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France Elects New Leader
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was ousted in elections early this month. Sarkozy, a conservative who has held office since 2007, will be replaced by Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, who won the election May 6 and will be inaugurated on May 15.
Sarkozy raised the ire of his citizens by working with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to create austerity measures. The plan to reduce debt by cutting spending, benefits and social services was meant to combat Europe’s financial troubles. But austerity measures have proved to be very unpopular in France and other European countries. There have been protests and strikes in Italy, Greece, Spain and other eurozone countries.
The euro is the official currency for 17 European countries, including France. Sharing the same currency tied these nations together, but also caused big concerns for eurozone leaders worried about the rising debt in some of the member countries.
In addition to the problems of rising debt, Europe also is struggling with a record high unemployment rate. In France, unemployment is nearly 10 percent.
Sarkozy and Merkel have pushed for austerity as a way to deal with the financial crisis. President-elect Hollande, on the other hand, has promised to ease austerity and raise taxes on the rich to help support government programs and services.
France is the second largest country in Europe, about one-fifth smaller in area than the state of Texas. The country is composed of river valleys, hills and mountains—the Alps in the southeast and the Pyrenees in the southwest.
The capital city of Paris contains many iconic sites. World recognized landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the famous art museum the Louvre are all found in Paris. These places and the largely temperate climate makes France the most visited country in the world, with tens of millions of foreign tourists visiting each year.
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