Part 294

@France:Transportation

Railways: total: 34,123 km standard gauge: 33,524 km 1.435-m gauge; 32,275 km are operated by French National Railways (SNCF); 13,741 km of SNCF routes are electrified and 12,132 km are double- or multiple-tracked narrow gauge : 599 km 1.000-m gauge note: does not include 33 tourist railroads, totaling 469 km, many being of very narrow gauge (1995)

Highways: total: 1,512,700 km paved : 812,700 km (including 9,140 km of expressways) unpaved: 700,000 km (1995 est.)

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

Merchant marine: total: 52 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,038,151 GRT/1,441,498 DWT ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 3, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 1, container 7, liquefied gas tanker 3, multi-function large load carrier 1, oil tanker 13, passenger 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 5, short-sea passenger 7, specialized tanker 1 note: France also maintains a captive register for French-owned ships in the Kerguelen Islands (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) (1996 est.)

Airports: 460 (1996 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 382 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 91 914 to 1,523 m : 73 under 914 m: 179 (1996 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 78 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m : 75 (1996 est.)

Heliports: 3 (1996 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army (includes Marines), Navy (includes Naval Air), Air Force (includes Air Defense, National Gendarmerie

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 14,800,821 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males : 12,315,337 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 394,362 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $47.7 billion (1995)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.5% (1995)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; Seychelles claims Tromelin Island; Suriname claims part of French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); Saint Pierre and Miquelon is focus of maritime boundary dispute between Canada and France; in 1992 an arbitration panel awarded the islands an exclusive economic zone area of 12,348 sq km to settle the dispute; claims Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for and consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin ______________________________________________________________________

FRENCH GUIANA

(overseas department of France)

@French Guiana: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