France is one of the 27 member States of the European Union. This means it enjoys the four fundamental freedoms within the European market: freedom of movement for people, money, services and goods. France is located in Western Europe, a developed area with all the necessary infrastructures for the circulation of goods and people (by road, railway, air and sea transport). It also enjoys a very good network for telecommunication, high speed Internet. All these elements have a positive effect on the French economy.
France is a country located in Western Europe (north hemisphere), with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. In this study, we focus on metropolitan France.
Number of inhabitants: 64,350,759 people (on 1st January 2009).
Three types of climate may be found within France: oceanic, continental, and Mediterranean.
The oceanic climate prevails in the western parts of the country. It is characterized by small temperature range, ample rainfall, cool summers, and cool but seldom very cold winters. The continental climate, found over much of eastern and central France, is one of warmer summers and colder winters than areas farther west; rainfall is ample, and winters tend to be snowy, especially in the higher areas.
[...] Higher education (quality, levels of development, etc.) Higher education in France is divided between public universities and “grandes ecoles”. Most are engineering schools or business schools. “Grandes ecoles” literally means "great schools", "elite schools". They are considered more prestigious than universities and they are very selective in regards to the admission of students (there's no selection for university). They are close to the labor market, and contrary to students graduated from university, students graduated from “grandes ecoles” have (almost) no problem in securing employment. [...]
[...] Nowadays, France is in good terms with the bulk of its European neighbors. - In May 1968, massive confrontations between police, students and workers brought on a general strike. The claims helped the country to shift towards a more liberal moral ideal (equality, sexual liberation, human rights) that today better describes French society. Until the 20th century, France was a country with conservative Catholic mores, but since then, the population has largely become more secular. - 2000: settlement of the 35-hour working week (more free time). [...]
[...] Besides, France has a very complex and elaborate Labor code (about 3,000 pages) Participation in patents, trademarks, and other conventions The (National Institute for Industrial Property) makes propositions to the government for the enhancement of the legislative, regulation and administrative system in the struggle against counterfeiting. It has notably participated to the writing of the 29th October 2007 new anti- counterfeiting law, which transposes a European directive of 29th April 2004, pertaining to the respect of the rights of Intellectual Property, by notably increasing the severity of penalties for counterfeiters. [...]
[...] The number of in 2008 was of 147,000. The average age of the couple celebrating their first wedding has gradually increased. Reasons: the integration of young people in professional life is becoming increasingly harder, with the rise in precariousness in unemployment. This situation hardly incites anyone to the official constitution of a household. Concerning courtship, men as well as women pick up each other/take the first step. Female/male roles (changing or static?) The division of household work among men and women varies according to the households of women declare to contribute as much as their spouse a little bit more and 48% a lot more. [...]
[...] But in France we can find food from other cultures, like Couscous (from Maghreb), Chinese food, Japanese food, Thai food etc, and of course “American” products such as hamburgers (McDonald's, etc). They appreciate light products and frozen ready-to-cook meals to save time. 2.Foods available Almost all types of food are available in supermarkets or restaurants. Local food : bread, potatoes, vegetables, meat (most common: beef, poultry, sheep, seafood (fish, shellfish, etc), milk, cheese, oils, sugar, coffee, tea. “Exotic in the supermarkets or restaurants you can find a lot of choice of worldcuisine (for example, Asian, Mexican, Indian as well as exotic items including pineapple, waterfruit, mango, spices, dates, meats (kangaroo, ostrich) etc). [...]
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