Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has won the hotly-contested French presidential election, according to projections made from partial results.

Mr Sarkozy is estimated to have won 53% of the vote, compared with 47% for socialist Segolene Royal.

The turnout was the highest for more than two decades, at about 85%.

Mr Sarkozy, 52, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, takes over from the 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, who has been in power for 12 years.

Friendship for US

Thousands of his supporters in the Place de la Concorde burst into applause and wild cheering as the result came through.

In his victory speech, Mr Sarkozy said he would be the president of all the French.

"I love France. I love France, just as one loves someone who is very close to one," he told crowds of cheering supporters.

"France has given me everything, and now it is my turn to render to France what France has given me."

Mr Sarkozy said the US could count on France's friendship, but called on Washington to take a lead in the fight against climate change.

He also said he believed deeply in European integration, but appealed to France's European partners to understand the importance of social protection.

After he finished speaking at his party headquarters, jubilant supporters sang a rousing rendition of the French national anthem.

Third defeat

Ms Royal is the first woman ever to have made it to the second round of a French presidential election.

Conceding defeat - the third in a row for France's Socialist Party - she thanked 17m French people for their votes, saying she could measure their sadness and their pain.

"I gave it all my efforts, and will continue," she told supporters. "Something has risen up that will not stop."

She expressed the hope that "the next president of the Republic" would accomplish his mission at the service of all the French people.

Mr Sarkozy has promised to try to reform France to face the challenges of the 21st century, with putting the nation back to work at the top of his agenda.

He has pledged to bring unemployment down from 8.3% to below 5% by 2012.

Police deployed

He is also expected to bring forward policies to cut taxes and keep trains running during strikes, in the first 100 days after he takes office on 17 May.

But the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says he will have to work hard to unite the French, and try to win round those who voted against him.

More than 3,000 police have been deployed in Paris and its multi-ethnic suburbs in case Mr Sarkozy's victory sparks a repeat of the riots seen in 2005.

French pundits greeted the record turnout as a victory for French democracy.

Both candidates worked hard to woo the supporters of the third-placed candidate in round one, centrist Francois Bayrou.

Polls suggest that they each won over 40% of the Bayrou voters, and that 20% did not cast a ballot in round two.

Photo caption

Nicolas Sarkozy