France - Transportation

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France is located . The climate is . The terrain is .

Airports

This entry gives the total number of airports or airfields recognizable from the air. The runway(s) may be paved (concrete or asphalt surfaces) or unpaved (grass, earth, sand, or gravel surfaces) but may include closed or abandoned installations. Airports or airfields that are no longer recognizable (overgrown, no facilities, etc.) are not included. Note that not all airports have accommodations for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
Airports : 476 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways - total : 292
Airports - with paved runways - over 3,047 m : 14
Airports - with paved runways - 2,438 to 3,047 m : 27
Airports - with paved runways - 1,524 to 2,437 m : 97
Airports - with paved runways - 914 to 1,523 m : 80
Airports - with paved runways - under 914 m : 74 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total : 184
Airports - with unpaved runways - 1,524 to 2,437 m : 4
Airports - with unpaved runways - 914 to 1,523 m : 72
Airports - with unpaved runways - under 914 m : 108 (2007)

Heliports

This entry gives the total number of heliports with hard- surface runways, helipads, or landing areas that support routine sustained helicopter operations exclusively and have support facilities including one or more of the following facilities
Heliports : 3 (2007)

Pipelines

This entry gives the lengths and types of pipelines for transporting products like natural gas, crude oil, or petroleum products.
Pipelines : gas 14,665 km; oil 3,032 km; refined products 4,947 km (2007)

Railways

This entry states the total route length of the railway network and of its component parts by gauge
Railways - total : 29,370 km
Railways - standard gauge : 29,203 km 1.435-m gauge (14,778 km electrified)
Railways - narrow gauge : 167 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Roadways

This entry gives the total length of the road network and includes the length of the paved and unpaved portions.
Roadways - total : 951,500 km
Roadways - paved : 951,500 km (metropolitan France; includes 10,950 km of expressways)
Roadways - note : there are another 5,100 km of roadways in overseas departments (2006)

Waterways

This entry gives the total length of navigable rivers, canals, and other inland bodies of water.
Waterways - metropolitan France : 8,500 km (1,686 km accessible to craft of 3,000 metric tons)
Waterways - French Guiana : 3,760 km (460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft) (2006)

Merchant marine

Merchant marine may be defined as all ships engaged in the carriage of goods; or all commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc. This entry contains information in four fields - total, ships by type, foreign-owned, and registered in other countries. *** Total includes the number of ships (1,000 GRT or over), total DWT for those ships, and total GRT for those ships. DWT or dead weight tonnage is the total weight of cargo, plus bunkers, stores, etc., that a ship can carry when immersed to the appropriate load line. GRT or gross register tonnage is a figure obtained by measuring the entire sheltered volume of a ship available for cargo and passengers and converting it to tons on the basis of 100 cubic feet per ton; there is no stable relationship between GRT and DWT. *** Ships by type includes a listing of barge carriers, bulk cargo ships, cargo ships, chemical tankers, combination bulk carriers, combination ore/oil carriers, container ships, liquefied gas tankers, livestock carriers, multifunctional large-load carriers, petroleum tankers, passenger ships, passenger/cargo ships, railcar carriers, refrigerated cargo ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, short-sea passenger ships, specialized tankers, and vehicle carriers. *** Foreign-owned are ships that fly the flag of one country but belong to owners in another. *** Registered in other countries are ships that belong to owners in one country but fly the flag of another.
Merchant marine - total : 138
Merchant marine - by type : bulk carrier 2, cargo 1, chemical tanker 32, container 25, liquefied gas 12, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 33, petroleum tanker 23, roll on/roll off 7
Merchant marine - foreign-owned : 38 (Belgium 6, China 5, Denmark 2, Germany 1, Italy 2, Japan 1, NZ 1, Norway 5, Saudi Arabia 1, Singapore 2, Sweden 9, Switzerland 1, Switzerland 2)
Merchant marine - registered in other countries : 127 (Antigua and Barbuda 1, Australia 1, Bahamas 30, Belgium 2, Bermuda 1, Hong Kong 1, Indonesia 1, Isle of Man 1, Italy 2, Liberia 5, Luxembourg 17, Malta 5, Morocco 14, Netherlands 1, Norway 3, Panama 5, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Singapore 1, Taiwan 1, UK 23, Wallis and Futuna 6) (2008)

Ports and terminals

This entry lists major ports and terminals primarily on the basis of the amount of cargo tonnage shipped through the facilities on an annual basis. In some instances, the number of containers handled or ship visits were also considered.
Ports and terminals : Bordeaux, Calais, Dunkerque, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg

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