History
The borders of modern France closely match those of the ancient territory of
Gaul, inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Gaul was conquered by the
Romans in the first century BC, and the Gauls eventually adopted Romance
speech and culture. Christianity also took root in the second and third
centuries AD. Gaul's eastern frontiers along the Rhine were overrun by
Germanic tribes in the fourth century AD, principally the Franks, from which
the ancient name of "Francie" derived, modern name "France" derives from the
name of the feudal domain of the Capetian Kings of France around Paris (see
now Île-de-France).
Although the French monarchy is often dated to the 5th century, France's
continuous existence as a separate entity begins with the 9th-century
division of Charlemagne's Frankish empire into an eastern and a western
part. The eastern part can be regarded the beginnings of what is now Germany,
the western part that of France.
Charlemagne's descendants ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of
France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of France. His descendants,
starting with the Capetian dynasty, ruled France until 1792, when the French
Revolution established a Republic, in a period of increasingly radical
change that began in 1789.
Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the republic in 1799, making himself
First Consul. His armies engaged in several wars across Europe, conquered
many countries and established new kingdoms with Napoleon's family members
at the helm. Following his defeat in 1815, monarchial rule was restored to
France, which was then legislatively abolished and followed by a Second
Republic. The second republic ended when the late Emperor's nephew, Louis-Napoléon
Bonaparte was elected President and proclaimed a Second Empire. Less
ambitious than his uncle, the second Napoleon was also ultimately unseated,
and republican rule returned for a third time.
Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France suffered
extensive losses in its empire wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant
nation-state. Since 1958, it has constructed a presidential democracy (known
as the Fifth Republic) that has not succumbed to the instabilities
experienced in earlier more parliamentary regimes.
In recent decades, France's reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have
proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the
introduction of the Euro in January 1999.
Today, France 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 political, defence and security apparatus.
It is also one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and
holds nuclear weapons.
Politics
The constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by public referendum on
September 28, 1958. It greatly strengthened the authority of the executive
in relation to Parliament. Under the constitution, the president is elected
directly for a 5-year (originally 7-year) term. Presidential arbitration
assures regular functioning of the public powers and the continuity of the
state. The president names the prime minister, presides over the cabinet,
commands the armed forces, and concludes treaties.
The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) is the principal legislative
body. Its deputies are directly elected to 5-year terms, and all seats are
voted on in each election. The Assembly has the power to dismiss the cabinet,
and thus the majority in the Assembly determines the choice of government.
Senators are chosen by an electoral college for 6-year terms, and one half
of the Senate is renewed every 3 years (starting 2007 (http://www.senat.fr/role/senate.html)).
The Senate's legislative powers are limited; the National Assembly has the
last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses, except for
constitutional laws (amendements to the constitution & "lois organiques").
The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament.
French politics, for the past 30 years, have been characterised by the
opposition of two political groups: one left-wing, centered around the
French Socialist Party, and one right-wing, centered around the RPR, then
its successor the UMP. The Front National far-right party, advocating
tougher law-and-order and immigration policies, has made inroads since the
early 1980s and seems to remain stable at around 16% of the votes.
Administrative divisions
France has 26 regions (French: région), which are further subdivided into
100 départements. The departments are numbered (mainly alphabetically) and
this number is used, for instance, in postal codes and vehicle number plates.
Alsace
67 Bas-Rhin
68 Haut-Rhin
Aquitaine
24 Dordogne
33 Gironde
40 Landes
47 Lot-et-Garonne
64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Auvergne
03 Allier
15 Cantal
43 Haute-Loire
63 Puy-de-Dôme
Basse-Normandie
14 Calvados
50 Manche
61 Orne
Bourgogne (Burgundy)
21 Côte-d'Or
58 Nièvre
71 Saône-et-Loire
89 Yonne
Bretagne (Brittany)
22 Côtes-d'Armor
29 Finistère
35 Ille-et-Vilaine
56 Morbihan
Centre
18 Cher
28 Eure-et-Loir
36 Indre
37 Indre-et-Loire
41 Loir-et-Cher
45 Loiret
Champagne-Ardenne
08 Ardennes
10 Aube
51 Marne
52 Haute-Marne
Corse (Corsica)
2A Corse-du-Sud
2B Haute-Corse
Franche-Comté
25 Doubs
39 Jura
70 Haute-Saône
90 Territoire-de-Belfort
Haute-Normandie
27 Eure
76 Seine-Maritime
Ile-de-France
75 Paris
77 Seine-et-Marne
78 Yvelines
91 Essonne
92 Hauts-de-Seine
93 Seine-Saint-Denis
94 Val-de-Marne
95 Val-d'Oise
Languedoc-Roussillon
11 Aude
30 Gard
34 Hérault
48 Lozère
66 Pyrénées-Orientales
Limousin
19 Corrèze
23 Creuse
87 Haute-Vienne
Lorraine
54 Meurthe-et-Moselle
55 Meuse
57 Moselle
88 Vosges
Midi-Pyrénées
09 Ariège
12 Aveyron
31 Haute-Garonne
32 Gers
46 Lot
65 Hautes-Pyrénées
81 Tarn
82 Tarn-et-Garonne
Nord-Pas-de-Calais
59 Nord
62 Pas-de-Calais
Pays-de-la-Loire
44 Loire-Atlantique
49 Maine-et-Loire
53 Mayenne
72 Sarthe
85 Vendée
Picardie
02 Aisne
60 Oise
80 Somme
Poitou-Charentes
16 Charente
17 Charente-Maritime
79 Deux-Sèvres
86 Vienne
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
05 Hautes-Alpes
06 Alpes-Maritimes
13 Bouches-du-Rhône
83 Var
84 Vaucluse
Rhône-Alpes
01 Ain
07 Ardèche
26 Drôme
38 Isère
42 Loire
69 Rhône
73 Savoie
74 Haute-Savoie
Départements d'outre mer (DOM)
(Overseas departments), each of them being a département and a region at the
same time:
971 Guadeloupe
972 Martinique
973 French Guiana
974 Réunion
Collectivités territoriales (Territorial Collectivities):
975 Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
976 Mayotte
Pays et Territoires d'outre-mer (PTOM) (Overseas Countries and Territories):
986 Wallis and Futuna
987 French Polynesia
988 New Caledonia (pays d'outre mer from 1998)
French Southern and Antarctic Territories (including France's Antarctic
claim)
The departments are further subdivided into 342 arrondissements.
