Facts about France
France ranks among the world's most influential centers of cultural development.
The government has partially or fully privatized many large companies, banks, and insurers, and has ceded stakes in such leading firms as Air France, France Telecom, Renault, and Thales.
The current Jewish community in France numbers around 600,000 according to the World Jewish Congress and is largest in Europe.
At 15,770 feet (4807 meters) above sea-level, the highest point in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, is situated in the Alps on the border between France and Italy.
Classic painters of seventeenth century France are Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain.
Twenty two 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.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, France's rate of population growth was low compared to its neighbors.
France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the southeast, the Massif Central in the southcentral and Pyrenees in the southwest.
Writers Louis-Ferdinand Cйline and Albert Camus have become famous outside of France.
Historically, France was divided among the nobility, the bourgeoisie, the peasants, and the urban proletariat, providing the basis for much of Karl Marx's nineteenth century analysis of class struggle.
Some of the oldest works of art in the world, such as the cave paintings at Lascaux in southern France, are datable to shortly after this migration.
By 1763, France lost almost all of its vast colonial empire in America and in India.
Germany was required to take full responsibility for the war and to pay war reparations; and the German industrial Saarland, a coal and steel region, was occupied by France.
During the reign of Henry II (1547-1559), Calvinism gained numerous converts in France among the French nobility, the middle class, and the intelligentsia.
Escoffier's major work, however, left out much of the regional character to be found in the provinces of France.
The earliest modern humans—Cro-Magnons—entered Europe (including France) around 40,000 years ago during a long interglacial period, when Europe was relatively warm, and food was plentiful.
Paris, the capital city, is situated on the River Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Оle-de-France region.
The lowest point in France is 6.5 feet (two meters) below sea level.
Aquitaine passed to the English Crown, and the regions controlled by Henry II in France (the Angevin Empire) exceeded those of his feudal lord, Louis VII.
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).
On May 10, 1940, German forces invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, and pushed through to the Channel coast, cutting off 45 French and British divisions, which were evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain.
According to Article 2 of the Constitution, French is the sole official language of France since 1992.
In 1559, delegates from 66 Calvinist congregations in France met secretly at Paris in a national synod which drew up a confession of faith and a book of discipline.
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.
The name "garnet" comes from the Latin granatus ("grain"), possibly a reference to the Punica granatum ("pomegranate"), a plant with red seeds similar in shape, size, and color to some garnet crystals.
After the Second World War, France embarked on an ambitious program of modernization, known as dirigisme.
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) (1412-1431) was a fifteenth century national heroine of France.
France does not recognize religious law, nor does it recognize religious beliefs or morality as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions.
On June 17, 1789, the 1200 deputies elected to the Estates-General declared themselves the National Assembly of France.
France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain.
A significant part of French military equipment is made in France, including the Rafale fighter, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, the Exocet missile, and the Leclerc tank.
France has extensive river systems such as the Loire, the Garonne, the Seine and the Rhфne, which divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the Camargue.
France also hosts the annual Tour de France, the most famous road bicycle race in the world.
According to the 1999 French census returns, there were only 3.7 million people of "possible Muslim faith" in France (6.3 percent of the total population).
Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany.
France obtained the title "Eldest daughter of the Church" (La fille ainйe de l'Йglise), and the French would adopt this as justification for calling themselves "the Most Christian Kingdom of France."
France engaged in the long Italian Wars (1494-1559), which marked the beginning of early modern France.
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 industrialized countries in the world.
At the turn of the century, France had become the center of innovative art.
The Black Death bubonic plague, one of the most deadly pandemics in human history, entered France via Marseille in 1348, and engulfed the country in two years, killing up to one-third of the population.
Covering large parts of modern day France, Belgium, and northwest Germany, Gaul was inhabited by many Celtic tribes whom the Romans referred to as Gauls and who spoke the Gaulish language.
Central France is the home to the French bagpipe tradition, as well as the iconic hurdy gurdy and the dance bourrйe.
France is the country of creation of the Modern Olympic Games, due to a French aristocrat, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, in the end of the nineteenth century.
France's greatest dramatists emerged during the reign of Louis XIV.
The German African colonies were partitioned between France and Britain such as Cameroons, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France.
France spends 2.6 percent of its GDP on defense, slightly more than the United Kingdom (2.4 percent), and is the highest in the European Union.
About two-thirds of French territory was occupied by German forces at French expense, while the Germans established a puppet regime under Pйtain, known as Vichy France, which collaborated with Nazi Germany.
A significant part of medieval French poetry and literature was inspired by the Matter of France, such as the The Song of Roland and the various Chansons de geste.
French mercenaries who came with the British also settled in various locations around Manila.
