Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: France
| Location: | Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain,0 |
| Climate: | generally cool winters and mild summers, but mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral |
| Terrain: | mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east |
| Size: | 547030 sq. km total (Land area: 545630 sq. km Water area: 1400 sq.km) |
| Population: | 60,876,136 in metropolitan France (July 2008 est.) |
| Languages: | French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) |
| Government: | republic |
| Capital city: | Paris |
| Legal system: | civil law system with indigenous concepts; review of administrative but not legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Currency: | euro (EUR) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
In 2004, France consumed 11.2 quadrillion Btu of total energy. Nuclear energy was the largest share, representing 39 percent, followed by oil (36 percent), natural gas (16 percent) and hydroelectricity (5 percent). France is the second-largest producer of nuclear power in the world, after the United States, however, nuclear energy is a much larger share of France’s total energy consumption than the United States (8 percent in 2004).
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | 73,180 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 1 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 47 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: | 474,200 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 863 million cu m (2004 est.) |
| Imports: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 47 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Reserves: | 158 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 341 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Major fields: |
France - recent news
| 27 Jan 26 |
France: TotalEnergies to supply 800 GWh of renewable electricity to paper manufacturer SWM over 10 years TotalEnergies and SWM, a major player in the paper industry, announce the signing of a contract for the supply of renewable electricity with a constant delivery profile (Clean Firm Power) to SWM’s three plants in France. |
| 21 Jan 26 |
France: VSB France brings 32.4 MW of wind capacity online With the commissioning of the Eoliennes de Tortebesse wind farm in the French département of Puy-de-Dôme, VSB France has reached an important milestone in the further expansion of onshore wind energy in Europe. |
| 07 Jan 26 |
Nordex obtains orders for 414 MW in France, Belgium and Portugal At the end of the year 2025, the Nordex Group secured further significant orders for 15 wind energy projects in France, Belgium and Portugal. These projects represent with 78 turbines a total capacity of more than 414 MW. |
| 09 Dec 25 |
Nordex Group receives orders for 102 MW in France and Belgium The Nordex Group has won new contracts in France and Belgium, covering the delivery and installation of 28 wind turbines for seven wind farms. |
| 25 Nov 25 |
France: TotalEnergies demobilizes its floating LNG terminal in Le Havre In 2022, when Europe faced a major energy crisis due to a sharp decline in gas imports from Russia, TotalEnergies provided France, at its own expense and without any public subsidies, with a LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the port of Le Havre. Now that gas supply conditions in France and Europe have stabilized, TotalEnergies has decided to demobilize its LNG FSRU in Le Havre. |
France - more news
Other countries in this region
- Afghanistan,
- Albania,
- Armenia,
- Austria,
- Azerbaijan,
- Belarus,
- Belgium,
- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Bulgaria,
- Croatia,
- Cyprus,
- Czech Republic,
- Denmark,
- Estonia,
- Faroe Islands,
- Finland,
- Georgia,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Greenland,
- Hungary,
- Iceland,
- Ireland,
- Italy,
- Kazakhstan,
- Kyrgyzstan,
- Latvia,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Malta,
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- Netherlands,
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- Slovenia,
- Spain,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- Tajikistan,
- Tatarstan,
- Turkey,
- Turkmenistan,
- Ukraine,
- United Kingdom,
- Uzbekistan
