French constitutional referendum, 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Do you approve of the Constitution offered by the Government of the Republic? Approuvez-vous la Constitution qui vous est proposée par le Gouvernement de la République? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Referendum held: 28 September 1958 |
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A constitutional referendum was held in France on 28 September 1958. [1] Voters were asked whether they approved of the adoption of a constitution for the French Fifth Republic written by Charles de Gaulle. It was overwhelmingly approved, with 82.6% in favour. [2] Voter turnout was 84.9% in Metropolitan France and 79.8% overall. [2]
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, and replaced that of the Fourth Republic dating from 1946. Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth Republic, while the text was drafted by Michel Debré. Since then the constitution has been amended twenty-four times, most recently in 2008.
The Fifth Republic, France's current republican system of government, was established by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential, or dual-executive, system that split powers between a Prime Minister as head of government and a President as head of state. 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.
Choice | Metropolitan France | Total | |||
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Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
For | 17,668,790 | 79.3 | 31,123,483 | 82.6 | |
Against | 4,624,511 | 20.7 | 6,556,073 | 17.4 | |
Invalid/blank votes | 303,549 | – | 418,297 | – | |
Total | 22,596,850 | 100 | 38,097,483 | 100 | |
Source: Nohlen & Stöver |
The total includes Overseas departments, Algeria, Sahara, Overseas territories (except Guinea, French Togoland, French Cameroon, French New Hebrides and Wallis and Futuna) and French citizens living abroad. [2]
The term overseas territory is an administrative division of France and is currently only applied to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a west-coastal country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea, the modern country is sometimes referred to as Guinea-Conakry in order to distinguish it from other countries with "Guinea" in the name and the eponymous region, such as Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Guinea has a population of 12.4 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres (94,927 sq mi).
Territory | Votes for | % | Votes against | % | Invalid/ blank votes | Total votes | Registered voters | Turnout |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Algeria | 3,357,763 | 96.59 | 118,631 | 3.41 | 38816 | 3,515,210 | 4,412,171 | 79.67 |
Chad | 804,355 | 98.29 | 14042 | 1.71 | 4628 | 823,015 | 1,243,450 | 66.19 |
Comoros | 63,899 | 97.33 | 1,756 | 2.67 | 265 | 65,920 | 71,099 | 92.72 |
Côte d'Ivoire | 1,595,238 | 99.99 | 216 | 0.01 | 1156 | 1,596,610 | 1,636,533 | 97.56 |
Dahomey | 418,963 | 97.84 | 9246 | 2.16 | 3,198 | 431,407 | 775,170 | 55.65 |
French Polynesia | 16,196 | 64.40 | 8,952 | 35.60 | 99 | 25,247 | 30,950 | 81.57 |
French Somaliland | 8,662 | 75.24 | 2,851 | 24.76 | 70 | 11,583 | 15,914 | 72.78 |
French Sudan | 945,586 | 97.54 | 23,875 | 2.46 | 2,736 | 972,197 | 2,142,266 | 45.38 |
Gabon | 190,334 | 92.58 | 15,244 | 7.42 | 3,022 | 208,600 | 265,161 | 78.67 |
Guinea | 56,981 | 4.78 | 1,136,324 | 95.22 | 10,570 | 1,203,875 | 1,408,500 | 85.47 |
Madagascar | 1,363,059 | 77.64 | 302,557 | 22.36 | 11,859 | 1,767,475 | 2,154,939 | 82.02 |
Mauritania | 302,018 | 94.04 | 19,126 | 5.96 | 1,307 | 322,451 | 382,870 | 84.22 |
Moyen-Congo | 339,436 | 99.38 | 2,133 | 0.62 | 781 | 342,350 | 433,403 | 78.99 |
New Caledonia | 26,085 | 98.12 | 500 | 1.88 | 443 | 27,028 | 35,163 | 76.86 |
Niger | 372,383 | 78.43 | 102,395 | 21.57 | 19,175 | 493,953 | 1,320,174 | 37.42 |
Sahara | 232,113 | 98.60 | 3289 | 1.40 | 910 | 236,312 | 282,099 | 83.77 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 2,325 | 98.06 | 46 | 1.94 | 227 | 2,598 | 2,802 | 92.72 |
Senegal | 870,362 | 97.55 | 21,901 | 2.45 | 1,106 | 893,369 | 1,106,828 | 80.71 |
Ubangi-Shari | 487,033 | 98.77 | 6,089 | 1.23 | 3,553 | 496,675 | 625,663 | 79.38 |
Upper Volta | 1,415,651 | 99.18 | 11,687 | 0.82 | 3,829 | 1,431,167 | 1,914,908 | 74.74 |
Source: Direct Democracy |
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