The country's industrial revolution began in that century, when the France was the leading industrial power in the world.
One year later he restored the empire, and in 1852 took the imperial title of Napoleon III of France.
France's population was 61,538,322 in January 2007, including only its metropolitan territory; if overseas departments and territories are included, France's population would be 64,102,140.
The 64-member governing body is the International Ice Hockey Federation, (IIHF).
France, in 2007, was in the midst of transition from a well-to-do modern economy that has featured extensive government ownership and intervention to one that relies more on market mechanisms.
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.
Charles Quint, as Count of Burgundy, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Aragon, Castile and Germany (among many other titles) encircled France.
The allied rulers were convinced that restoration of the Bourbon monarchy would establish a peaceful France.
France is a secular country where freedom of thought and of religion are preserved, in virtue of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Philip’s successor, Louis VI (who reigned 1108-1137), consolidated royal power in the Оle-de-France, a region centering on Paris, by suppressing feudal opposition.
The Carolingians ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned king.
The Socialist government of the 1980s, under a policy called "family reunification" opened the way for polygamy, by allowing immigrants to bring their extended families into France legally.
From 1833, every commune in France was required to maintain a primary school for boys, free to those who could not afford to pay.
Jacques Chirac assumed office as president on May 17, 1995, after a campaign focused on the need to combat France's high unemployment rate.
The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between France and England, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453.
Romanesque churches in France include the Saint Sernin Basilica in Toulouse and the remains of the Cluniac Abbey (largely destroyed during the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars).
France is an ethnically diverse nation, including people of Celtic, Latin, Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Indochinese ancestry, as well as Basque minorities.
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s.
Louis IX (1215–1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 to his death, on a Crusade when he was struck down by disease and died while attacking Tunis.
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).
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various overseas islands and territories located in other continents.
Charles abdicated and Louis Philippe, Duke of Orlйans (1773-1850), was called to the throne as the last king of France.
France's leaders remained committed to a capitalism in which tax policies and social spending reduce income disparity.
About 10 percent of France's defense budget goes towards its nuclear weapons.
Troubadour songs of chivalry and courtly love were composed in the Occitan language between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, and the Trouvиre poet-composers flourished in Northern France during this period.
France has forests of chestnut and beech in the Massif Central, juniper and dwarf pine in the sub-alpine zone, with pine forests and various oaks in the south.
France has hosted the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and hosted the 2007 Rugby Union World Cup.
The nuclear family was most prevalent in southern France, and is where a young couple is established in their own household by both sets of parents.
Religious conflicts resumed under Louis XIII (1601-1643) when Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), the effective ruler of France for 18 years from 1624, forced Protestants to disarm.
France joined 11 other EU members to launch the Euro on January 1, 1999, with euro coins and banknotes replacing the French franc (?) in early 2002.
France is also famous for its 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance race held in the Sarthe department.
Richelieu joined the Thirty Years War on the side of the Catholic Habsburgs in 1636 because it was the national interest, but imperial Habsburg forces invaded France, ravaged Champagne, and threatened Paris.
Membership in France's laboor unions accounted for less than 10 percent of the private sector workforce and is concentrated in the education, manufacturing, transportation, and heavy industry sectors.
Stade de France in Paris is the largest stadium in France and was the venue for the 1998 FIFA World Cup final, and hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup final in October 2007.
Following this war Henry III of Navarre became king of France as Henry IV and enforced the Edict of Nantes (1598), which granted a degree of religious toleration to Protestants.
Francis I (1494 - 1547), who is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch, significantly increased both the power and the prestige of the Crown.
Philip II Augustus (1165-1223) was King of France from 1180 until his death.
Basque cuisine has also been a great influence over the cuisine in the southwest of France.
The largest group of French colonies became known as New France, and several cities such as Quebec City, Montreal, Detroit and New Orleans were founded by the French.
France has two linguistic regions: that of the langue d'oeil to the north and that of the langue d'oc to the south.
The uncrowned Charles VII of France sent her to the siege at Orlйans (1428-1429) as part of a relief mission.
On August 3, the German Empire declared war to France and violated Belgium's neutrality, causing both France and Great-Britain to enter the war.
Later France produced a series of philosophers noted for radical skepticism, and atheism.
Gastro-tourism and the Guide Michelin helped to bring people to the countryside during the twentieth century and beyond, to sample this rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of France.
France's natural resources includes coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, potash, and zinc.
The Spaniard Pablo Picasso came to France, like many other foreign artists, to deploy his talents there for decades to come.
France is a member of the United Nations and serves as one of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council with veto rights.
