France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country’s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of Francia. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia, Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia, which became the Kingdom of France in 987, emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, following its victory in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second-largest in the world.
The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). France became Europe’s dominant cultural, political, and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV.[12] In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, establishing one of modern history’s earliest republics and drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the nation’s ideals to this day.
Capital: Paris
Population: 67 million


Useful Information | |
$1USD = 0.93 Euro | |
Climate | |
Travel Tips | |
Health & Safety | |
Visa Information | |
Electrical |
Regions | ||||
Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes | Brittany | Bourgogne – Franche-Comté | Corsica | Centre – Val de Loire |
Grand-Est | Hauts de France | Île de France | Nouvelle Aquitaine | Normandie |
Occitanie | Pays de la Loire | Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur | Picardie |
Cities | |||||
Paris | Nice | Lyon | Marseille | Burgundy | Strasbourg |
Blog Posts:
France: Paris – 10 great things to do
France: Paris – Château de Fontainebleau
France: Paris – Père Lachaise cemetery
France: Paris – Palais Garnier, Opera House
France: Paris – The dome of the Galleries Lafayette
France: Paris – The Louvre Museum
France: Paris – Sacré-Cœur & the Monmartre
France: Maison la Roche – Le Corbusier
France: Paris – Statue of Liberty
France: Paris – Palace of Versailles
France: Paris – Musee D’Orsay
France: Paris – the banks of the Seine
France: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur – Eze
France: Occitanie – Carcassonne