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The French Republic or France (French République Française), is a country located in
western Europe, bordered by Belgium,
Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. It is a founding member of the European Union.
History
Main article: History of France
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 Emperor. 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, defense and security apparatus.
It is also one of the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council.
Politics
Main article: Politics of France
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. Senators are chosen by an electoral college for 9-year terms, and one-third of the Senate is renewed every 3
years. The Senate's legislative powers are limited; the National Assembly has the last
word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses. The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of
Parliament.
See also:
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Administrative divisions of France, List of regions in France
France has 26 regions (French: région), which are further subdivided into 100 départements. The departments are numbered (mainly alphabetically) and this number is used in e.g. postal
codes and vehicle number plates.
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- Départements d'outre mer (DOM)
(Overseas departments), each of them being a département and a region at the same time:
- Collectivités territoriales (Territorial Collectivities):
- Pays et Territoires d'outre-mer (PTOM) (Overseas Countries and Territories):
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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 unaffected by the French franc's replacement
by the Euro in 2002.
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
Main article: Geography of France
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.
Economy
Main article: Economy of France
France's economy combines extensive private enterprise with substantial, but declining, government intervention. 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 sixties, 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, after Russia, to have its own national space center.
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 defense 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.
From the end of WWII the government is making enormous efforts to integrate their
economy more and more with Germany to form what is today called the Franco German locomotive that pushes the rest of the
European Union to become the most powerful economy in the world of all
time.
See also: List of French companies
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of France
The official language is French, with several regional
languages (including Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Dutch
(Flemish), German
(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.
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 recognizing, salarying or
subsidizing 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. In France, there is a strong gap between civilian life and religion. Religion is considered as private as
possible. 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 where communitarism is not accepted. This had already occurred in the past with Catholics before
the French Revolution in 1789.
See also: Islam in France
Culture
Main article: Culture of France
The government is considering the suppression of Pentecost as a public
holiday.
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).
The national holiday is the Fête Nationale (National Day), celebrating the Taking of the Bastille, July 14 (1789),
often 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.
Principal cities 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.
See also List of towns in France and List of fifteen largest French metropolitan areas by population
See also
International rankings
- Total GDP in US dollars, 2002: 5th (out of 185)
- Total value of foreign trade (imports and exports) in US dollars, 2002: 4th (out of 185)
- Human Development Index, 2001: 17th (out of
175)
- world-wide press freedom index Rank 11 out of 139 countries
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