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France (French: IPA: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, IPA:
[ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe
and which also comprises various overseas islands and territories located in other continents.[1] Metropolitan France
extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean.
French people often refer to Metropolitan France as L'Hexagone (The "Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its
territory.

France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. In some of its
overseas departments, France also shares land borders with Brazil, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. France is
also linked to the United Kingdom via the Channel Tunnel, which passes underneath the English Channel.

The French Republic is a democracy which is organised as a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is a developed
country with the sixth-largest economy in the world.[2] Its main ideals are expressed in the Declaration of the Rights
of Man and of the Citizen. France is one of the founding members of the European Union, and has the largest land area
of all members. France is also a founding member of the United Nations, and a member of La Francophonie, the G8, and
the Latin Union. It is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council wielding veto power,
and it is also one of five acknowledged nuclear powers. France is the most popular international tourist destination in
the world, receiving over 75 million foreign tourists annually.[3] The name France originates from the Franks, a
Germanic tribe that occupied the region after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. More precisely, the region around
Paris, called Île-de-France, was the original French royal demesne.

Contents [hide]
1 Origin and history of the name
2 History
2.1 Rome to Revolution
2.2 Monarchy to Republic
3 Government
4 Law
5 Foreign relations
6 Military
7 Transportation
8 Geography
9 Administrative divisions
10 Economy
11 Demographics
12 Public health
13 Culture
13.1 Sport
13.2 Marianne
14 Miscellaneous topics
15 International rankings
16 See also
17 Notes and references
18 External links

Origin and history of the name
Main article: Name of France
See also: List of meanings of countries' names
The name France comes from Latin Francia, which literally means "land of the Franks or Frankland". There are various
theories as to the origin of the name of the Franks. One is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon
which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. Much the same as the
Saxons are named after a a variety of single-edged knives called the seax.

Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means free. However, rather than the ethnic
name of the Franks coming from the word frank, it is more probable that the word is derived from the ethnic name of the
Franks, the connection being that only the Franks, as the conquering class, had the status of freemen. The Merovingian
kings claimed descent of their dynasty from the Sicambri, a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe, asserting that this tribe had
changed their name to "Franks" in 11 BC, following their defeat and relocation by Drusus, under the leadership of a
certain chieftain called Franko. In German, France is still called Frankreich, which literally means Reich (realm) of
the Franks". In order to distinguish from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called Frankreich, while the
Frankish Empire is called Frankenreich.

The word "Frank" had been loosely used from the fall of Rome to the middle ages, yet from Hugh Capet's coronation as
"King of the Franks" or "Rex Francorum" it became more precisely used to stricly talk of the Kingdom of Francia, which
would be what France was. These Capetian kings were descending from the Robertines, who had given birth to two Frankish
kings, and previously held the title of "duces francorum" or "Dukes of Franks". This Frankish duchy encompassed most of
modern Northern France but because the royal power was sapped by regional princes the term was then applied to the
royal demesne as a shorthand. It was finally the name adopted for all of the Kingdom as central power affirmed itself
over all the kingdom.[4]

The borders of modern France are roughly the same as those of ancient Gaul, which was inhabited by Celtic Gauls. Gaul
was conquered for Rome by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC, and the Gauls eventually adopted Roman speech (Latin,
which evolved into the French language) and Roman culture. Christianity took root in the 2nd century and 3rd century
AD, and became so firmly established by the fourth and fifth centuries that St. Jerome wrote that Gaul was the only
region “free from heresy”. In the Middle Ages, the French would adopt this as a justification for calling
themselves "the Most-Christian Kingdom of France".

In the 4th century AD, Gaul's eastern frontier along the Rhine was overrun by Germanic tribes, principally the Franks,
from whom the ancient name of "Francie" was derived. The modern name "France" derives from the name of the feudal
domain of the Capetian Kings of France around Paris. Existence as a separate entity began with the Treaty of Verdun
(843), with the division of Charlemagne's Carolingian empire into East Francia, Middle Francia and Western Francia.
Western Francia approximated the area occupied by modern France.

The Carolingians ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of
France. His descendants, the Capetian, Valois and Bourbon dynasties progressively unified the country through a series
of wars and dynastic inheritance. The monarchy reached its height during the 17th century and the reign of Louis XIV.
At this time France possessed the largest population in Europe (see Demographics of France) and had tremendous
influence over European politics, economy, and culture. Towards the end of this era, France played a major role in the
American Revolution by providing capital and some military assets to the anti-British rebels.

