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France
Aerial view of the city and palace of Versailles. The palace and its gardens were built for Louis XIVthe Sun Kingit lies southwest of Paris.
Image: ToucanWings
Location map of France
France in brief
Destination Francea Nations Online Project country profile of the "Grande Nation."
France is located on the western edge of Europebordered by the Bay of Biscay (North Atlantic Ocean) to the westby the English Channel to the northwestand by the North Sea to the north. France borders Belgium and Luxembourg in the northeastGermanySwitzerland, and Italy in the east the Mediterranean SeaMonacoSpain and Andorra to the south. In additionFrance shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom.
Metropolitan Franceor Mainland Francecovers an area of 551,695 km²; it includes the island of Corsica. Comparedit is more than twice the size of the United Kingdom or more than twice the size of the U.S. state of Colorado.
France has a total population of 68.4 million people (in 2024)66.25 million people live in Metropolitan France (the European part of France plus Corsica)and about 2.2 million in its overseas regions (French GuianaGuadeloupeMartiniqueMayotteand Reunion). Other major dependencies are French Polynesia and New Caledonia. The largest city and capital is Paris. Spoken language is French (official).
About 50% of the population of France are Christians; about 40% do not belong to or believe in any religion. Islam is the second largest religion (about 9%).
French Republic | République française
Background:
Since prehistoric timesthe region that is known today as France has been the scene of tradetraveland invasions. Three basic European ethnic stocks--CelticLatinand Teutonic (Frankish)--have blended over the centuries to make up France's present population.
Today France is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations.
Since 1958it has constructed a presidential democracy resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier parliamentary democracies. In recent yearsits reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europeincluding the advent of the euro in January 1999.
PresentlyFrance is at the forefront of European states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European defense and security apparatus.
France is the most visited country in the worldwith 89.4 million foreign tourists in 2018.
Country Profile
Official Name:
République française
short form: France
int'l long form: French Republic
int'l short form: France
ISO Country Code: FR - FRA - .fr
Time:
Time Zone: Central European Time (CET)
Local Time = UTC +1h
Actual Time: Thu-Feb-12 19:46
DST: March - October (UTC +2h)
Country Calling Code: +33
Capital City: Paris
The Romans called her Lutetia.
Major Cities:
BordeauxCannesLilleLyonMarseilleMontpellierNantesNiceStrasbourgToulouse
Other Cities in France
List of links to official French city sites.
Government:
Type: Republic.
Constitution: The Constitution of 4 October 1958.
Geography:
Location: Central Western Europebordering the Bay of Biscay and the English Channelbetween Belgium and Spainsoutheast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Seabetween Italy and Spain.
Area: 551,500 km² (220,668 sq. mi.); largest west European country.
Terrain: Mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; mountainousespecially the Pyrenees in the southand the Alps in the southeast.
Climate: Generally cool to cold winters and mild summersbut mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean; occasional strongcolddrynorth-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral.
People:
Nationality: French.
Population: 68.4 million (in 2024) including the French overseas regions66.25 million people live in European Metropolitan France.
Real GDP per capita: $55,200 (2023 est.)
Ethnic groups: Celtic and Latin with TeutonicSlavicNorth AfricanSub-Saharan AfricanIndochineseand Basque minorities.
Religion: Roman Catholic 47%; Islam 9%
Language: French.
Literacy: 99%.
Transparency: Rank 23 (out of 180 countries); Score 69on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). France is ranked in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 between the Uruguay and Bhutan.
Economy:
Natural resources: coaliron orebauxitezincuraniumantimonyarsenic potashfeldspargypsumtimberand fish.
Agriculture products: wheatcerealssugar beetspotatoeswine grapesbeefdairy productsand fish.
Industries: machinerychemicalsautomobilesmetallurgyaircraftelectronicstextilesfood processingand tourism.
Exports - commodities: machinery and transportation equipmentaircraftplasticschemicalspharmaceutical productsiron and steeland beverages.
Exports partners: Germany 13%Italy 9%United States 8%Belgium 8%Spain 8% (2022)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipmentvehiclescrude oilaircraftplasticschemicals.
Imports partners: Germany 15%Belgium 9%Spain 8%Italy 8%Netherlands 8% (2022)
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Official Sites of France
View of the French National Assembly from the Quai des Tuilerieswith the Pont de la Concorde bridge across the River Seine in Paris.
