French Republic République française (French) | |||||||
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Motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" | |||||||
Anthem: "La Marseillaise" | |||||||
Great Seal: | |||||||
![]() Location of France (dark green) in the European Union (green) | |||||||
Capital and largest city | Paris 48°51.4′N 2°21.05′E / 48.8567°N 2.35083°E | ||||||
Official language and national language | French[I] | ||||||
Religion | Secular State[a] | ||||||
Government | Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic | ||||||
President | |||||||
• 1959–1969 (first) | Charles de Gaulle[b] | ||||||
• 2017–present (current) | Emmanuel Macron | ||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||
• 1959–1962 (first) | Michel Debré | ||||||
• Dec 2024–present (current) | François Bayrou | ||||||
Legislature | Parliament | ||||||
Senate | |||||||
National Assembly | |||||||
Establishment | |||||||
4 October 1958 (66 years) | |||||||
5 July 1962 | |||||||
28 October 1962 | |||||||
16 July 1971 | |||||||
• First cohabitation | 20 March 1986 | ||||||
24 September 2000 | |||||||
23 July 2008 | |||||||
Currency | |||||||
Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (AD) | ||||||
Calling code | +33[II] | ||||||
ISO 3166 code | FR | ||||||
Internet TLD | .fr[III] | ||||||
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History of France |
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Timeline |
Topics |
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The Fifth Republic (French: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.[1]
The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential (or dual-executive) system[2] that split powers between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government.[3] Charles de Gaulle, who was the first French president elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying l'esprit de la nation ("the spirit of the nation").[4] Under the fifth republic, the president has the right to dissolve the national assembly and hold new parliamentary elections. If the president has a majority in the national assembly, the president sets domestic policy and the prime minister puts it into practice. During a presidential mandate, the president can also change prime ministers and reshuffle the government. If there is a different majority in the national assembly, the president is forced to nominate a prime minister from a different party, which is called a cohabitation. In the beginning of the Fifth Republic, presidential elections were held every seventh year and parliamentary elections every fifth year. Starting in the year 2002, the presidential elections (in April) and parliamentary elections (in June) were synchronized to be held every fifth year, which ended in the 2024 French snap election.
The Fifth Republic is France's third-longest-lasting political regime, after the hereditary, feudal monarchy of the Ancien Régime and the parliamentary Third Republic (4 September 1870–10 July 1940).
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