Monarchy to Republic
The monarchy ruled France until the French Revolution, in 1789. King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were
executed, along with thousands of other French citizens. After a series of short-lived governmental schemes, Napoleon
Bonaparte seized control of the Republic in 1799, making himself First Consul, and later Emperor of what is now known
as the First French Empire (1804–1814). In the course of several wars, his armies conquered most of continental
Europe, with members of the Bonaparte family being appointed as monarchs of newly established kingdoms.

Following Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the French monarchy was re-established, but with
new constitutional limitations. In 1830, a civil uprising established the constitutional July Monarchy, which lasted
until 1848. The short-lived Second Republic ended in 1852 when Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaimed the Second French
Empire. Louis-Napoléon was unseated following defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and his regime was replaced by
the Third Republic France had colonial possessions, in various forms, since the beginning of the 17th century until the
1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, its global colonial empire was the second largest in the world behind the
British Empire. At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 square
kilometres (4,767,000 sq. mi) of land. Including metropolitan France, the total area of land under French sovereignty
reached 12,898,000 square kilometres (4,980,000 sq. mi) in the 1920s and 1930s, which is 8.6% of the world's land
area.

Though ultimately a victor in World War I, France suffered enormous human and material losses that weakened it for
decades to come. The 1930s were marked by a variety of social reforms introduced by the Popular Front government.
During World War II, after a short but grievous and violent battle, France's political leadership chose to surrender to
Germany in 1940. The policy of collaboration with the enemy, a move that some disagreed with, led to the formation of
the Free French Forces outside of France and of the French Resistance inside. France was liberated by the Allies in
1944.

The French Fourth Republic was established after World War II and struggled to maintain its economic and political
status as a dominant nation state. France attempted to hold on to its colonial empire, but soon ran into trouble. The
half-hearted 1946 attempt at regaining control of French Indochina resulted in the First Indochina War, which ended in
French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Only months later, France faced a new, even harsher conflict in
its oldest major colony, Algeria.

The debate over whether or not to keep control of Algeria, then home to over one million European settlers, wracked the
country and nearly led to civil war. In 1958, the weak and unstable Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth Republic,
which contained a strengthened Presidency. In the latter role, Charles de Gaulle managed to keep the country together
while taking steps to end the war. The Algerian War of Independence was concluded with peace negotiations in 1962 that
led to Algerian independence.

In recent decades, France's reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the political and
economic integration of the evolving European Union, including the introduction of the euro in January 1999. France has
been at the forefront of the European Union member states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to create a
more unified and capable European Union political, defence, and security apparatus. However, the French electorate
voted against ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty in May 2005, leaving the future of Europe, and the
role of France within it, uncertain.

The French Republic is a unitary semi-presidential republic with strong democratic traditions. The constitution of the
Fifth Republic was approved by referendum on 28 September 1958. It greatly strengthened the authority of the executive
in relation to parliament. The executive branch itself has two leaders: the President of the Republic, who is elected
directly by universal adult suffrage for a 5-year term and is the Head of State, and the Government, led by the
president-appointed Prime Minister.

The French parliament is a bicameral legislature comprising a National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and a Senate.
The National Assembly deputies represent local constituencies and are directly elected for 5-year terms. 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 (originally 9-year terms), and one half of the seats are
submitted to election every 3 years starting in September 2008.[5]

The Senate's legislative powers are limited; in the event of disagreement between the two chambers, the National
Assembly has the final say, except for constitutional laws and lois organiques (laws that are directly provided for by
the constitution) in some cases. The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament.

French politics are characterised by two politically opposed groupings: one left-wing, centred around the French
Socialist Party, and the other right-wing, centred around the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) and its successor
the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP). The far right-wing Front National is the third party in France with its
share of the vote remaining stable at 16%. The executive branch is currently composed entirely of the UMP.

LawFrance uses a civil legal system; that is, law arises primarily from written statutes; judges are not to make law,
but merely to interpret it (though the amount of judge interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to case
law). Basic principles of the rule of law were laid in the Napoleonic Code. In agreement with the principles of the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen law should only prohibit actions detrimental to society. As Guy
Canivet, first president of the Court of Cassation, wrote about the management of prisons:[1]

Freedom is the rule, and its restriction is the exception; any restriction of Freedom must be provided for by Law and
must follow the principles of necessity and proportionality.
That is, law may lay out prohibitions only if they are needed, and if the inconveniences caused by this restriction do
not exceed the inconveniences that the prohibition is supposed to remedy.

French law is divided into two principal areas: private law and public law. Private law includes, in particular, civil
law and criminal law. Public law includes, in particular, administrative law and constitutional law. However, in
practical terms, French law comprises three principal areas of law: civil law; criminal law and administrative law.
France does not recognize religious law, nor does it recognize religious beliefs or morality as a motivation for the
enactment of prohibitions. As a consequence, France has long had neither blasphemy laws nor sodomy laws (the latter
being abolished in 1789). Laws can only address the future and not the past (ex post facto laws are prohibited); and to
be applicable, laws must be officially published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.

Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of France
French foreign policy has been largely shaped by membership of the European Union, of which France was a founding
member. France is also a member of the United Nations, NATO, the WTO, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC),
and the Indian Ocean Commission (COI). It is an associate member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and a
leading member of the International Francophone Organisation (OIF) of fifty-one fully or partly French-speaking
countries. It hosts the headquarters of the OECD, UNESCO, Interpol, and the International Bureau for Weights and
Measures.

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

Military
The French armed forces are divided into four branches; Armée de Terre (Army), Marine Nationale (Navy), Armée de
l'Air (Air Force) and the Gendarmerie Nationale, a military police force which serves for the most part as a rural and
general purpose police force. Since the Algerian War of Independence, conscription was steadily reduced and was finally
suspended in 2001 by Jacques Chirac. The total number of military personnel is approximately 359,000. However, 100,000
of these are in the Gendarmerie, and are thus unfit for external operations.

France spends 2.6% of its GDP on defence, slightly more than the United Kingdom (2.4%), and is the highest in the
European Union where defence spending is generally less than 1.5% of GDP. Together they account for 40% of EU defence
spending. About 10% of France's defence budget goes towards its force de frappe, or nuclear weapons. A significant part
of French military equipment is made in France. Examples include the Rafale fighter, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft
carrier, the Exocet missile, and the Leclerc tank. Some weaponry, like the E-2 Hawkeye or the E-3 Sentry was bought
from the United States. Despite withdrawing from the Eurofighter project, France is actively investing in European
joint projects such as the Eurocopter Tiger, multipurpose frigates and the Airbus A400M.

Transportation
Main article: Transport in France

A TGV Duplex, these high-speed trains are a source of pride in France.The railway network in France totals 31,840 km,
the most extensive in Europe, and is operated by the SNCF. High speed trains include the Thalys, the Eurostar and the
TGV, which travels at 320 km/h (200 mph) in commercial use. The Eurostar, along with the Eurotunnel Shuttle, connects
with the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel. Rail connections to all other neighbouring countries in Europe
(except Andorra) have been developed. Intra-urban connections are also well developed with both underground services
and tramway services complementing bus services.

There is approximately 893,300 km of servicable roadway in France. There is no annual registration fee or road tax,
however, motorway usage is through tolls except in the vicinity of large communes. The world's tallest road bridge is
the Millau Viaduct. The new car market is dominated by national brands such as Renault (27% of cars sold in France in
2003), Peugeot (20.1%) and Citroën (13.5%).[6] Also, with 70% of new cars sold in 2004 being diesel, it is becoming
the preferred choice over petrol or LPG.[7]

There are approximately 478 airports in France, including landing fields. The most important and largest being Charles
de Gaulle International Airport just outside Paris; it is also the seat of Air France, the French national airline.
There are ten major ports in France, the largest is in Marseille, which is also the largest bordering the Mediterranean
Sea. 14,932 km of waterways traverse France.

Geography
Main article: Geography 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[8]. These territories have
varying forms of government ranging from overseas department to overseas collectivity.
Metropolitan France covers 551,695 km² (213,010 sq mi) and 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 4,807 m (15,770 ft) above sea-level, the highest point in western Europe, Mont Blanc, is
situated in the Alps on the border between France and Italy.[9] Metropolitan France also has extensive river systems
such as the Loire, the Garonne, the Seine and the Rhône, which divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into
the Mediterranean sea at the Camargue, the lowest point in France (2 m /6.5 ft below sea level).[9] Corsica lies off the
Mediterranean coast.

France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories, 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,
covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world, just
behind the United States (11,351,000 km²/4,383,000 sq mi) and ahead of Australia (8,232,000 km²/3,178,000 sq
mi).[10]

Metropolitan France is situated between 41° and 52° North, on the western edge of Europe and thus lies within the
northern temperate zone. The north and northwest have a temperate climate, however, a combination of maritime
influences, latitude and altitude produce a varied climate in the rest of Metropolitan France.[11] 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 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 are mainly alpine in nature with the number of days with
temperatures below freezing over 150 per year and snowcover lasting for up to six months.

Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of France
France is divided into 26 administrative regions. 22 are in metropolitan France (21 are on the continental part of
metropolitan France; one is the territorial collectivity of Corsica), and four are overseas regions. The regions are
further subdivided into 100 departments which are are numbered (mainly alphabetically). This number is used in postal
codes and vehicle number plates amongst others. Four of these departments are found in the overseas regions and are
simultaneously overseas regions and overseas departments and are an integral part of France (and the European Union)
and thus enjoy a status similar to metropolitan departments. The metropolitan departments are subdivided into 342
arrondissements which are, in turn, subdivided into 4,035 cantons. These cantons are then divided into 36,682 communes,
which are municipalities with an elected municipal council. Three communes, Paris, Lyon and Marseille are also
subdivided into 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.

In addition to the 26 regions and 100 departments, the French Republic also has four overseas collectivities, one sui
generis collectivity (New Caledonia), and one overseas territory. Overseas collectivities and territories form part of
the French Republic, but do not form part of the European Union or its fiscal area. The Pacific territories continue to
use the Pacific franc whose value is linked to that of the euro. In contrast, the four overseas regions used the French
franc and now use the euro.

France also maintains control over a number of small non-permanently inhabited islands in the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean: Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, Tromelin
Island.

See also: French metropolitan areas, List of towns in France, and List of cities in France over 20,000 population (1999
census)

Economy
France's economy combines extensive private enterprise (nearly 2.5 million companies registered) with substantial
(though declining) government intervention (see dirigisme). 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 Télécom, Air France, as well as the insurance, banking, and defence industries.

A member of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries, it ranked as the sixth largest economy in the world in
2005, behind the United States, Japan, Germany, The People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom. France joined 11
other EU members to launch the Euro on January 1, 1999, with euro coins and banknotes completely replacing the French
franc in early 2002.

According to the OECD, in 2004 France was the world's fifth-largest exporter and the fourth-largest importer of
manufactured goods. In 2003, France was the 2nd-largest recipient of foreign direct investment among OECD countries at
$47 billion, ranking behind Luxembourg (where foreign direct investment was essentially monetary transfers to banks
located in that country) but above the United States ($39.9 billion), the United Kingdom ($14.6 billion), Germany
($12.9 billion), or Japan ($6.3 billion). In the same year, French companies invested $57.3 billion outside of France,
ranking France as the second most important outward direct investor in the OECD, behind the United States ($173.8
billion), and ahead of the United Kingdom ($55.3 billion), Japan ($28.8 billion) and Germany ($2.6 billion).

In the 2005 edition of OECD in Figures, the OECD also noted that France leads the G7 countries in terms of productivity
(measured as GDP per hour worked).[12] In 2004, the GDP per hour worked in France was $47.7, ranking France above the
United States ($46.3), Germany ($42.1), the United Kingdom ($39.6), or Japan ($32.5).[13]

Despite figures showing a higher productivity per hour worked than in the US, France's GDP per capita is significantly
lower than the US GDP per capita, being in fact comparable to the GDP per capita of the other European countries, which
is on average 30% below the US level. The reason for this is that a much smaller percentage of the French population is
working compared to the US, which lowers the GDP per capita of France, despite its higher productivity. In fact, France
has one of the lowest percentages of its population aged 15-64 years at work among the OECD countries. In 2004, 68.8% of
the French population aged 15-64 years was in employment, compared to 80.0% in Japan, 78.9% in the UK, 77.2% in the US,
and 71.0% in Germany.[14] This phenomenon is the result of almost thirty years of massive unemployment in France, which
has led to three consequences reducing the size of the working population: about 9% of the active population is without
a job; students delay as long as possible their entry into labour market; and finally, the French government gives
various incentives to workers to retire in their early 50s, though these are now receding.

As many economists have stressed repeatedly over the years, the main issue with the French economy is not an issue of
productivity. In their opinion, it is an issue of structural reforms, in order to increase the size of the working
population in the overall population. Liberal and Keynesian economists have different answers to that issue. Lower
working hours and the reluctance to reform the labour market are mentioned as weak spots of the French economy in the
view of the right and lack of government policies fostering social justice by the left. Recent government attempts at
adjusting the youth labour market, to combat unemployment, have met with fierce resistance.

With over 75 million foreign tourists in 2003, France is ranked as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of
Spain (52.5 million) and the United States (40.4 million). It features cities of high cultural interest (Paris being the
foremost), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity
(green tourism).

France has an important aerospace industry led by the European consortium Airbus and is the only European power
(excluding Russia) to have its own national spaceport (Centre Spatial Guyanais). France is also the most energy
independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of
carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. As a result of large investment in nuclear
technology, nearly nine tenths of the energy needs of the country are met by nuclear power plants (86.9% in 2005).[15]

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. Wheat, poultry, dairy, beef, and pork, as well as an
internationally recognised foodstuff and wine industry are primary French agricultural exports. EU agriculture
subsidies to France total almost $14 billion.

Since the end of the Second World War 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.