France+immigration

=**__France Immigration__**=

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=__History of Immigration in France__= Immigration has played an important role in France's history and development. In the late nineteenth century, immigration was integral to the expansion of the French empire, as immigration helped to meet labor requirements. Immigration also helped with the French war effort in World War I. While immigration was on a much smaller scale compared to today's statistics, there were still instances of hostility towards immigrants, with the most violent instance being at Aigues-Mortes in 1893, where nine Italian workers were killed and hundreds injured.

After World War I, France was left with great casualties from the war, and a low fertility rate. This made it so that the French had to open its doors to immigration in order to prevent further population decline. During the 1920s through the 1930s there was a huge wave of immigration from southern Europe (Italy, Portugal, Spain, Yugoslavia, and Greece), as well as from eastern Europe (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and Belgium). After the Armenian Genocide of 1915, many Armenians fled to France for asylum, and by the end of the Spanish Civil War there were an estimated 500,000 Spanish Republican refugees living in France. Furthermore, the post-WWI era saw the beginnings of immigration from Africa and Asia. This immigration helped to stabilize the population, and this time period saw huge economic growth for France. At this time, France was the only country in Europe to permit mass immigration.

There was less inward immigration during World War II, but the post-war era required labor to support economic growth. Increased immigration from Africa occurred, with many coming from the Maghreb region, predominately Algeria, with more than a million arriving in France between the 1960s and early 1970s. European [|pieds noirs] A larger Arab and Berber community was introduced into France, as well as an increased Jewish population with an estimated 235,000 North African Jews from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco arriving from the mid-1950s to 1967. A small population of Chileans and Argentinians also arrived in France during the Chilean Coup of 1973. Additionally, a wave of Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants came to France after the Vietnam War.

France in the 1970s faced economic decline, and consequentially, a strong desire to limit inward immigration. The French government became afraid of an increased political influence amongst immigrants, particularly in the Arab community, leading them to direct immigration policy towards European immigrants (rather than African or Asian immigrants). Immigration policy made it so that immigration could only be for reunion, wives or children coming to live with their husbands or fathers already in France (often interfered with by French government), or for asylum. In 1974, immigration was officially stopped by the government. At this time, European immigrants were allowed into France, and asylum seekers. Lionel Stoléru, the Minister of State for Immigrant Workers, encouraged current immigrants to return to their home countries. He offered financial incentives, known as l'aide au retour, which the Spanish and Portugese immigrants readily accepted after the elimination of the dictatorial rulers in their countries. The limitations placed on immigration brought about increased illegal immigration, with a 2006 estimate of 200,000-400,000 illegal immigrants living in France. The increased immigrant population brought about issues related to the vast differences within the French population.

Charles Pasqua, a [|Gaullist] politician, introduced a series of laws in the 1990s known as the Pasqua laws (or lois Pasqua), which limited immigration. Today, great concerns are still with the Islamic community in France. President Sarkozy and the French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment have regulated inward immigration, improved integration, and promoted French national identity since 2007. The idea of chosen immigration directs immigrants into chosen economic sector, and makes knowledge of the French language a pre-condition of immigrating. Another issue of today is the Romani population in France, and the French Romani repatriation program, initiated in 2010, which relocates Romani citizens to Romania, despite their right to be in France without a visa. Furthermore, France, along with some other countries, has yet to sign "United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families" of 1990, which protects migrant workers' human rights.

Despite the hostility from the French government towards immigrations, the historian of immigration Gerard Noiriel estimates that today one third of the French population is of foreign descent, demonstrating that France is truly a multi-cultural nation.

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=__Geography__= France is a country in Western Europe, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean. For countries, France borders Spain, Andorra, Monaco Italy, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Germany, and Belgium. The entire territory of the French Republic amounts to 674,843 square kilometers, with Metropolitan France being 551,695 square kilometers. Metropolitan France has 3,427 kilometers of coastline. The terrain of France is mostly flat plains, with forests and mountains. France's highest point is Mont Blanc, which reaches 4,808 meters. The longest river in France is the Loire River at approximately 1020 kilometers (634 miles) in length. The Seine River in the northeast of France, and the Rhone River, which flows from the Swiss Alps to the Mediterranean, are also major rivers in France. Natural disasters consist of flooding, avalanches, earthquakes, and forest fires.

France's natural resources are coal, iron ore, fish and zinc. Approximately 33% of Metropolitan France is arable land, 2% permanent crops, and 20% permanent pastures.

Metropolitan France is divided into 21 regions and one territorial collectivity, Corsica. These regions are further divided into 96 departments, and these are divided further still into 329 arrondissements.

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=__Economy__= France is a member of the [|Group of Eight], or G8, and is ranked the world's fifth largest, and Europe's second largest economy. Out of the 500 biggest companies in the world, France owns thirty-nine.

France's economy is a mixed economy, with both private enterprise and state enterprise. The government has influence on important infrastructure sectors, and holds majority ownership of railway, electricity, telecommunications, and nuclear power. However, since the 1990s the government has been relaxing its hold on these and is slowly selling off holdings in telecommunications, Air France, and in the insurance, banking, and defense industries. France is the second most important outward direct investor, investing $220 billion in 2008.

France is the smallest emitter of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialized nations in the world, due to the country's investment in nuclear power. France derives 79% of its electricity from nuclear power, which is the highest amount in the world. Due to France's reliance on nuclear power, renewable energy sources are having difficulty developing.

Currently France has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe, with a rate of 9.4% in 2009, and is a current issue of political debate.

Agriculturally, France is the leading country in Europe in producing and exporting. France alone accounts for 20% of the EU's agricultural production. Wheat, poultry, beef, pork, dairy, and wine are the leading exports. The agricultural sector employs 3.5% of the population, making it an important aspect of France's economy.

France is ranked first for tourist destinations in the world, with 81.9 million foreign tourists in 2007 (excluding tourists staying less than 24 hours). France features historical cities of cultural interest like Paris, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, and Lyon. Additionally there are beaches and seaside resorts, mountains and ski resorts, small picturesque villages, museums like the Louvre (the most visited art museum in the world) and the Musée d'Orsay, and the French Riviera. The top five tourist sites are: Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles, Musée d'Orsay, and Arc de Triomphe,

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= =__Demographics__= The current population is estimated to be 65.8 million (January 2011), making France the 20th most populated country in the world. The five biggest cities are Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, and Nice.

It is illegal in France to collect data on ethnicity or race, but there is an estimated population of citizens of North African descent between three and six million. It is also estimated that approximately 40% of France's population is descended from immigrants of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

France is the leading asylum in Western Europe, but has recently curbed the influx from Eastern Europe.

France is a secular country, allowing freedom of religion. Roman Catholicism has been the predominant religion for more than a thousand years, with current surveys indicating approximately 50% of the population as identifying with Catholicism. Approximately 31% of the population are agnostic/atheist, and 6-10% Muslim. France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, with 600,000 Jews, making roughly 1% of the population.

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