France has the third largest diplomatic force in the world after the USA and China. There are 14,264 French diplomats in the world, which is 12% fewer diplomats than 10 years ago.

Diplomatic missions of France

A long time ago, diplomacy was a career for aristocrats. Now, this is not the case anymore.

The role of a diplomat is multifaceted. They mainly represent France and its particular culture and traditions as well as promoting French trade.

What has significantly changed is that there are now more female diplomats than ever before, which is impressive given that women were only given the right to peruse this career in 1928. It was an excessively tough career for women, with the first female diplomat finally succeeding in attaining her role in 1930. The first French female ambassador was Marcelle Campana, who went to her post in Panama in 1972. Thanks to the efforts of these women earlier on, the Quai d’Orsay now has a workforce comprising 53% of women.

This article was inspired by that of Le Figaro, which you can read here.