Railroads: French National Railways (SNCF) operates 34,568 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 11,674 km electrified, 15,132 km double or multiple track; 2,138 km of various gauges (1.000-meter to 1.440-meter), privately owned and operated

Highways: 1,551,400 km total; 33,400 km national highway; 347,000 km departmental highway; 421,000 km community roads; 750,000 km rural roads; 5,401 km of controlled-access divided autoroutes; about 803,000 km paved

Inland waterways: 14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

Pipelines: crude oil, 3,059 km; refined products, 4,487 km; natural gas, 24,746 km

Ports: maritime--Bordeaux, Boulogne, Brest, Cherbourg, Dunkerque, Fos-Sur-Mer, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen, Sete, Toulon; inland--42

Merchant marine: 133 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,141,276 GRT/5,006,695 DWT; includes 8 short-sea passenger, 15 cargo, 18 container, 2 multifunction large-load carrier, 29 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 34 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 chemical tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 2 specialized tanker, 11 bulk; note--France also maintains a captive register for French-owned ships in the Kerguelen Islands (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and French Polynesia

Civil air: 195 (1989 est.)

Airports: 470 total, 460 usable; 246 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 34 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 136 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: highly developed system provides satisfactory telephone, telegraph, radio and TV broadcast services; 39,200,000 telephones; stations--40 AM, 138 (777 relays) FM, 216 (8,902 relays) TV; 25 submarine coaxial cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT, 3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean, EUTELSAT, MARISAT, and domestic systems

NOTE: The information regarding France on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of France Communications 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about France Communications 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.