FRANCE 189 FRANCE by the fact that nearly all French ex- ports fall under the head of luxuries, for which it was difficult to find a mar- ket. The total imports for the first five months of 1920 amounted to 13,041,000,- 000, while the exports amounted to 5,- 970,000,000 francs. The chief articles of import are coal and coke, cast iron and steel, cereals, arms and munitions, chemical products and machinery. The chief articles of export are textiles, raw silk and yarn, leather, chemical products, and paper. Transportation. — There were prior to the World War, about 25,000 miles of railway open for traffic. During the war the railroads were greatly disorganized and were used chiefly for war purposes. During the period of the war 1,400 miles of principal line were practically de- stroyed, while 1,480 miles of branch lines were destroyed. By 1920 the principal lines had been entirely repaired, while half of the branch lines had also been restored to use. In 1919 measures were passed providing for an increased effici- ency in the operation of roads and a satisfactory organization of the great railroad systems. During 1919-1920 ex- traordinary efforts were made to restore normal conditions of operation of the railroads, especially of the battle area where they had suffered most severely. The great canal system also suffered greatly during the war. About 1,000 miles of canal were destroyed, of which 485 miles had been repaired by 1920. 32,000 miles of roads were also de- stroyed. Of this 10,000 miles were re- paired in part and 1,122 miles com- pletely restored in 1920. Education. — The public schools con- stitute the University of France and are divided into primary, secondary, and superior. Before the war there existed 6,445 schools. Of these, 5,345 had been re-established in 1920. The total number of pupils of school age is 6,000,000. Of this about 3,000,000 are enrolled in the public schools. There are about 70,- 000 schools and 150,000 teachers. Second- ary instruction is supplied by the lycees and by the communes in the colleges, and by associations and private indi- viduals in free establishments. There are about 120 lycees, with about 60,000 pupils, and about 200 communal colleges with about 30,000 pupils. The higher education is supplied by the state and the universities and special schools. There are 16 universities in France. They are as follows: Aix-en-Provence, Besangon, Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont- Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy, Paris, Poitiers, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse. There were in the universities in 1917 about Vol. IV— Cyc— M 15,000 pupils. Professional and techni- cal instruction is provided in profes- sional schools. Religion. — There is no religion recog- nized by the state. Under the law of December 9, 1905, the churches were separated from the state, and the ad- herents of all creeds were authorized to fonn associations for public worship. All buildings actually used for public wor- ship and as dwellings were made over to associations for public worship. There are in France 17 archbishops and 68 bishops of the Roman Catholic Church. The Associations law, passed July 1, 1901, requires religious communities to be authorized by the state and no mo- nastic association can be authorized with- out a special law in each particular case. The prevailing religion is Roman Catholic. War Destruction and Reconstruction. — The following figures are prepared by Andre Tardieu. The population driven from their homes by the war amounted to 2,728,000. Those returned in 1920 numbered 2,023,000. There were de- stroyed 4,068 municipal governments, of which 4,006 had been re-established in 1920. The dwelling houses damaged or wholly destroyed numbered 574,777. Of these, 13,100 had been rebuilt and 178,- 500 had been repaired in 1920. There had been constructed 46,570 temporary houses. The temporary houses and those rebuilt and repaired sheltered 887,000 people. The remainder of the returning population found quarter in the undam- aged houses. Factories destroyed num- bered 11,500. Those restored to work in 1920 numbered 3,540, and those in process of rebuilding in that year num- bered 3,812. Reconstruction was under- taken on a large scale by the govern- ment and also by organizations estab- lished in the United States and other countries. In many cases towns and cities in the United States undertook the reconstruction of cities and towns in France. In spite of these efforts, how- ever, the devastated ai'ea in 1921 had practically been untouched. The French depended in a large measure on the in- demnity to be received from Germany for the reconstruction of this area. The delay in receiving any funds from the German Government made it necessary to adopt other measures. The effect of the war on the popula- tion is indicated by the fact that the pre-war population was 37,790.000. There were mobilized 8,410,000 men out of a total subject to mobilization (19 to 50 years) of 9,420,000, or a mobiliza- tion o*f 89.5 per cent, of the available number. There were killed during the war 1,364,000 men or 16 per cent of
