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c ( ÷ / fræns/ or / fr^ ns/ u French pronunciation (help·info): [f£^ºs]),
officially the c
(French: V , pronounced: [£epyblik f£^ºs z]), is
a state in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents
and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans.[15] Metropolitan France extends from the
Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic
Ocean. It is often referred to as
("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of
its territory. It is bordered (clockwise starting from the northeast) by Belgium, Luxembourg,
Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Monacou with Spain and Andorra to the south. France is linked
to the United Kingdom by the Channel Tunnel, which passes underneath the English Channel. In
addition to these borders on the European continent France has land borders with Suriname and
Brazil through French Guiana, as well as with The Netherlands through the Collectivity of Saint
Martin. France is the largest west-European country and possesses second-largest Exclusive
Economic Zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 mi2), just behind the one of
the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 mi2).
France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area.[16]
France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and
political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France
colonised great parts of North Americau during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the
second largest empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa,
Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands.
France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its main ideals expressed in the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. France is one of the most developed countries[17] and
possesses the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP[18] and seventh largest economy by
purchasing power parity.[19] France enjoys a high standard of living as well as a high public
education level, and has also one of the world's highest life expectancies.[20] It is the most visited
country in the world, receiving 82 million foreign tourists annually.[21] France is a founding
member of the United Nations, and a member of the Francophonie, the G8, G20, NATO, OECD,
WTO, and the Latin Union. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council
and possesses the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world[22] with ~300 active
warheads as of May 25, 2010. In 2007, France was listed 14th on the Human Development Index
and 24th on the Corruption Perception Index.
Satellite image of France
Main article: Geography of France
See also: Outline of France
While Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe, France also has a number of territories
in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the southern Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean,
and Antarctica.[52] These territories have varying forms of government ranging from overseas
department to overseas collectivity. France's overseas departments and collectivities share land
borders with Brazil, and Suriname (bordering French Guiana), and the Netherlands Antilles
(bordering Saint-Martin).
Metropolitan France covers 547,030 square kilometres (211,209 sq mi),[10] having the largest
area among European Union members.[16] France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from
coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the south-east, the Massif
Central in the south-central and Pyrenees in the south-west. At 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft)[53]
above sea level, the highest point in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, is situated in the Alps on the
border between France and Italy. Metropolitan France also has extensive river systems such as
the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, and the Rhône, which divides the Massif Central from the
Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the Camargue. Corsica lies off the Mediterranean
coast.
The Exclusive Economic Zone of France extends over 11,000,000 km2 (4,200,000 sq mi) of
ocean across the world.[54]
Metropolitan French cities with over 100,000 inhabitants
Metropolitan France is situated between 41° and 51° North, on the western edge of Europe, and
thus lies within the northern temperate zone
France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories (excluding Adélie Land), is
674,843 km2 (260,558 sq mi), 0.45% of the total land area on Earth. However, France possesses
the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world,[55] covering 11,035,000 km2
(4,260,637 sq mi), approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world, just
behind the United States (11,351,000 km2/4,382,646 sq mi) and ahead of Australia
(8,232,000 km2/3,178,393 sq mi).[56] The north and northwest have a temperate climate, while a
combination of maritime influences, latitude and altitude produce a varied climate in the rest of
Metropolitan France.[57] In the south-east a Mediterranean climate prevails. In the west, the
climate is predominantly oceanic with a high level of rainfall, mild winters and cool to warm
summers. Inland the climate becomes more continental with hot, stormy summers, colder winters
and less rain. The climate of the Alps and other mountainous regions is mainly alpine, with the
number of days with temperatures below freezing over 150 per year and snow cover lasting for
up to six months.
À
The pointe du Van, located in western Brittany
See also: Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea, National parks of
France, and Regional natural parks of France
France was one of the first countries to create a Ministry of the Environment, in 1971.[58]
Although France is one of the most industrialised and developed countries, it is ranked only
seventeenth by carbon dioxide emissions, behind such less populous nations as Canada, Saudi
Arabia or Australia. This situation results from the French government's decision to invest in
nuclear power in 1974 (after the 1973 oil crisis[59]), which now accounts for 78% of France's
energy production[60] and explains why France pollutes less than comparable countries.[61][62]
Like all European Union members, France agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 20% of
1990 levels by the year 2020,[63] in comparison the USA agreed to a fall of 4% of its
emissions[64] whereas China stated it wanted to "reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45% by the
year 2020" (compared with 2005 levels),[65] which means with a GDP growth of 8% yearly an
augmentation of 80%[64] to 250%[66] of the Chinese carbon emissions by 2020.