The overseas departments are former colonies outside France that now enjoy a
status similar to European or metropolitan France. They are considered to be
a part of France (and the EU) rather than dependent territories, and each of
them is a region at the same time.
The overseas territories and countries form part of the French Republic, but
do not form part of the Republic's European territory or the EU fiscal area.
They continue to use the French Pacific Franc as their currency, which was
not replaced by the euro like the French franc was in 2002. The French
Pacific Franc's value is, however, now tied to that of the euro.
The territorial collectivities have an intermediate status between overseas
department and overseas territory.
France also maintains control over a number of other small islands in the
Indian Ocean and the Pacific, including Bassas da India, Clipperton Island,
Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, Tromelin Island. See
Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Geography
While the main territory of France (la métropole) is located in Western
Europe, France is also constituted from territories in North America, the
Caribbean, South America, the western and southern Indian Ocean, the
northern and southern Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica (sovereignty claims in
Antarctica are not recognised by most countries, see Antarctic Treaty).
Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the North Sea, and
from the Rhine River to the Atlantic Ocean; it is bordered by the United
Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra,
and Spain. The French Republic also shares land borders overseas with Brazil,
Suriname, and the Netherlands.
France possesses a large variety of landscapes, ranging from coastal plains
in the north and west, where France borders the North Sea and the Atlantic
Ocean, to the mountain ranges in the south (the Pyrenees) and the southeast
(the Alps), of which the latter contains the highest point of Europe, the
Mont Blanc at 4810 m.
In between are found other elevated regions such as the Massif Central or
the Vosges mountains and extensive river basins such as those of the Loire
River, the Rhone River, the Garonne and Seine.
National parks (France)
Maritime territory (EEZ)
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 sq. miles), just
behind the EEZ of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq. miles),
but ahead of the EEZ of Australia (8,232,000 km² / 3,178,000 sq. miles).
According to a different calculation cited by the Pew Research Center, the
EEZ of France would be 10,084,201 km² (3,893,532 sq. miles), behind the
United States (12,174,629 km² / 4,700,651 sq. miles), but ahead of Australia
(8,980,568 km² / 3,467,416 sq. miles) and Russia (7,566,673 km² / 2,921,508
sq. miles).
The EEZ of France covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the
EEZs of the world, whereas the land area of the French Republic is only
0.45% of the total land area of the Earth.
Economy
The economy of France, a highly diversified market economy with now only a
handful of state-owned companies, is among the most developed ones, with
large input of high technologies. It ranked as the fourth-largest in the
world in 2003, behind the United States, Japan, and Germany
According to the WTO, in 2003 France was the fifth-largest exporter in
merchandise trade in the world (behind the United States, Germany, Japan,
and China, but ahead of the United Kingdom), and the fourth-largest importer
(behind the United States, Germany, and China, but ahead of the United
Kingdom and of Japan).
According to the OECD in 2003 France hosts the largest percentage of
foreigner international investments ahead United States and Belgium and is
also so far the most energy independent Western country thanks to its
nuclear energy production apparatus that makes France also the minor
producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in
the world. Accordingly, the standards of living in France are very high.
France's economy combines extensive private enterprise with substantial, but
declining, government intervention (see dirigisme). Large tracts of fertile
land, the application of modern technology, and subsidies have combined to
make France the leading agricultural producer in Western Europe and, even
after the loss of Algeria in the 1960s, the French economy remains one of
the most important and influential economies in the world. France also has a
leading aerospace industry and is the only European power to have its own
national space centre.
With over 77 million tourists a year, far ahead Spain (51.7 million) and
United States (41.9 million) France is ranked as the major tourist
destination in the world, featuring cities of high cultural interest (Paris
being the foremost), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts and rural
regions that many enjoy for their calm.
