There is a very long history of centralisation of economic and political activity in France. Everything of importance in France happens in Paris... or so the Parisians would have you believe! However, a nice little mapping tool which has received some attention today in the geography circles I network in (sad, I know) shows there to be some truth in this assertion. The map above was produced by Yale University's geographically based economic data project ... and it does indeed show a concentration of economic activity around Paris.
The same website allows you to produce maps for many countries in the world which means that it is possible to look at the distribution of economic activity both within and between countries. Here, for example, are the maps for the UK, USA and India..... 
What do they show about regional development in the three countries?
Surprisingly, despite its predominantly rural population, India would appear to have a more even spread of economic activity than the UK with few areas showing up as blue.
USA... a nation of two halves?
