Part 256

Waterways: 14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

Pipelines: crude oil 3,059 km; petroleum products 4,487 km; natural gas 24,746 km

Ports: Bordeaux, Boulogne, Cherbourg, Dijon, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Lyon, Marseille, Mullhouse, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Saint Nazaire, Saint Malo, Strasbourg

Merchant marine: total: 55 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,203,086 GRT/1,779,263 DWT ships by type: bulk 6, cargo 5, chemical tanker 5, container 7, liquefied gas tanker 3, oil tanker 16, passenger 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 5, specialized tanker 1 note: France also maintains a captive register for French-owned ships in the Kerguelen Islands (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) (1995 est.)

Airports: total: 460 with paved runways over 3 047 m: 13 with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 26 with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 91 with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 73 with paved runways under 914 m: 179 with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 3 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 75 (1995 est.) note: includes Corsica

Heliports: 3 (1995 est.)

Communications --------------

Telephones: 35 million (1987 est.)

Telephone system: highly developed domestic: extensive cable and microwave radio relay; extensive introduction of fiber-optic cable; domestic satellite system international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (with total of 5 antennas - 2 for Indian Ocean and 3 for Atlantic Ocean), NA Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean Region); HF radiotelephone communications with more than 20 countries

Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM 800 (mostly repeaters), shortwave 0

Radios: 49 million (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 846 (mostly repeaters) note: Eutelsat receive-only TV service

Televisions: 29.3 million (1993 est.)

Defense -------

Branches: Army, Navy (includes Naval Air), Air Force and Air Defense, National Gendarmerie

Manpower availability: males age 15-49: 14,782,577 males fit for military service: 12,299,651 males reach military age (18) annually: 383,252 (1996 est.)

Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $47.7 billion, 2.5% of GDP (1995)

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@French Guiana -------------

(overseas department of France)

Map ---

Location: 4 00 N, 53 00 W -- Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname

Flag ----

Description: the flag of France is used

Geography ---------

Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname

Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 53 00 W

Map references: South America