Geography and Climate
If you are planning to live in France, you are not alone. France is Western Europe’s largest country, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea and Spain on its southern border to Belgium on its northern border. Nearly the size of Texas with just over 211,000 square miles of land, France also shares borders with Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. A result primarily of its nineteenth century colonialism, France today has overseas departments and territories scattered throughout the world in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion. As defined by its European borders, France is officially known as Metropolitan France, which includes mainland France and the island of Corsica. Including its overseas departments and territories, the country’s total land area is nearly 261,000 square miles.
The land in France is varied with coastal plains and rolling hills in the north and west and the Alps Mountains in the southeast, the Pyrenees in the southwest and the Massif Central range in the south-central region of the country. France’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, rises 15,782 feet on its border with Italy. The Seine, Loire, Garonne and Rhone are France’s major rivers.
France is in the Central European time zone, which is six hours ahead of the Eastern time zone in the U.S. During the summer months, Summer Time is observed throughout France. Reflecting the country’s size, France’s climate ranges from Mediterranean in the south to a northern temperate climate along its border with Belgium. In the west, the climate is predominantly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean with high levels of rainfall, mild winters and cool to warm summers. Inland, it becomes more continental with hot, stormy summers, colder winters and less rain. The climate of the Alps and other mountain regions are mostly alpine, with an average of 150 days a year of temperatures below freezing and snow lasting as long as six months. In the southeast, hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters characterize a typical Mediterranean climate. Natural disasters within the country primarily are the result of flooding and winter windstorms. The mountainous regions suffer avalanches and forest fires often strike the south of France near the Mediterranean.
People and Culture
Metropolitan France has a population of 63.2 million. Its population swells to almost 66 million when all its departments and territories are included, making it the twentieth most populous country in the world and third most populous in Europe.
Although France cannot legally compile race and ethnicity statistics, the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) estimated that about 19 percent of the population was foreign born in 2008. France’s major ethnic groups are of Celtic and Latin ancestry. Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Sub-Saharan African, Indochinese and Basque ethnic groups are also represented. The official language of the country is French.
Paris is the capital of France and its largest city with a population of about 2.3 million and a metropolitan population of about 10.6 million. Lyon and Marseille also have populations over 1 million. Other major cities in France include Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nice, Rennes, Lille and Bordeaux.
In 900 B.C., the Celts migrated to France and became known as the Gauls. Trade flourished and the Gauls built the first French towns. About 600 B.C., the Greeks founded Marseilles and Gaul increasingly came into contact with the Mediterranean world. However, the Gauls were disunited, making it easy for the Romans to conquer them. The Gauls adopted the Roman way of life and Latin became the common language. In the third century, the Roman Empire was in decline, with raging inflation and epidemics, which allowed The Franks, who gave their name to the country, to invade northern France in 486. The war between England and France began in 1337 and continued until 1453. The French peasant, Joan of Arc, rallied the French troops and led them to victory over the English at Orleans in 1429. But, she was captured by Burgundians and turned over to England, where she was burned as a witch. King Louis XIV established the modern day borders of France. When he died in 1715, the social tension in France created the pre-conditions for the French Revolution. The French Revolution came in 1789 and marked the end of the Royal Dynasty in France. The 1800s became the years of insurrection for France. The aftershock of the revolution continued to affect the social and political life in France throughout most of the nineteenth century.
France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. It plays an influential global role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the G-8, the G-20, the European Union and other multilateral organizations. Since 1958 it has constructed a hybrid presidential-parliamentary governing system resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier more purely parliamentary administrations. In the early twenty-first century, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte and Reunion became French regions and were made part of France proper.