Image: Jebulon
Political System of France
France's political system is that of a semi-presidential republicdefined by the Constitution. There is the separation of powers which consists of an executive brancha legislative branchand a judicial branch. The head of state and head of the executive is the President. The President and the government exercise executive power. The French Government consists of the Prime Minister and ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and is responsible to Parliament.
Government
Note: External links will open in a new browser window.
Présidence de la République française
The Elysée Palace - President of France.
Gouvernement.fr
Official website of the French Government.
Service-Public.fr
The official website of the French administration. A portal to French government agencies and services. (in French)
French Parliament
The French Congress is made up of two chambersthe National Assembly (the lower house) and the Senate.
Assemblée nationale
The French National Assembly.
Sénat français
The French Senate.
Ministère de l'Outre-Mer
The Ministry for the French Overseas Departments of French GuianaFrench PolynesiaGuadeloupeGuyanaMartiniqueNew Caledonia, and Réunion. (in French)
France Diplomatie - Ministère des Affaires Etrangères
Information about France in various languages by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Diplomatic Missions
French Mission to the United Nations
France is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
France in the United States
Embassy of France in WashingtonD.C.
French Embassies and Consulates abroad (in French)
List of French diplomatic missions around the world.
Embassies and consulates in France
List of foreign missions in France.
Statistics
INSEE - Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques
The National Institute of Statistics - France in facts and figures.
Weather
Météo-France
Official French weather and many advertisements.
Maps of France
Map of France (click map to enlarge)
Image: © nationsonline.org
Maps
Map of FrancePolitical Map of France.
Google
Map FranceSearchable map and satellite view of France.
Google
Map ParisSearchable map and satellite view of France's capital.
Google
Map Eiffel TowerSatellite view of the Eiffel Tower.
Google
Map Palace of VersaillesAnnotated map and satellite view of the Palace of Versailles.
Cities: BordeauxCannesLilleLyonMarseilleMontpellierNantesNiceStrasbourgToulouse
Map
of EuropePolitical Map of Europe.
Map of the
Mediterranean SeaPolitical Map of the Mediterranean Sea region.
News from France
French Media
The country's most popular medium is television.
TF1the most popular domestic stationis privately owned by the TF1 Group.
France Télévisionsthe French public television stationis financed by a TV licence fee and advertising revenues.
France has more than 100 daily newspapers and most of them are in private hands and not linked to political parties.
But - editorial independence is insufficiently protected against conflicts of interest involving media owners and the tendency for businessmen to acquire media outlets for influence purposes. Journalists are also exposed to a climate of hostility fed by politicians using aggressive languageand to harassment on social mediawhere they are favourite targets of trolls of all kinds hiding behind their screens and pseudonyms. [1]
Online News from France
AFP
Agence France-Presse - news and photo agency.
La Croix
French general-interest Roman Catholic newspaper.
L'Express
National and international news. (in French)
Les Echos
Business and Finance Information. (in French)
Le Figaro
French daily with national and international news. (in French)
Le Monde
National and international news. (in French)
Le Monde diplomatiqueInternational news and background information.
Le Parisien
National and international news. (in French)
Libération
National and international news. (in French)
Nice-Matin
Regional and national news. (in French)
Paris Match
Magazine Paris Match. (in French)
La Tribune
Business and Finance Information. (in French)
TV
France 24
French state-owned international news network.
France Info
French public news channel.
LCI
La Chaîne Info news channel. (part of TF1 Group)
International News sources
Le Temps
Swiss Le Temps with articles about France. (in French)
France | World | The Guardian
UK newspaper with articles about France.
Arts & Culture of France
The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris is an art museum in a high-tech architecture building. There are offshoot branches of the museum in MetzFranceand MalagaSpain.
Image: Sean X Liu
Arts & Culture
Ministère de la Culture et de la CommunicationThe homepage of the French Ministry of Culture. offers insight into French culture.
Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand PalaisThe French cultural umbrella organization merged with the Grand PalaisFrance's exhibition hall in Paris.
Musée du LouvreThe Louvre museum.
Centre Georges Pompidou
Modern Art Museum in Paris.
Public information library at the Georges Pompidou Centre (BPI)
Paris first free public library at the Centre Georges Pompidou art complex.