One received West Francia (modern France), another acquired the imperial title and a territory extending from the North Sea to Italy, while the third, Louis the German (804-876), received East Francia (modern Germany).
France's largest financial district La Defense has a significant number of skyscrapers.
During the next few years, France's Georges Mйliиs invented many common cinematic techniques, and made the first ever science fiction film A Trip to the Moon (1902).
Professors and researchers in France's universities are also employed by the state.
The first paintings of France are those that are from prehistoric times, painted in the caves of Lascaux well over 10,000 years ago.
The Hundred Years' War was punctuated by several brief and two lengthy periods of peace before it finally ended in the expulsion of the English from France, with the exception of the Calais.
Several major tennis tournaments take place in France, including the Paris Masters and the French Open, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Folk dances specific to the West of France include the courante, or maraichine, and the bal saintongeais.
Paris, city and capital of France, located in the north-central part of the country. People were living on the site of the present-day city, located along the Seine River some 233 miles (375 km) upstream from the river's mouth on the English Channel (La Manche), by about 7600 bce.Jan 18, 2018
French West AfricaIvory Coast (1843–1960)Dahomey or French Dahomey (now Benin) (1883–1960) ... French Sudan (now Mali) (1883–1960) ... Guinea or French Guinea (1891–1958)Mauritania (1902–1960) ... Niger (1890–1960) ... Senegal (1677–1960)French Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) (1896–1960)More items...
French Culture. The French are very proud when it comes to their cuisine. France is well-known throughout the world for its culinary arts. Amateurs and professionals flock to France, and particularly Paris, to study and experience food at its finest—gastronomie en France.
Sports is a popular pastime in France with football, judo, tennis and basketball dominating the sporting arenas. France also involves itself in grand racing car events, bicycle racing also making its presence felt in the world of tennis and martial arts.Mar 14, 2015
two casual dresses (one black, one with colors) that I can wear casually with flat shoes and a jean jacket, or wear with black fluid pants as if they were a long top, or that I can dress up with heel shoes and jewelry. one pair of jeans to walk around Paris. one shirt and 3 T shirts .Jan 22, 2018
Historically, French culture was influenced by Celtic and Gallo-Roman cultures as well as the Franks, a Germanic tribe. France was initially defined as the western area of Germany known as Rhineland but it later came to refer to a territory that was known as Gaul during the Iron Age and Roman era.Jul 21, 2017
France like many countries has a taste for popular sports such as Rugby, Football and basketball. Cycling is also a very well followed sport, with many people in France cycling as a hobby.
Football.Tennis.Rugby union.Rugby league.Basketball.Motorsports.Handball.Ice hockey.More items...
Although a variety of sports and games are played and hosted by France, the most popular sports there are football, tennis, and cycling. Football has the maximum number of licensed players and is considered by many as the national game of France.Jul 15, 2007
The Gallic rooster (French: le coq gaulois) is an unofficial national symbol of France as a nation, as opposed to Marianne representing France as a State, and its values: the Republic. The rooster is also the symbol of the Wallonia region and the French Community of Belgium.
Originally a rustic dish that was stewed continuously all winter and topped up as needed, pot-au-feu (pot-in-the-fire) is a warming, fragrant dish of stewing steak, root vegetables, and spices.Sep 13, 2011
Paris History And Culture, France. Paris was founded around the end of the 3rd century BC by the Gauls who were called Parisii. In 52 BC Julius Caesar's legions conquered the territory, founding the Roman city, Lutetia on the earlier settlement.
Croque-monsieur. Most brasseries and cafés in Paris offer non-stop service, and a staple of their menu is the croque-monsieur, an oozy and crisp grilled ham and cheese sandwich usually moistened by a touch of Béchamel sauce.
The city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy, and historical and architectural landmarks; part of it is a registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk.
Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern: Lyon, France) was an important Roman city in Gaul. Due to its strategic position, the city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus and served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Lugdunensis.
Frankish power reached its fullest extent under Charlemagne. The medieval Kingdom of France emerged from the western part of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, known as West Francia, and achieved increasing prominence under the rule of the House of Capet, founded by Hugh Capet in 987.
The word France is derived from the Latin word Francia. It means land of the Franks or Frank land. After the fall of the Roman Empire, a lot of different barbarian tribes fought over Gaul (ancient name of France), the ones that wiped all the other out were the Franks, a Germanic tribe and their king Clovis.
In order to distinguish it from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called Frankreich, while the Frankish Empire is called Frankenreich. The name of the Franks itself is said to come from the Proto-Germanic word *frankon which means "javelin, lance".
1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany. Britain and France are at war with Germany following the invasion of Poland two days ago. At 1115 BST the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced the British deadline for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland had expired.