In 2009, the French carbon dioxide emissions per capita level is lower than the Chinese one.[67]
France was even set to impose a carbon tax in 2009 at 17 Euros per tonne of carbon dioxide
emitted.[68] The carbon tax would have brought in 4.3 billion Euros of revenue per year.[69]
However, 6 months later, the plan for a carbon tax was abandoned for various reasons, one being
that French companies would have a more difficult time competing with companies in
neighboring countries who would not have to pay such steep taxes on carbon dioxide emissions.
Instituting a carbon tax was also an unpopular political move for President Sarkozy.[70]
In 2010, a study at Yale and Columbia universities ranked France the most environmentally
conscious nation of the G20.[71][72]
Forests account for 28,27% of the land area of France,.[73][74] France is the second most wooded
country of the EU.[75] French forests are also ones of the most diversified of Europe, with more
than 140 differents varieties of trees.[76] There are 9 national parks[77] and 46 natural parks in
France.[78] France wants to convert 20% of its Exclusive Economic Zone in a Marine Protected
Area by 2020.[79]
The Place du Capitole in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) in the Midi-Pyrénées region
Main articles: Administrative divisions of France, Regions of France, and Departments of France
See also: Aire urbaine and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants (1999
census)
France is divided into 26 administrative regions.[10] 22 are in metropolitan France (21 are on the
continental part of metropolitan Franceu one is the territorial collectivity of Corsica), and four are
overseas regions. The regions are further subdivided into 100 departments[80] which are
numbered (mainly alphabetically). This number is used in postal codes and vehicle number
plates amongst others. The 100 departments are subdivided into 341 arrondissements which are,
in turn, subdivided into 4,032 cantons. These cantons are then divided into 36,680 communes,
which are municipalities with an elected municipal council. There also exist 2,588
intercommunal entities grouping 33,414 of the 36,680 communes (i.e. 91.1% of all the
communes). Three communes, Paris, Lyon and Marseille are also subdivided into 45 municipal
arrondissements.
The regions, departments and communes are all known as territorial collectivities, meaning they
possess local assemblies as well as an executive. Arrondissements and cantons are merely
administrative divisions. However, this was not always the case. Until 1940, the arrondissements
were also territorial collectivities with an elected assembly, but these were suspended by the
Vichy regime and definitely abolished by the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, the cantons
were also territorial collectivities with their elected assemblies.
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A member of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries, it is ranked as the fifth largest
economy by nominal GDP.[145] France joined 11 other EU members to launch the euro on 1
January 1999, with euro coins and banknotes completely replacing the French franc (õ) in early
2002.[146]
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France has a mixed economy which combines extensive private enterprise (nearly 2.5 million
companies registered)[148][149] with substantial (though declining[150]) state enterprise and
government intervention (see dirigisme). The government retains considerable influence over
key segments of infrastructure sectors, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft,
nuclear power and telecommunications.[150] It has been gradually relaxing its control over these
sectors since the early 1990s.[150] The government is slowly corporatising the state sector and
selling off holdings in France Télécom, Air France, as well as the insurance, banking, and
defence industries.[150] France has an important aerospace industry led by the European
consortium Airbus, and has its own national spaceport, the Ñ
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According to the WTO, in 2009 France was the world's sixth-largest exporter and the fourth-
largest importer of manufactured goods.[151] In 2008, France was the third-largest recipient of
foreign direct investment among OECD countries at $117.9 billion, ranking behind Luxembourg
(where foreign direct investment was essentially monetary transfers to banks located in that
country) and the United States ($316.1 billion), but above the United Kingdom ($96.9 billion),
Germany ($24.9 billion), or Japan ($24.4 billion).[152][153] In the same year, French companies
invested $220 billion outside of France, ranking France as the second most important outward
direct investor in the OECD, behind the United States ($311.8 billion), and ahead of the United
Kingdom ($111.4 billion), Japan ($128 billion) and Germany ($156.5 billion).[152][153] With 39 of
the 500 biggest companies of the world in 2010, Frances ranks 4th in the Fortune Global 500,
behind the USA, Japan and China, but ahead of Germany and the UK.[154]
France is the smallest emitter of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialized countries in
the world, due to its heavy investment in nuclear power.[155] As a result of large investments in
nuclear technology, most of the electricity produced in the country is generated by 59 nuclear
power plants (78% in 2006,[156] up from only 8% in 1973, 24% in 1980, and 75% in 1990). In
this context, renewable energies (see the power cooperative Enercoop) are having difficulties
taking off the ground.
