304 



FRANCE. 



M. Develle; Minister of Marine, Vice- Admiral 

 Barbey. This ministry was constituted on March 

 17, 1890. 



Area and Population. The area of France 

 is 528,876 square kilometres, according to the 

 cadastral survey, while the calculations of the 

 Ministry of War make it 536,408 square kilo- 

 metres. The legal population, including those 

 temporarily absent, on May 81, 1886, when the 

 last census was taken, was 38,218,903. The res- 

 ident population was 37,103,689. The citizens 

 of French birth numbered 36,700,342 : natural- 

 ized citizens, 103,886 ; foreigners, 1,126,531. The 

 number of marriages in 1889 was 272,934; of 

 births, 880,579; of deaths, 794,933; excess of 

 births, 85,646. The number of emigrants in 1888 

 was 23,339, most of whom went to the United 

 States and to the Argentine Republic. The fol- 

 lowing cities contained more than 100,000 in- 

 habitants in 1886 : Paris, 2,344,550 ; Lyons, 401,- 

 930; Marseilles, 376,143; Bordeaux, 240,582; 

 Lille, 188,272 ; Toulouse, 147,617 ; Nantes, 127,- 

 482 ; St. fitienne, 117,875; Havre, 112,074; Rouen, 

 107,163 ; Roubaix, 100,299. 



The preliminary results of a census taken in 

 April, 1891, make the population of France 38,- 

 095,000, a gain of 208,000 since 1886, when an in- 

 crease of 565,000 since 1881 was shown. The 

 growth of the city of Paris and its suburbs dur- 

 ing the past five years was 249,000, and other 

 large towns showed a similar increase, implying 

 a considerable diminution in the rural population. 

 In 28 departments an increase of population was 

 noted, and in 59 there was an absolute decrease. 

 The largest increase was 249,353 in the depart- 

 ment of the Seine. In the Nord it was 77,276 ; 

 Alpes-Maritimes, 43.627; Bouches-du-Rhone, 30,- 

 072; Rhone, 27,160; Herault, 25,709; Pas-de- 

 Calais, 29,981 ; Gironde, 21,508. The death-rate 

 in France is low, and is constantly being reduced. 

 Nevertheless the population is nearly stationary, 

 for the reason that the number of births dimin- 

 ishes from year to year. In 1884 there were 937,- 

 750 children born; in 1885, 924,558; in 1886, 

 912,838 ; in 1887, 889,333 ; in 1888, 882,637. 



Commerce. The value of the general com- 

 merce of France, which embraces all merchan- 

 dise entering and leaving the country, including 

 foreign goods re-exported, was 5,320,000,000 

 francs for imports and 4,803,000,000 francs for 

 exports in 1889. The special imports, confined 

 to goods entered for domestic consumption, 

 amounted to 4,317,000,000 francs ; and the special 

 exports, consisting of domestic products only, to 

 3,704,000,000 francs. The special imports of 

 food products were 1,441,000,000 francs, and the 

 special exports 837,000,000 francs; of raw ma- 

 terials 2,262,000,000 francs worth were imported, 

 while the exports amounted to 941,000,000 francs ; 

 and in the category of manufactured goods the 

 imports were valued at 613,000,000 francs, and 

 the exports at 1,926,000,000 francs. The values 

 of the chief imports for domestic consumption 

 were as follow: Wine, 384,000,000 francs; raw 

 wool, 371,000,000 francs; cereals, 366.000,000 

 francs ; raw silk, 292,000,000 francs ; coal, 212,- 

 000,000 francs ; raw cotton, 203,000,000 francs ; 

 hides, skins, and fur skins, 180,000,000 francs ; 

 timber, 173,000,000 francs ; oil seeds, 155,000,000 

 francs ; coffee, 145,000.000 francs ; chemicals, 

 86,000,000 francs; animals, 86,000,000 francs; 



woolen manufactures, 68,000,000 francs ; sugar, 

 65,000,000 francs; fruits, 64,000,000 francs, 

 manufactures of silk, 58,000,000 francs; llax, 

 57,000,000 francs ; meat, 49,000,000 francs : ma- 

 chinery, 44,000,000 francs ; cotton manufactures, 

 41,000,000 francs. The following are the values 

 given for the principal exports of articles 

 of French produce and manufacture in 1889 : 

 Woolen manufactures, 364,000,000 francs; silk 

 manufactures, 261,000,000 francs ; wines, 251,- 

 000,000 francs ; skins, 175,000,000 francs ; raw 

 wool, 169,000,000 francs ; fancy or Paris goods, 

 145,000,000 francs ; raw silk and yarn, 139,000,- 

 000 francs; leather goods, 135,000,000 francs ; 

 sugar, 121,000,000 francs; cotton goods, 116,- 

 000,000 francs; butter and cheese, 112,000,000 

 francs; leather, 108,000,000 francs; millinery, 

 etc., 103,000,000 francs ; linen goods, 103,000,000 

 francs ; metal goods, 85,000,000 francs ; liquors, 

 67,000,000 francs; jewelry, 57,000,000 francs; 

 woolen yarn, 55,000,000 francs ; chemical prod- 

 ucts, 49,000,000 francs; machinery, 42,000,000 

 francs ; rags, 37,000,000 francs ; novelties, 36,- 

 000,000 francs. 



The distribution of the special commerce of 

 1889 among the principal countries of derivation 

 and destination is shown in the following table, 

 giving the value in francs of the imports from 

 and the exports to each country : 



The imports by land amounted to 1,650,000,000 

 francs, and those brought by sea to 3,670,000,000 

 francs ; of which 1.606,000,000 francs were borne 

 in French and 2,064,000,000 francs in foreign 

 ships. Of the exports, 1,557,000,000 francs were 

 sent by land carriages, and 3,246,000,000 francs 

 by sea; 1,780,000,000 francs being carried in 

 French and 1,466,000,000 francs in foreign ships. 

 The share of each of the principal ports of entry 

 in the general commerce, comprising both im- 

 ports and exports, was in 1889 as follows : Mar- 

 seilles, 1,827,000,000 francs ; Havre, 1,746,000,000 

 francs; Bordeaux, 879,000,000 francs; Paris, 

 678,000,000 francs; Dunkerque, 506,000,000 

 francs ; Boulogne, 453,000,000 francs ; Cette, 

 235,000,000 francs; Rouen, 218,000,000 francs; 

 Dieppe, 205,000,000 francs ; Tourcoing, 201,000,- 

 000 francs ; Calais, 160,000,000 francs ; Belfort, 

 162,000,000 francs. The transit trade in 1889 

 amounted to 653,000,000 francs. The imports of 

 precious metals were 448,000,000 francs, and the 

 exports 233,000,000 francs. The analysis of the 

 special commerce of 1889 in regard to the nature 

 and origin of its constituents shows that of the 

 imports 47'9 per cent, were products of agricult- 

 ure, 32'6 per cent, of animal origin, 5 - 8 per cent, 

 forest products, 7'1 per cent, the produce of 

 mines, and 6'6 per cent, manufactured articles ; 

 while of the exports. 16'7 per cent, of the total 

 value represented agriculture, 26'5 per cent, in- 



