France

This article is about the country. For other uses, see France (disambiguation).
French Republic
Motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
(Liberty, Equality, Fraternity)
Anthem: La Marseillaise

Location of  Metropolitan France(dark green)

– on the European continent(green & dark grey)
– in the European Union(green)  —  [Legend]
<p in the world
(excl. Antarctica where sovereignty is suspended)
Capital
(and largest city)		 Paris
48°51.4′N 2°21.05′E / 48.8567°N 2.35083°E / 48.8567; 2.35083
Official language(s) French
Regional languages
(both official
and not official)
Demonym French
Government Unitary semi-presidential republic
 -  President Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP)
 -  Prime Minister François Fillon (UMP)
Legislature Parliament
 -  Upper House Senate
 -  Lower House National Assembly
Formation
 -  Proto-French State 843 (Treaty of Verdun) 
 -  Current constitution 5 October 1958 (5th Republic) 
EU accession 25 March 1957
Area
 -  Total[2] 674843 km2 (43rd)
260558 sq mi 
 -  Metropolitan France
  - IGN[3] 551695 km2 (47th)
213010 sq mi
  - Cadastre[4] 543965 km2 (47th)
210026  sq mi
Population
  (1 January 2010 estimate)
 -  Total[2] 65,447,374[5] (20th)
 -  Metropolitan France 62,793,432[6] (22nd)
 -  Density[7] 115/km2 (89th)
299/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $2.108 trillion[8] 
 -  Per capita $33,678[8] 
GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $2.676 trillion[8] 
 -  Per capita $42,747[8] 
Gini (2008) 32.7[9] 
HDI (2010) 0.872[10] (very high) (14th)
Currency Euro,[11] CFP Franc[12]
  (EUR,XPF)
Time zone CET[7] (UTC+1)
 -  Summer (DST) CEST[7] (UTC+2)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .fr[13]
Calling code 331
1 The overseas regions and collectivities form part of the French telephone numbering plan, but have their own country calling codes: Guadeloupe +590; Martinique +596; French Guiana +594, Réunion and Mayotte +262; Saint Pierre et Miquelon +508. The overseas territories are not part of the French telephone numbering plan; their country calling codes are: New Caledonia +687, French Polynesia +689; Wallis and Futuna +681
2 Spoken mainly in overseas territories
France ( or ; French pronunciation (help·info): ), officially the French Republic (French: République française, ), is a state in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans.[14] Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is bordered (clockwise starting from the northeast) by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco; with Spain and Andorra to the south. France is linked to the United Kingdom by the Channel Tunnel, which passes underneath the English Channel. In addition to these borders on the European continent France has land borders with Suriname and Brazil through French Guiana, as well as with The Netherlands through the Collectivity of Saint Martin. It is the largest west-European country and possesses the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 mi2), just behind the one of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 mi2). Since 500 years,[15] France is a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its main ideals expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The French Republic is defined as indivisible, secular, democratic and social by its constitution.[16] France is one of the most developed countries[17] and possesses the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP[18] and seventh largest economy by purchasing power parity.[19] France enjoys a high standard of living as well as a high public education level, and has also one of the world's highest life expectancies.[20] It is the most visited country in the world, receiving 82 million foreign tourists annually.[21] France is a founding member of the United Nations, and a member of the Francophonie, the G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, and the Latin Union. It also is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area.[22] It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and possesses the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world[23] with ~300 active warheads as of May 25, 2010. In 2007, France was listed 14th on the Human Development Index and 24th on the Corruption Perception Index.

History

Etymology

The name "France" comes from the Latin Francia, which means "country of the Franks".[24] 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.[25] Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means free as opposed to slave. However, it is also possible that the word is derived from the ethnic name of the Franks because, as the conquering class, only the Franks had the status of freemen. In German (and other Germanic languages, such as Scandinavian languages and Dutch), France is still called "Realm of the Franks" (Frankreich, Frankrike, Frankrige). In order to distinguish from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, Modern France is called Frankreich in German, while the Frankish Realm is called Frankenreich.

