France

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This article is about the country. For other uses, see France (disambiguation).

French Republic
Rpublique franaise

Flag

National emblem

Motto: "Libert, galit, fraternit"

"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"

Anthem: "La Marseillaise"

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Location of metropolitan France, the European part of France (dark green)

in Europe (green & dark grey)
in the European Union (green)

Territory of the French Republic[I]

Capital
and largest city

Paris
4851.4N 221.05E

Official language
and national language

French[II]

89.4% French

4.4% French (by

acquisition)

6.2% Foreigners

8.9% Immigrants[1]

63-66% Christian

7-9% Muslim

0.5-0.75% Buddhist

0.5-0.75% Jewish

0.5-1.0% other

23-28% none[2]

Ethnic groups

Religion

Demonym
Government
President
Prime Minister
President of the Senate
President of the National
Assembly
Legislature
Upper house
Lower house
Establishment
Francia unified
Treaty of Verdun[III]
Republic established
Founded the EEC[IV]
Current constitution[V]
Area
Total
Metropolitan France (IGN)

French
Unitary semi-presidential
republic
Franois Hollande
Bernard Cazeneuve
Grard Larcher
Claude Bartolone
Parliament
Senate
National Assembly
486
August 843
22 September 1792
1 January 1958
4 October 1958
643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi)
[VI][3]
(41st)
551,695 km2[VII] (50th)
213,010 sq mi

 Metropolitan France (Cadastre)

543,940.9 km2[VIII][4] (50th)

210,026 sq mi

Population
Total 2017 estimate
66,991,000[7] (20th)
Metropolitan France January
64,859,000[8] (22nd)
2017 estimate
116/km2 (300.4/sq mi)[IX]
Density
(89th)
GDP (PPP)
2015 estimate
Total
$2.647 trillion (10th)
Per capita
$41,181[5] (24th)
GDP (nominal)
2015 estimate
Total
$2.422 trillion (6th)
Per capita
$37,675[5] (20th)
30.1[6]
Gini (2013)
medium
0.888[7]
HDI (2014)
very high 22nd

Euro (EUR)[X]

CFP franc (XPF)[XI]

Currency

Time zone
Summer (DST)
Date format
Drives on the
Calling code
ISO 3166 code
Internet TLD

CET[XII] (UTC+1)
CEST[XIII] (UTC+2)
dd/mm/yyyy
right
+33[XIV]
FR
.fr[XV]

France (French: [fs]), officially the French Republic (Rpublique franaise [epyblik
fsz]), is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and
territories.[XVI] The European, or 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.
Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island
territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres
(248,573 sq mi)[3] and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is
a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main
cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban centres include Marseille-Aix-en-Provence,
Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse and Bordeaux.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic
people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, when the
Germanic Franks conquered the region and formed the Kingdom of France. France emerged as a
major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337
to 1453) strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French

culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would
be the second largest in the world.[8] The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars
between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). France became Europe's dominant cultural,
political, and military power under Louis XIV.[9] In the late 18th century, the French Revolution
overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, and saw
the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the
nation's ideals to this day.