France

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République française

National motto: Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood
(French: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité)

Official language

French¹

Capital

Paris

Largest City

Paris

President:

Jacques Chirac

Prime Minister:

Dominique de Villepin

Area
- Total²

- Metropolitan France³

- % water

Ranked 42nd
674,843 km²
(260,558 sq. mi.)
Ranked 47th
551,695 km²⁴
(213,011 sq. mi.)
543,965 km²⁵
(210,026 sq. mi.)
0.26%

Population
(January 1, 2005)
- Total²
- Metropolitan France³
- Density³

Ranked 20th

63,044,000
60,560,000
111/km²

GDP (PPP)
- Total (2003)
- GDP/head

Ranked 5th
$1.661 Trillion
$27,600

Currency

Euro (€)⁶, CFP Franc⁷

Time zone
- in summer

CET (UTC+1)³
CEST (UTC+2)³

National anthem

La Marseillaise

Internet TLD

.fr

Calling Code

¹ See Demographics for regional languages
² 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
³ Metropolitan (i.e. European) France only
⁴ French National Geographic Institute data
⁵ French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers
⁶ Whole of the French Republic except the overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean
⁷ French overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean only

France is a country in Europe. Its capital city is Paris.

There are many important cities in France. Some of them are Lyon, Tours, Avignon, and Marseille.

The French people speak the French language.

Some people in France also speak Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, German, Flemish, Occitan and Alsatian.

France has borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. France has two mountain ranges near its borders too, the Alps and the Pyrenees. Inside of France, there are a lot of rivers. One of these rivers is the Loire.

France is a member of the European Union and the largest country of this 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 in 'régions' and 'départements'

The main religion of France is Roman Catholic. But France is officially secular.

The most popular sport in France is soccer. In France and Europe soccer is called football.

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G8
Canada · France · Germany · Japan · Italy · United Kingdom · Russia · United States

Countries and territories of Europe
Albania - Andorra - Austria - Azerbaijan¹ - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus² - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Georgia¹ - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Republic of Macedonia - Romania - Russia¹ - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey¹ - Ukraine - United Kingdom - Vatican City
Dependencies: Akrotiri and Dhekelia² - Faroe Islands - Gibraltar - Guernsey - Jan Mayen - Jersey - Isle of Man - Svalbard
Unrecognised countries: Abkhazia \| Nagorno-Karabakh² \| South Ossetia \| Transnistria \| Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus²
1. Country partly in Asia. 2. Geographically in Asia, but often counted as part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons.

Members of the European Union (EU)
Austria - Belgium - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - United Kingdom