the french republic euro info centre country profile december 2005 france s full name république française capital city paris 11 5 million population 60 7 there are teutonic slavic north african indochinese and basque minorities official language currency since january 2002 religion roman catholic 83 88 protestant 2 jewish 1 muslim 10 unaffiliated 4 area 550 000 sq km 193 051 square miles terrain mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in west remainder is mountainous especially pyrenees south alps east climate generally cool winters mild summers but hot along mediterranean annual rainfall 25 inches administrative divisions metropolitan divided into 22 regions 96 districts départements 36 local community councils communes also has four overseas d outre mer dom five territorial communities collectivités weights measures metric time zone gmt plus one hour from late march to october a daylight saving scheme operation which two hours international dialling code 00 33 government political
