France Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

some forest damage from acid rain; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 11.64 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 55.99 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

metropolitan France: 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 the mistral;

French Guiana: tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation;

Guadeloupe and Martinique: subtropical tempered by trade winds; moderately high humidity; rainy season (June to October); vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average;

Mayotte: tropical; marine; hot, humid, rainy season during northeastern monsoon (November to May); dry season is cooler (May to November);

Reunion: tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry (May to November), hot and rainy (November to April)

Land use

agricultural land: 52.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 33.4% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 17.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 29.2% (2018 est.)

other: 18.1% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 81.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.67% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring throughout France; as of 9 December 2022, France has reported a total of 37,252,086 cases of COVID-19 or 57276.2 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with a total of 155,898 cumulative deaths or a rate 239.7 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 7 December 2022, 80.54% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 33.399 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 7,434,617 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 22.3% (2015 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Geneva (shared with Switzerland) - 580 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Rhine  (shared with Switzerland [s], Germany, and Netherlands [m]) - 1,233 km;  Loire - 1,012 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Loire (115,282 sq km), Seine (78,919 sq km), Rhine-Maas (198,735 sq km), (Adriatic Sea) Po (76,997 sq km), (Mediterranean Sea) Rhone (100,543 sq km)

Major aquifers

Paris Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 5.175 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 18.15 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 3.113 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

211 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding France on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of France 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about France 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.