
• between 1795 and 1866, metropolitan France was the second most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, and the fourth most populous country in the world, behind China, India, and Russia
• between 1866 and 1911, metropolitan France was the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and Germany
  
• between 1911 and 1931, metropolitan France was the fourth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom
• between 1931 and 1991, metropolitan France was the fifth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy
  
• between 1991 and 1997, metropolitan France recovered its rank as the fourth most populous country of Europe, behind Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom
• since 1997, metropolitan France has recovered its rank as the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and Germany. Worldwide, France's ranking has fallen to twentieth most populous country.
  
• if current demographic trends continue (i.e. declining population in Germany, and slightly rising population in France), around 2050 metropolitan France could become again the second most populous country of Europe behind Russia

Figures and age structure

Population: 59,329,691 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,719,502; female 5,448,608)
15-64 years: 65% (male 19,345,269; female 19,322,902)
65 years and over: 16% (male 3,849,783; female 5,643,627) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.38% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 12.27 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

France's birth rate was among the highest in Europe from 1945 until the late 1960s. Since then, its birth rate has fallen but remains higher than that of most other west European countries.

Death rate: 9.14 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.76 years
male: 74.85 years
female: 82.89 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.75 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women)
adjective: French

Immigration

Net migration rate: 0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Traditionally, France has had a high level of immigration. More than 1 million Muslims immigrated in the 1960s and early 1970s from North Africa, especially Algeria. At the end of 1994, there were about 5 million persons of Muslim descent living in France.

Ethnic groups

Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese, Basque minorities

Languages

Main articles: French language, Languages of France

French (only official language), Occitan, Alsatian (German), Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, West Flemish (Dutch).

The French language derives from the vernacular Latin spoken by the Romans in Gaul, although it includes many Celtic and Germanic words. French has been an international language for centuries and is a common second language throughout the world. It is one of five official languages at the United Nations. In Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the West Indies, French has been a unifying factor, particularly in those countries where it serves as the only common language among a variety of indigenous languages and dialects.

Education

Main article: Education in France

Education is free, beginning at age 2, and mandatory between ages 6 and 16. The public education system is highly centralized. Private primary and secondary education is primarily Roman Catholic. Higher education in France began with the founding of the University of Paris in 1150. It now consists of 69 universities and special schools, such as the List of fifteen largest French metropolitan areas by population