We've decided to share our internal country fact sheets which give an introduction to the country background, economy and a few key dos and don'ts. A great starting point when planning a marketing campaign.

1. COUNTRY FACTSHEET:
FRANCE
TELEPHONE CODE: +33
What you will find in this document
Short history
Major cities
Brief economy overview
National holidays
Salutations
Date format
Address format
Dos and don’ts

2. COUNTRY FACTSHEET: FRANCE
Short history
The only European country facing both the North Sea and the Mediterranean, France has been subject to a particulary rich variety of
cultural influences. Though famous for the rootedness of its peasant population, it has also been a European melting pot, even before
the arrival of the Celtic Gauls in the centuries before Christ, through to the Mediterranean immigrations of the 20th Century. The Roman
conquest by Julius Caesar had an enduring impact, but from the 4th and 5th Centuries AD, waves of Barbarbian invaders destroyed much
of the Roman legacy. The Germanic Franks provided political leadership in the following centuries, but when their line died out in the late
10th Century, France was socially and politically fragmented.
The Capetian dynasty gradually pieced France together over the Middle Ages, a period of great economic prosperity and cultural vitality.
France flourished during the Renaissance, followed by the grandeur of Louis XIV’s reign. During the Enlightenment, in the 18th Century,
French culture and institutions were the envy of Europe. The Revolution of 1789 ended the absolute monarchy and introduced major
social and institutional reforms, many of which were endorsed and consolidated by Napoleon. Yet the Revolution also inaugurated the
instability which has remained a hallmark of French politics.
France has its main ideals expressed in the 18th-century Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. In the 19th and early 20th
Centuries, France built the second-largest colonial empire of the time, ruling large portions of first North America and India and then
Northwest and Central Africa; Madagascar; Indochina and southeast China; and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
City
Paris
Marseille
Lyon
Toulouse
Nice
Population
2,300,000
859,000
488,000
447,000
344,000

3. COUNTRY FACTSHEET: FRANCE
Economy
The French economy is diversified across all sectors. The government has partially or fully privatised many large companies, including
Air France, France Telecom, Renault, and Thales. However, the government maintains a strong presence (Dirigisme) in some sectors,
particularly power, public transport, and defense industries. With at least 79 million foreign tourists per year, France is the most
visited country in the world and maintains the third largest income in the world from tourism. France’s leaders remain committed to a
capitalism in which they maintain social equity by means of laws, tax policies, and social spending that reduce income disparity and
the impact of free markets on public health and welfare.
A member of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries, it is ranked as the world’s fifth largest and Europe’s second largest
economy by nominal. With 39 of the 500 biggest companies of the world in 2010, France ranks fourth in the Fortune Global 500,
behind the USA, Japan and China. Paris is the second most important location in the world for the headquarters of the world’s 500
largest companies: there are more Fortune Global 500 company headquarters in Paris than in Beijing, New York, London or Munich,
but fewer than in Tokyo.
Here are some examples:
II AXA is one of the world’s largest insurance companies
II L’Oreal is the world’s largest cosmetic company
II EDF is the world’s largest utility company
II Michelin is the world’s pneumatic leader
II Lafarge is the world’s largest cement company
II Carrefour is the world’s second largest retail group in terms of revenue
II Total is the world’s fourth largest private oil company
II Danone is the world’s fifth largest food company and the world’s largest supplier of mineral water
National public holidays
DATE
HOLIDAY
LOCAL NAME
1 January
New Year's Day
Premier de l’an/Jour de l’an
moveable
Good Friday
Vendredi Saint
Friday before Easter (observed only in Alsace
and Moselle)
moveable
Easter Monday
Lundi de Pâques
Monday after Easter (one day after Easter)
1 May
May Day/Labour Day
Fête du Travail
8 May
Victory in Europe Day
Victoire 1945
End of hostilities in Europe in World War II
moveable
Ascension Day
Ascension
Thursday, 39 days after Easter
moveable
Whit Monday
Lundi de Pentecôte
Monday after Pentecost (49 days after Easter)
14 July
Bastille Day
Fête Nationale
National Day
15 August
Assumption of Mary to Heaven
Assomption
1 November
All Saints' Day
Toussaint
11 November
Veterans Day/Armistice Day/
Remembrance Day
Armistice 1918
25 December
Christmas Day
Noël
26 December
St. Stephen's Day
Saint Etienne
REMARKS
End of World War I
Observed only in Alsace and Moselle

4. COUNTRY FACTSHEET: FRANCE
Salutations
For Male:
Cher Monsieur Surname
Date Format
Location, + le + digit + month + year:
Eg: Nîmes, le 3 janvier 2007
For Female:
Chère Madame Surname
Address Format
First Name – Last Name
Company name
House number, + street name
Postcode (5 digit) + name of town
Country
Eg: Anna Dubois
Tournax SARL
34, Rue de la Liberté
77550 Moissy-Cramayel
FRANCE
Dos and Don’ts
II When calling in France, at switchboard level DO use your last name rather than your first name (eg, “Bonjour, c’est Madame
Dubois de la société Tournax” and not “Bonjour, c’est Anna de la société Tournax”)
II DO call contacts by their last name and not first name (M Dubois and not Marc) + using titles wherever possible
II The Tutoyer -Vouvoyer distinction (polite/casual conversation): In most French-speaking regions a rigid T–V distinction is upheld. With
regard to the second person singular, tu is used informally, whereas vous is used to convey formality. (The second person plural is
always vous.) The formal vous is expected when encountering any unknown adult under normal circumstances. In general, the
switch from vous to tu is “negotiated” on a case-by-case basis; it can happen nearly unconsciously, or can be explicitly negotiated
II The self-derision of English humour doesn’t translate well into French culture so it is best to avoid this type of humour during
business communications
II French are very tactile and a DM that includes an object or something they can touch and share with colleagues will leave a
good impression