France
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Did you know
Since 2016 French law bans destroying edible food, and shops over 400 m² must offer donation deals to food charities. (source)
Elders in numbers
- of people are 65 or older
- 22.5%
- people aged 65 or older
- 15.5M
- will be 65 or older in 2050
- 27.6%
- is how long people live after 60, on average
- 25.3 years
- of people 65+ live alone
- 33.1%
- women 42%, men 21.9%
- of people 65+ live in collective quarters: care homes, hospitals, hostels and the like
- 5.6%
Sources: World Bank, 2025; World Bank projection for 2050; WHO, 2023; UN, 2020; UN, 2015 census
Languages
27 languages, 12 of them endangered
- AragoneseDefinitely endangered
- ArpitanDefinitely endangered
- LigurianDefinitely endangered
- MaoreDefinitely endangered
- WalloonDefinitely endangered
- YenishDefinitely endangered
- BasqueVulnerable
- CatalanVulnerable
- Moselle FranconianVulnerable
- PicardVulnerable
- Swiss GermanVulnerable
- West FlemishVulnerable
Show all 27
- Balkan Romani
- Breton
- Carpathian Romani
- Corsican
- French
- French Sign Language
- German
- Italian
- Occitan
- Portuguese
- Serbisk
- Spanish
- Vlax Romani
- Wallisian
- Gwenedeg
Languages and their status: Glottolog v5.3, CC BY 4.0. Names: Wikidata.
UNESCO intangible heritage
- Funfair culture2024
- Art of dry stone construction, knowledge and techniques2024
- Skills of Parisian zinc roofers and ornamentalists2024
- Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock2023
- Knowledge, craft and skills of handmade glass production2023
- Artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread2022
- Bear festivities in the Pyrenees2022
- Tocatì, a shared programme for the safeguarding of traditional games and sports2022
Show all 30
- Falconry, a living human heritage2021
- The art of glass beads2020
- The Martinique yole, from construction to sailing practices, a model for heritage safeguarding2020
- Musical art of horn players, an instrumental technique linked to singing, breath control, vibrato, resonance of place and conviviality2020
- Craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics2020
- Craft techniques and customary practices of cathedral workshops, or Bauhütten, in Europe, know-how, transmission, development of knowledge and innovation2020
- Alpinism2019
- The skills related to perfume in Pays de Grasse: the cultivation of perfume plants, the knowledge and processing of natural raw materials, and the art of perfume composition2018
- Carnival of Granville2016
- Summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees2015
- Gwoka: music, song, dance and cultural practice representative of Guadeloupean identity2014
- Limousin septennial ostensions2013
- Fest-Noz, festive gathering based on the collective practice of traditional dances of Brittany2012
- Equitation in the French tradition2011
- Compagnonnage, network for on-the-job transmission of knowledge and identities2010
- Craftsmanship of Alençon needle lace-making2010
- Gastronomic meal of the French2010
- Cantu in paghjella, a secular and liturgical oral tradition of Corsica2009
- Scribing tradition in French timber framing2009
- Aubusson tapestry2009
- Maloya2009
- Processional giants and dragons in Belgium and France2008
List and years: ich.unesco.org
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