La bibliothèque nationale de France
The National Library of France.
Chateau de VersaillesReflections of the French Monarchy.
Festival International du Film de Cannes
Cannes International Film Festivalthe Official Site.
La Grotte de Lascaux
The Cave of Lascaux.
Jules Verne Museum
The Jules Verne Museum in Nantes.
French Museums
List of Links to the most important French Museums.
Asterix
Asterix and Obelix Official Site.
Business & Economy of France
Barges on the Seine river between the Bois de Boulogne and SuresnesLa Défensethe Central Business District of Paris on the horizon.
Image: Pline
The French economy
The French economy is a highly developed and free-market-orientated business model. The government has partially or fully privatized many large companiesincluding Air FranceFrance Telecom (now Orange S.A.)Renaultand Thales (now Thales Group).
Key sectors are the chemical industry (Air LiquideGroupe Roullier)energy (France runs 58 nuclear plants operated by Électricité de France (EDF)with a total capacity of 63.1 GWe.). Other chief branches are automotive (PeugeotRenault)banking (BNP PARIBASSociété GénéraleCrédit Agricole)insurance (AXA)retail (CarrefourAuchan)and the petroleum industry (Total S.A.).
Business France
The official website for international business development.
The French economy is diversified across all sectors. The government has partially or fully privatized many large companiesincluding Air FranceFrance Telecom (now Orange S.A.)Renaultand Thales (now Thales Group). But the French government still maintains a strong presence in some sectorsparticularly in power (EDF)public transport (SNCF)and the defense industries.
Banque de France
The French Central Bank.
Euronext Paris (Bourse de Paris)
Association of French Stock Exchanges (Euronext France).
Organisation du réseau des Chambres de Commerce et d'Industrie CCI
Chambers of Commerce and Industry of France.
CCIP - Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Paris.
Transportation
Airlines
Air France
The French Airline.
Airports
Aéroports de Paris
Official site for Orly and Roissy (Charles de Gaulle) airports.
Côte d'Azur International Airport
The third-largest airport in France in terms of passengers.
Marseille Provence Airport
Marseille-Marignane Airport is the fifth busiest French airport by passenger traffic.
Saint-Exupéry International Airport
Lyon's international airport.
Rail
Eurostar
High-speed passenger train linking LondonParisand Brussels.
SNCF
The French Railroad.
TGV
A very fast French train. France's intercity high-speed rail service.
French products
From jewelryfashion and perfume to foie grasmustard and cheeseFrance offers a range of world-class products.
Cars
Citroën
Typical French vehicles.
Peugeot
Typical French cars.
Renault
More typical French cars.
Fashion & Cosmetics
Chanel
N°5
Christian Dior
Fashion & Fragrance.
Christian Lacroix
Couturier.
ELLE
International Fashion Magazine.
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Couturier.
Givenchy
Parfums Givenchy.
Lancôme
Le monde de Lancôme.
Louis Vuitton
Luxury Accessories.
Lumière
Internet Fashion Magazine.
Prêt à porter Paris
Virtual Catwalk.
Vouge
International Fashion Magazine.
Yves Saint Laurent
Haute couture.
Christian Louboutin
French fashion designer whose footwear
Hermès
French high fashion luxury goods manufacturer
Christian Dior
French luxury goods company
Wines & Champagne
Château Lafite Rothschild
Château-Margaux Moët & Chandon
Dom Pérignon.
Perrier-Jouët
Champagne from the Épernay region.
Piper-Heidsieck
Champagne Pommery
Another Champagne house located in Reims.
Louis Roederer Champagne
The producer of champagne based in ReimsFrancewas founded in 1776.
Ruinart
The oldest established Champagne house.
Taittinger
The Counts of Champagne.
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin
More Champagne.
Misc
Christofle
Arts de la table.
Danone
French yogurt.
Evian
French Table Water from Évian-les-Bains.
Tourism in France
.jpg "Château de ChambordFrance")
Château de Chambordthe castle in French Renaissance architecture is situated in the Loir-et-Cher department in the Loire Valley region of France.
Image: Daniel Jolivet
Destination France - Travel and Tour Guides
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Discover France:France is the most visited country in the world and maintains the third largest income in the world from more than 89.4 million foreign tourists (in 2018).
Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
The site of the French Ministry provides travel and tourism information.
France.frThe official website of the French tourism bureau offers comprehensive information for vacationaccommodation and leisure activities in France. (English version of the French Government Tourist Office)
VisitFrenchWine.com
France’s official wine tourism portal.
Beyond the French Riviera
Travel in the Provence beyond the Côte d'Azur and French Riviera.
ViaFrance
A guide to tourist destinations in France.
Paris
Paris.fr
The official website of Paris. (in French)
Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau
The official travel and tourism guide to Paris.
Pariscope
Paris Magazine. (in French)
The Eiffel Tower
The official site of Eiffel Tower.
More Cities of France:
Paris (the City of Light) Cities in FranceList of links to official French city tourist sites.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Aerial-view of the medieval citadel of Carcassonne in the Occitanie region of Southern France. The Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image: Chensiyuan
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in France
There are 45 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in France39 culturalfive naturalone mixedand 37 sites inscribed on the Tentative Listan inventory of those properties which a state party intends to consider for nomination. (see UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in France)
Decorated Cave of Pont d’ArcThe Decorated Cave of Pont d’Arcknown as Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arcis located in a limestone cliff of the Ardèche River in Southern France.
The site contains the earliest and best preserved known cave paintings in the world. The pictorial drawings were carbon-dated to as early as the Aurignacian period (30,000 to 32,000 BP). The cave was closed off by a rock fall approximately 20,000 years BP and remained sealed until its rediscovery in 1994.
Gulf of PortoGulf of Porto: Calanche of PianaGulf of GirolataScandola Reserve.
The Gulf of Porto is part of the Réserve Naturelle de Scandola which occupies the Scandola peninsula at the north-western coast of Corsica. The vegetation of the nature reserve is scrubland populated by seagullscormorants and sea eagles. The clear waters of the gulfswith their islets and inaccessible caveshost a rich marine life.
Chartres CathedralThe cathedral of Notre-Dame d'Chartres is considered to be the high point of French Gothic art and one of the most authentic and complete works of religious architecture of the early 13th century. The Roman Catholic church is located in the city of Chartres in northwestern Franceabout 90 km (56 mi) by road southwest of Paris. The cathedral is famous for its architectural innovationsits numerous sculptures and its more than 150 stained glass windows.
Education in France
Campus and mainbuilding of the École Polytechnique in Palaiseau in the southern suburbs of Paris.
Image: École Polytechnique
Grandes écoles and Universities
Campus France
Campus France is a public organization which promotes French higher education and vocational training for foreigners.
ENA - École Nationale d'Administration
The National School of Administration is a French grande écolecreated in 1945 by French PresidentCharles de Gaulle.
École Centrale Paris
École Centrale Paris was the first grande école. In 2015École Centrale Paris merged with Supélec to form CentraleSupéleca constituent institute of the University of Paris-Saclay.
École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique is one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France.
Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris - ESSEC
Selective French business school with campuses in ParisBerlinLondonMadridTurinand Warsaw.
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
Sciences Po is a recognized university for politics and international studies in Paris.
Université de Montpellier
The University of Montpellier was the first faculty of medicine in France and is one of the oldest universities in Europefounded in 1220 (in French)
Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne
Paris1 is a multidisciplinary university established in 1971 - following the division of the University of Paris (founded: c. 1150).
Université Panthéon-Assas
Paris II Assas is a research university specialized in law and economics in Paris.
What is a French Grande École?
About the French elite education by the Grandes Ecoles.
List of universities and colleges in France
by Wikipedia.
Science & Research
French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
CNRS is a French state research organization and the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
The French Space Agency (CNES)
CNES is the French government space agency.
Sophia Antipolis Science Park
The technology park or more a high-tech cluster near Cannes/Nice.
Environment & Nature
Lake Gentau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques of France.
Image: Cptcv
French National Parks
Calanques National Park
The park is located in Bouches-du-Rhônebetween MarseilleCassisand La Ciotat in Southern France.
Cévennes National Park
A French NP in the mountainous area of the Cévennes. The Causses and the CévennesMediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ecrins National Park
A National Park in the Dauphiné Alps south of the city of Grenoble.
Mercantour National Park
Mercantour NP is situated in the Maritime Alps. Within the park lies the Vallée des Merveilles the valley is famous for the largest number of outdoor Bronze Age rock paintings in Europe.
