French Republic

France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign state comprising territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.[XVI] The European part of France, called metropolitan France, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. France spans 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and has a total population of 66.6 million.[VI] It is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. The Constitution of France establishes the state as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.

During the Iron Age, what is now Metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The Gauls were conquered in 51 BC by the Roman Empire, which held Gaul until 486. The Gallo-Romans faced raids and migration from the Germanic Franks, who dominated the region for hundreds of years, eventually creating the medieval Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) strengthening French state-building and paving the way for a future centralized absolute monarchy. During the Renaissance, France experienced a vast cultural development and established the beginning of a global colonial empire. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).

France became Europe's dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV. French philosophers played a key role in the Age of Enlightenment during the 18th century. In the late 18th century, the absolute monarchy was overthrown in the French Revolution. Among its legacies was the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, one of the earliest documents on human rights, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France became one of modern history's earliest republics until Napoleon took power and launched the First French Empire in 1804. Fighting against a complex set of coalitions during the Napoleonic Wars, he dominated European affairs for over a decade and had a long-lasting impact on Western culture. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments: the monarchy was restored, it was replaced in 1830 by a constitutional monarchy, then briefly by a Second Republic, and then by a Second Empire, until a more lasting French Third Republic was established in 1870. The French republic had tumultuous relationships with the Catholic Church from the dechristianization of France during the French Revolution to the 1905 law establishing laïcité. Laïcité is a strict but consensual form of secularism, which is nowadays an important federative principle in the modern French society.

France reached its territorial height during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it ultimately possessed the second-largest colonial empire in the world. In World War I, France was one of the main winners as part of the Triple Entente alliance fighting against the Central Powers. France was also one of the Allied Powers in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis Powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War. The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Following World War II, most of the French colonial empire became decolonized.

Throughout its long history, France has been a leading global center of culture, making significant contributions to art, science, and philosophy. It hosts Europe's third-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites (after Italy and Spain) and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, the most of any country in the world. France remains a great power with significant cultural, economic, military, and political influence. It is a developed country with the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. According to Credit Suisse, France is the fourth wealthiest nation in the world in terms of aggregate household wealth. It also possesses the world's largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ), covering 11,691,000 square kilometres (4,514,000 sq mi).

French citizens enjoy a high standard of living, and the country performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, civil liberties, and human development. France is a founding member of the United Nations, where it serves as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. It is a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and La Francophonie. France is a founding and leading member state of the European Union (EU).

Geography

Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean; due to its shape, it is often referred to in French as l'Hexagone ("The Hexagon"). France is one of only three countries (with Morocco and Spain) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Metropolitan France is situated mostly between latitudes 41° and 51° N, and longitudes 6° W and 10° E, on the western edge of Europe, and thus lies within the northern temperate zone.

From northeast to southwest, Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain and Andorra. France also borders Suriname to its west and Brazil to its east and south, by way of the overseas region of French Guiana, which is considered an integral part of the Republic. France also shares a border with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, through the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.

The European territory of France covers 551,500 square kilometres (212,935 sq mi), the largest among European Union members. France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories (excluding Adélie Land), is 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi), 0.45% of the total land area on Earth. France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the southeast, the Massif Central in the south central and Pyrenees in the southwest.

Due to its numerous overseas departments and territories scattered on all oceans of the planet, France possesses the second-largest Exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 mi2), just behind the EEZ of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 mi2), but ahead of the EEZ of Australia (8,148,250 km2 / 4,111,312 mi2). Its EEZ covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world. 

At 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft) above sea level, the highest point in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, is situated in the Alps on the border between France and Italy. France also has extensive river systems such as the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and the Rhone, which divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the Camargue. Corsica lies off the Mediterranean coast.

Info:

Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (French) | Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
Anthem: "La Marseillaise"
Capital: Paris
Official Language: French
Religion: Roman Catholic
Demonym: French
Legislature: Parliament
Area: 643,801 km2
Currency: Euro (EUR) | CFP franc (XPF)
Time Zone: CET (UTC+1)
Summer (DST): CEST (UTC+2)
Date Format: dd-mm-yyyy
Drives on the: right
Calling code: +33
ISO 3166 Code: FR
International TLD: .fr

Largest Cities/Towns/Districts of France

1. Paris
2. Marseille
3. Lyon
4. Toulouse
5. Nice
6. Nantes
7. Strasbourg
8. Montpellier
9. Bordeaux
10. Lille
11. Rennes
12. Reims
13. Le Havre
14. Saint-Étienne
15. Toulon
16. Grenoble
17. Dijon
18. Angers
19. Villeurbanne
20. Saint-Denis

Flag of France

The national flag of France is a tricolour flag featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour (French: Tricolore).

Official Website: Gouvernement.fr

Did You Know?

• France is the most visited country in the world: 83 million tourists in 2012.
• France once controlled more than 8% of the world's land.
• Napoleon wasn't short. He was actually above the average Frenchman.
• Paris was originally a Roman city called "Lutetia".
• The French government gives medals to citizens who have "successfully raised several children with dignity."
• There's only one STOP sign in the entire city of Paris.
• In France, you can marry a dead person.
• There is a small village in France called "Pussy".
• 1 in 5 people in France has experienced depression making it the most depressed country in the world.
• French Toast Isn't French. Joseph French advertised the modern toast but forgot to add the apostrophe.
• Louis XIX was King of France for just 20 minutes.
• During WW2, when Hitler visited Paris, the French cut the lift cables on the Eiffel Tower so that Hitler would have to climb the steps if he wanted to reach the top.
• There's a Coffee Shop in France where not saying "hello" and "please" makes your coffee more expensive.
• The Mosque of Paris helped Jews escape the Nazis by giving them Muslim IDs during WW2.
• There is a town in France called Condom.
• France was the first country to introduce the license plate.
• Potatoes were illegal in France between 1748 and 1772.
• In France, it's illegal to name a pig "Napoleon".
• In France, nearly 96% of high schools have condom vending machines.
• The oldest bridge in Paris, France, is the Pont Neuf, or "New Bridge."
• King John I of France was proclaimed king five months before he was born. He only lived for five days.
• France uses 12 different time zones, the most of any country in the world.
• From 1814 to 1830, the flag of the Kingdom of France was plain white.
• For 214 years until 2012, it was illegal in Paris, France, for women to wear trousers.
• Beauty pageants for children are banned in France. They are punishable with up to 2 years in prison and a €30,000 fine.
• There are more people speaking French in Africa than in France.
• There's a small town in France called "La-mort-aux-Juifs," meaning "Death to Jews."
• You can use Skype to call toll free numbers at no charge in the U.S., UK, Taiwan and France.
• Paris taxi drivers have to pay nearly 200,000 euros for their licenses. That's why there are so few.
• Anyone who wishes to open a new store in France of more than 300 m2 must first gain permission from a government commission that includes other existing retailers.
• All champagne is produced in the Champagne region in France. Otherwise it is called sparkling wine.
• The average person in France sleeps 8.83 hours per day, the most in the developed world.
• The official city motto of Paris is "Fluctuat nec mergitur", meaning "She is tossed by the waves but does not sink."
• A member of the French Foreign Legion wounded while defending France can immediately apply for French citizenship as he is "French by spilled blood".
• Of all the countries that celebrate an independence day, 58 are independent of the UK, 26 of France, 21 of Russia and 21 of Spain.

References

• Wikipedia
• Wikimedia
• Fact Slides