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France has historically been an important producer of agricultural products.[157] Large tracts of
fertile land, the application of modern technology, and EU subsidies have combined to make
France the leading agricultural producer and exporter in Europe[158] (representing alone 20% of
the EU's agricultural production[159]) and the world's third biggest exportator of agricultural
products.[160]
Wheat, poultry, dairy, beef, and pork, as well as an internationally recognized foodstuff and wine
industry are primary French agricultural exports. EU agriculture subsidies to France have
decreased for the last years, but still amounted to $8 billion in 2007.[161] This same year, France
sold for 33.4 billions euros of transformed agricultural products.[162]
Agriculture is thus an important sector of France's economy : 3,5% of the active population is
employed in agriculture,[159] whereas the total agri-food industry made up 4.2% of French GDP
in 2005.
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With an estimated population of 65.4 million people (as of 1 Jan. 2010),[7] France is the 20th
most populous country in the world. In 2003, France's natural population growth (excluding
immigration) was responsible for almost all natural population growth in the European Union. In
2004, population growth was 0.68% and then in 2005 birth and fertility rates continued to
increase. The natural increase of births over deaths rose to 299,800 in 2006. The total fertility
rate rose to 2.02 in 2008,[7] from 1.88 in 2002.[182]
The largest cities in France, in terms of metropolitan area population, are Paris (11,769,433),
Lyon (1,748,271), Marseille (1,605,000), Lille (1,164,716), Nice (1,197,751), Toulouse
(1,102,882), Bordeaux (999,149), Nantes (804,000) and Strasbourg (639,000).
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In 2004, a total of 140,033 people immigrated to France. Of them, 90,250 were from Africa and
13,710 from Europe.[183] In 2008, France granted citizenship to 137,000 persons, mostly to
people from Morocco, Algeria and Turkey.[184]
It is illegal for the French state to collect data on ethnicity and race, a law with its origins in the
1789 revolution and reaffirmed in the constitution of 1958.[185] Nonetheless, approximately six
million of France's population are of North African descent while an estimated 2.5 million of the
population are Black Africans.[186][187] It is currently estimated that 40% of the French population
descends at least partially from the different waves of immigration the country has received.[188]
Between 1921 and 1935 about 1.1 million net immigrants came to France.[189] An estimated 1.6
million European returned to France as the country's North African possessions
gained independence.[190][191]
According to the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies, it has an
estimated 4.9 million foreign-born immigrants, of which 2 million have acquired French
citizenship.[192] France is the leading asylum destination in Western Europe with an estimated
50,000 applications in 2005 (a 15% decrease from 2004).[193] The European Union allows free
movement between the member states. While UK and Ireland did not impose restrictions, France
put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration.
A perennial political issue concerns rural depopulation. Over the period 1960±1999 fifteen rural
experienced a decline in population. In the most extreme case, the population of
Creuse fell by 24%.
According to Article 2 of the Constitution, amended in 1992, French is the sole official language
of France.[194] Therefore, France is the only Western European nation (excluding microstates) to
have only one officially recognised language. However, 77 regional languages are also spoken,
in metropolitan France as well as in the overseas departments and territories. Until recently, the
French government and state school system discouraged the use of any of these languages, but
they are now taught to varying degrees at some schools.[195] Other languages, such as Portuguese,
Italian, Maghrebi Arabic and several Berber languages are spoken by immigrants.