Port-Cros National Park
A NP on the island of Port-Croseast of Toulon.
Pyrénées National Park
A French national park along the border of France and Spain in the Pyrénées mountains.
Vanoise National Park
A French national park in the French Alps.
French Environmental Organizations
Agir pour l'environnement
Action for the Environment is a French organization for mobilizing citizens to protect the environment.
Europe Écologie Les Verts
The Green party of France.
GERES
International Group for the EnvironmentRenewable Energyand Solidarity.
Réseau Action Climat
RAC-F is the French representative of Climate Action Network International (CAN-I)
Sortir du Nucléaire
is an organization which regularly campaigns against the use of nuclear power in France and in the world. The website of the French federation of anti-nuclear groups offers also a map of the 58 nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations in France.
France History
Liberty Leading the People. The romantic history painting commemorates the French Revolution of 1830. Musée du Louvre.
Painting: Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)
Archives nationales France
The French national archives.
History of FranceFrance's history at a glance.
Napoléon
Commander Bonaparte's home page.
Creating French Culture
The relationship between power and culture in French history.
(A Library of Congress Exhibition with treasures from the Bibliothèque nationale de France)
French RevolutionCausesFactsand a Summary by the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
French Revolution - The UK National Archives
How did the British react to July 1789?
Corsica
Cliffs of Bonifacioa town at the southern tip of the island of CorsicaFrance.
Image: JustinPoulsen
Corsica
Corsica (French name Corse) is a mountainous Mediterranean island 200 km southeast of Nice on the French mainland 100 km west of Italyand just north of the Italian island of Sardinia. The 4th-largest Mediterranean island is part of France since 1768but still has a distinct Italian culture.
340,000 people live on Corsica (in 2020); major towns are AjaccioBastiaCalviCorteand Sartène. The island was the birthplace of Napoleon I.
Cullettivita di Corsica - Collectivité de Corse
Official website of the island.
Island Guides
Corsica
Official website for tourism in France.
Corsica Guide
Corsica Directory.
Go to Corsica
Complete guide for staying and leisurehundreds of accommodation links.
Visit-Corsica
Corsica travel and holidays magazine
Education
Pascal Paoli University of Corsica
The French university in Corte is the only university on the island of Corsica.
Additional Information
Selected country profiles of France published by international organizations.
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Amnesty International: FranceAmnesty International is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights.
BBC Country Profile: France
Country profiles by the British public service broadcaster.
EU Member Countries: France
EU member countries in briefFrance.
FAO: France
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Freedom House: France
The U.S. government-funded non-profit organization whose goal is to promote liberal democracies worldwide.
GlobalEDGE: France
The Global Business Knowledge Portal about France.
The Heritage Foundation: France
Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundationan American conservative think tank.
Human Rights Watch: France
HRW conducts research and advocacy on human rights.
OEC: France
The Observatory of Economic Complexity provides the latest trade data.
Reporters Without Borders: France
RSF (Reporters sans frontières) is an international NGO that defends and promotes media freedom.
Wikipedia: France
Wikipedia's France page in many languages.
The CIA World Factbook -- France
The CIA World Factbook's France Page.
Overseas Departments of France: Guadeloupe | Martinique | French
Guiana | Réunion
Overseas Countries: French Polynesia | New Caledonia
Other Countries in Western Europe
Austria | Belgium | Germany | Liechtenstein | Luxembourg | Monaco | Netherlands | Switzerland
Countries in the Mediterranean:
Albania | Algeria | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Cyprus | Egypt | Gaza Strip | Greece | Israel | Italy | Lebanon | Libya | Malta | Monaco | Montenegro | Morocco | Portugal | Slovenia | Spain | Syria | Tunisia | Turkey
Overseas Countries: French Polynesia | New Caledonia
Other Countries in Western Europe
Austria | Belgium | Germany | Liechtenstein | Luxembourg | Monaco | Netherlands | Switzerland
Countries in the Mediterranean:
Albania | Algeria | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Cyprus | Egypt | Gaza Strip | Greece | Israel | Italy | Lebanon | Libya | Malta | Monaco | Montenegro | Morocco | Portugal | Slovenia | Spain | Syria | Tunisia | Turkey