Country Profile of France Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Country Profile of France - Article Example In 1999, France made the euro its official currency, and this has allowed France to further integrate itself into the core of the European economy. France is also playing a central role in the development of the European Union’s military (cia.gov). The seat of the French Revolution, which is the source of much of the thoughts and writing on democracy, France is now currently a republic, and it has had a mixture of a presidential and parliamentary administration since legislation was passed in 1958. The current president is Nikolas Sarkozy, and he won the election with 51% of the vote. Sarkozy is serving a five-year term as president of France. In 2000 the French constitution was amended in order to change the term of the presidency from seven years to five years (cia.gov) In size, France is slightly smaller in area than the state of Texas with 260,558 square mileage. This figure includes all of its territories overseas and including its claim in Antarctica. This makes it the largest European nation, just slightly ahead of Spain in total size (cia.gov) France has always been central to scientific development. For example, France was home to Marie and Pierre Curie who are famous for their theories and work on radioactivity. In more recent scientific efforts, France is among the leaders in various fields, including mathematics, astrophysics, biology, medicine, genetics, and physics. To put this in perspective, it should be mentioned that French scientists have been awarded a total of twenty-six Nobel prizes over the past ninety years (francethisway.com) There are many research institutions throughout France. Some of these include the National Centre for Scientific Research, the National Institute for Health and Medical Research, and the National Institute for Agronomical Research. The institutions are public research institutions.