The government retains considerable influence over key segments of
infrastructure sectors, with majority ownership of railway, electricity,
aircraft, and telecommunication firms. It has been gradually relaxing its
control over these sectors since the early 1990s. The government is slowly
selling off holdings in France Telecom, Air France, as well as the insurance,
banking, and defence industries.
France joined 10 other EU members to launch the euro on January 1, 1999,
with euro coins and banknotes completely replacing the French franc in early
2002.
Since the end of WWII the government made efforts to integrate more and more
with Germany, both economically and politically. Today the two countries
form what is often referred to as the "core" countries in favour of greater
integration of the European Union.
Foreign relations
France's founding membership in the European Union largely defines France's
current foreign policy. The French Republic is furthermore a member of the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and of the Indian Ocean
Commission (InOC), and an associate member of the Association of Caribbean
States (ACS). France is also a leading member or the International
Organization of Francophonie (OIF) which gathers 51 fully or partly French-speaking
countries.
France hosts the headquarters of the OECD and UNESCO, as well as those of
the International Bureau for Weights and Measures in charge of the
international metric system.
Demographics
The official language is French, with several regional languages (including
Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Dutch (Flemish), Alsatian, Occitan and
Oïl languages), but the French government and school system discouraged the
use of any of them until recently. The regional languages are now taught at
some schools, though French remains the only official language in use by the
government, local or national.
Starting with the 19th century, the historical evolution of the population
in France has been extremely atypical in the Western World. Unlike the rest
of Europe, France did not experience a strong population growth in the 19th
century and first half of the 20th century. Conversely, it experienced a
much stronger growth in the second half of the 20th century than the rest of
Europe or indeed its own growth in the previous centuries.
It has been the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and
Germany, since the late 1990s.
The principal cities by population include:
Aix-en-Provence, Ajaccio, Albi, Amiens, Angers, Angouleme, Bastia, Belfort,
Besançon, Bordeaux, Brest, Caen, Calais, Cannes, Carcassonne, Charleville-Mézières,
Clermont-Ferrand, Colmar, Dijon, Dunkerque, Evreux, Grenoble, La Rochelle,
Le Havre, Le Mans, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier,
Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Nîmes, Orléans, Paris, Perpignan, Poitiers,
Quimper, Reims, Rennes, Roubaix, Rouen, Saint-Étienne, Saint-Nazaire,
Strasbourg, Tarbes, Toulon, Toulouse, Tourcoing, Tours and Valence.
Religion
Following from the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,
France guarantees freedom of religion as a constitutional right. A 1905 law
instituted the separation of Church and State and prohibited the government
from recognising, salarying or subsidising any religion. In the preceding
situation, established 1801-1808 of the Concordat, the State used to support
the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Calvinist Church and the
Jewish religion and provided for public religious educations in those
religions (for historical reasons, this situation is still current in Alsace-Moselle).
The French government does not keep statistics as to religion.
The 2003 CIA World Factbook lists the religion of France as: Roman Catholic
83-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim (North African workers) 5-10%,
unaffiliated 4%. It is unclear where these numbers come from.
However, in a 2003 poll 41% said that the existence of God was "excluded" or
"unlikely". 33% declared that "atheist" described them rather or very well,
and 51% for "Christian". When questioned about their religion, 62% answered
Roman Catholic, 6% Muslim, 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 2% "other religions" (except
for Orthodox or Buddhist, which were negligible), 26% "no religion" and 1%
declined to answer. The discrepancy between the number of "atheists" (41%)
and the number of with "no religion" (26%) may be attributed to people who
feel culturally close to a religion, follow its moral values and traditions,
but hardly believe in God.
Gallup International reports that 15 percent of French citizens regularly
attend religious services, compared to 10 percent of UK citizens and 57
percent of American citizens.
The French maintain a strong gap between civilian life and religion.
Religion is considered as private as possible, communautarism is not
socially accepted. French people in general are opposed to clerical power
and its influence in policy. Islamic fundamentalism is considered as a real
threat for the cohesion of the French society. This echoes earlier quarrels
with respect to the influence of the Catholic church in French society (clericalism
vs laïcité) and the influence of the Pope in French public affairs (gallicanism
vs ultramontanism).
Culture
Académie française
French literature
Famous French People
Cuisine of France
Cinema of France
Music of France
Holidays in France
Miscellaneous topics
Description of the flag: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side),
white, and red; known as the drapeau tricolore (Tricolor Flag); the design
and colors are similar to a number of other flags, including those of
Belgium, Chad, Ireland, Côte d'Ivoire, and Luxembourg; the official flag for
all French dependent areas
The foundation of France may be dated to 486 (unified by Clovis I).
France's motto "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" was first used as the rebels'
motto during the French Revolution.
The national holiday is the Fête Nationale (National Day), celebrating the
Fête de la Fédération, July 14, 1790 and not the taking of the Bastille (July
14, 1789) as is often mistakenly believed, even by a majority of the French,
and is the reason why the holiday is referred to as Bastille Day in English.
The capital and most populous city, Paris, is home to the Eiffel Tower, a
tower of girdered puddled iron constructed in 1889.
The Palace of Versailles is the number one tourist destination in France
followed by the great châteaux of the Loire Valley
