FACTBOX - A snapshot of France-some key facts

(Reuters) - France votes on Sunday in the second round of presidential elections. Here are some key facts about France.

GEOGRAPHY: Area: 551,602 sq km (212,974 sq miles) including its overseas islands and the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Mainland France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. France has 1,600 km (1,000 miles) of coastal borders. It is the largest country in the European Union by land area.

POPULATION: 60.7 million. The total including eight overseas departments and territories is 64.1 million.

RELIGION: France is a secular state. The large majority of the population is Roman Catholic. There are an estimated five million Muslims and some 600,000 Jews.

CAPITAL: Paris (Pop. 9.9 million - 2005). The French capital hosts a number of international organisations including UNESCO and the OECD.

LANGUAGE: French. Several regional minorities speak their own language.

ECONOMY: French gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 1,779 billion euros (892 billion pounds) in 2006 -- ranking it by some benchmarks as the world's sixth largest economy.

The country's global ranking in terms of per capita GDP dropped to 16th from 12th in the past five years, the International Monetary Fund said in a November 2006 report.

-- France had a record trade deficit of 29.2 billion euros in 2006. Germany is France's top trading partner, accounting for 14.5 percent of exports and 17.2 percent of imports in 2005.