Prehistory and Antiquity

The oldest traces of human life, in what is now France, date from approximately 1,800,000 years ago. Men were then confronted by a hard and variable climate, marked by several glacial eras which modified their framework of life and led them to a nomadic life of hunters-gatherers. France counts a large number of decorated caves from the upper Paleolithic era, including one of the most famous and best preserved: Lascaux (Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC). At the end of the Last glacial period (10.000 BC), the climate softened and from approximately 7,000 BC, this part of Western Europe entered the Neolithic era and its inhabitants became sedentary. After a strong demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia, metallurgy appeared at the end of the 3rd millennium, initially with the work of gold, copper and bronze, and later with iron. In 600 BC, Ionian Greeks, originating from Phocaea, founded the colony of Massalia (present-day Marseilles), on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, making it the oldest city of France.[26][27] At the same time, some Gallic Celtic tribes penetrated some parts of the current territory of France, but this occupation spread in the rest of France only between the 5th and 3rd century BC. The concept of Gaul emerged at that time; it corresponds to the territories of Celtic settlement ranging between the Rhine, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The borders of modern France are approximately the same as those of ancient Gaul, which was inhabited by Celtic Gauls. Gaul was then a prosperous country of which the southernmost part was heavily subject to Greek and Roman influences. However, around 390 BC, the Gallic chieftain Brennus made his own way through the Alps, defeated the Romans in the Battle of the Allia and sacked Rome for several months. The Gallic invasion left Rome weakened and encouraged several subdued Italian tribes to rebel. One by one, over the course of the next 50 years, these tribes were defeated and brought back under Roman dominion. Meanwhile, the Gauls would continue to harass the region until 345 BC, when they entered into a formal treaty with Rome. But Romans and Gauls would maintain an adversarial relationship for the next several centuries and the Gauls would remain a threat in Italia. Around 125 BC, the south of Gaul was conquered by the Romans who called this region Provincia Romana ("Roman Province"), which evolved into the name Provence in French.[28] The sacking of Rome was still remembered by Romans, when Julius Caesar conquered the remainder of Gaul, and overcame a revolt carried out by the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in 52 BC.[29] Gaul was divided by Augustus into Roman provinces, the principal ones being Gallia Narbonensis in the south, Gallia Aquitania in the south-west, Gallia Lugdunensis in the center and Gallia Belgica in the north. Many cities were founded during the Gallo-Roman period, including Lugdunum (present-day Lyon), which is considered to be the capital of the Gauls. These cities were built in the traditional Roman style, with a forum, a theatre, a circus, an amphitheatre and thermal baths. The Gauls mixed with Roman settlers and eventually adopted Roman speech (Latin, from which the French language evolved) and Roman culture. The Roman polytheism merged with the Gallic paganism into the same syncretism. Around the 3rd century AD, Roman Gaul underwent a serious crisis with its "limes" (fortified borders protecting the Empire) crossed on several occasions by Barbarians. The weakness of the central imperial power, at this time, led Gallo-Roman leaders to proclaim the independence of the short-lived Gallic Empire, which ended with the Battle of Châlons in 274, which saw Gaul reincorporated in the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, the situation improved in the first half of the 4th century AD, which was a period of revival and prosperity for Roman Gaul. In 312, the emperor Constantin I converted to Christianity. Christians, persecuted until then, multiplied across the entire Roman Empire. But, from the second half of the 4th century AD, the Barbarian Invasions started again, and Germanic tribes, such as the Vandals, Suebi and Alans crossed the Rhine and settled in Gaul, Spain and other parts of the collapsing Roman Empire. At the end of the Antiquity period, ancient Gaul was divided into several Germanic kingdoms and some remaining Gallo-Roman territories, notably the Kingdom of Syagrius.