 |
del.icio.us |
 |
Digg |
 |
Furl |
 |
|
 |
Rojo |
| Add to OnlyWire |
| République française | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||
| National information | |||||
| National motto: | National motto: Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood (French: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité) |
||||
| National anthem: | La Marseillaise | ||||
| About the people | |||||
| Official languages: | French | ||||
| Population: (# of people) | |||||
| - Total: | 63,044,000[1]
|
||||
| - Density: | 111 per km² | ||||
| Geography / Places | |||||
 |
|||||
| Capital city: | Paris | ||||
| Largest city: | Paris | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total: | 674,843 km² (ranked 40) | ||||
| Politics / Government | |||||
| Leaders: | President: | ||||
| Economy / Money | |||||
| Currency: (Name of money) |
Euro (€)[3], CFP Franc[4] | ||||
| International information | |||||
| Time zone: | in summer | ||||
| Telephone dialing code: | 33 | ||||
| Internet domain: | .fr | ||||
France (French: France), officially the French Republic (French: République française) is a country in Europe. Its capital city is Paris. France is a member of the European Union. France is known for its many monuments, structures, and places such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Giverny, Versailles, and Notre Dame. France is a country divided into régions and départements.
There are many important cities in France. Some of them are Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes and of course Paris.
Contents |
History
The monarchy ruled France until the French Revolution in 1789. Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793. Thousands of other French citizens were also killed. Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the Republic in 1799. He later made himself Emperor of the First Empire (1804–1814). During several wars, his armies conquered most of continental Europe.
After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the French monarchy was re-established. Later Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte created the Second Empire in 1852. Louis-Napoléon was removed after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. His regime was replaced by the Third Republic.
France built a large colonial empire In the 18th and 19th centuries. The empire included parts of West Africa and Southeast Asia. The culture and politics of these regions were influenced by France. Many ex-colonies officially speak the French language.
Geography
France is in Western Europe. France has borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. France has two mountain ranges near its borders: the Alps and the Pyrenees. In France there are a lot of rivers. One of these rivers is the Loire. Low hills and river valleys cover much of north and west France. The climate of France is varied. The Atlantic has a large effect on the weather in the north and west. The east has cold clear winters and hot, often stormy, summers.
Regions
France is split into (administrative) regions. 22 of them are in Metropolitan France (the part of the country that is in Europe):
|
1. Alsace |
12. Île-de-France |
 |
- Corsica has a different status than the other 21 metropolitan regions. It is called collectivité territoriale.
France also has 4 overseas regions:
-
- Guadeloupe (in the Caribbean)
- French Guiana (in South America)
- Martinique (in the Caribbean)
- Réunion (in the Indian Ocean)
These four overseas regions have the same status as the metropolitan ones. They are like the overseas American states of Alaska and Hawaii.
Language
French is the official language of France. It belongs to the Romance language group, which includes Italian and Spanish. Many regional dialects are used in France. Alsatian, a German dialect is spoken in Alsace and in parts of Lorraine in eastern France. French used to be the language of diplomacy and culture in Europe around 17th - 19th century.
Some people in France also speak Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, German, Flemish, and Occitan.
Religion
France is a secular country and freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution. The population is about 51% Roman Catholic, 31% is agnostics or atheists. 10% identified as being from other religions or being without opinion, 4% identified as Muslim, 3% identified as Protestant, 1% identified as Jewish.
Literature
French literature began in the Middle Ages. French was divided into several dialects at the time. Each writer used his own spelling and grammar.
During the 17th century Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine and Molière's plays and Blaise Pascal and René Descartes's books influenced the aristocracy. They also influenced future authors.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, French literature and poetry reach its highest point. The 18th century saw the writings of such writers, essayists and moralists as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As concerns French children's literature in those times, Charles Perrault was probably the most prolific writer, with stories such as: “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Puss in Boots”.
Many famous French novels were written in the The 19th century by author such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Jules Verne. These include highly popular novels such as The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte-Cristo, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, or The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Other 19th century fiction writers include Emile Zola, Guy de Maupassant, Théophile Gautier and Stendhal.
Sports
The tour de france cycling race in July is one of the best-known sporting events. It is a 3 week (3,630 km) race that covers most of France and ends in the center of Paris. Football is another popular sport in France. They won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and the UEFA European Football Championship in 1984 and 2000.
Attractions
One of the most famous attractions in France is the Eiffel Tower. It is in Paris, the capital of France, beside the River Seine. Another one is Mont St Michel.
An European Disneyland is located in a suburb east of Paris. The resort opened in 1992 and is a popular tourist destination in Europe.
References
- ↑ Whole territory of the French Republic, including all the overseas departments and territories, but excluding the French territory of Terre Adélie in Antarctica where sovereignty is suspended since the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Metropolitan (i.e. European) France only
- ↑ Whole of the French Republic except the overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean
- ↑ French overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean only
Other websites
- France Maps & Photographs
- France Travel Guide
- Guide To Paris The Capital Of France With Pictures & Paris City Map
- France Pictures
- France Map
- Song La France
- CIA World Factbook-France
- Cities and Towns in France with lescommunes.com
|
|
|---|
| Canada · France · Germany · Japan · Italy · United Kingdom · Russia · United States |
| European Union member and candidate countries | ||
|---|---|---|
| Members | Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom |  |
| Candidates | Croatia · Macedonia · Turkey | |
| Potential candidates | Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Kosovo · Montenegro · Serbia | |
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Member countries | Belgium · Bulgaria · Canada · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States |
| Acceding countries | Albania · Croatia |
| Candidate countries | Georgia · Macedonia · Ukraine |
