Map of France in the world and position of its largest single land territory in continental Europe.
France (French: [fʁɑ̃s](Audio file "LL-Q150 (fra)-Fhala.K-France.wav " not found)), officially the French Republic (French: République française[ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and have a total population of over 68 million . France is a unitarysemi-presidentialrepublic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Nice.
Inhabited by archaic humans since the Paleolithic era, the territory of Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture that laid the foundation of the French language. The GermanicFranks formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia becoming the Kingdom of France in 987. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but highly decentralized feudal kingdom. From the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a series of dynastic conflicts involving England, collectively known as the Hundred Years' War. The French Renaissance saw art and culture flourish and the establishment of a French colonial empire, one of the largest in history. The second half of the 16th century was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots that severely weakened the country. France was successful in the Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of Louis XIV.
The French Revolution of 1789 overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte, subjugating part of continental Europe and establishing the First French Empire. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars significantly shaped the course of European history. The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured a tumultuous succession of governments until the founding of the French Third Republic during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Subsequent decades saw a period of optimism, cultural and scientific flourishing, as well as economic prosperity, known as the Belle Époque. France was one of the major participants of World War I, from which it emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among the Allied powers of World War II but it surrended and was occupied by the Axis in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, the short-lived Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the defeat in the Algerian War. The current Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle. Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining close economic and military ties with France.
France retains its centuries-long status as a global centre of art, science and philosophy. It hosts the fifth-largest number of UNESCOWorld Heritage Sites and is the world's leading tourist destination, receiving over 89 million foreign visitors in 2018. France is a developed country with the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by PPP. It remains a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an official nuclear-weapon state. France is a founding and leadingmember of the European Union and the Eurozone, as well as a key member of the Group of Seven, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Francophonie. (Full article...)
The Louvre (UK: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".; US: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".) or the Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre, pronounced [myze dy luvʁ]) (French Audio file "Musée du Louvre pronunciation.ogg" not found) is the world's largestmuseum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or ward). Approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres (782,910 square feet). The Louvre is the world's most visited museum, receiving 7.4 million visitors in 2016.
The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the urban expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and, in 1546, was converted by Francis I into the main residence of the French Kings. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces. (Full article...)
Major articles. Linked categories are listed in bold typeface.
Main Category - France, List of basic France topics History of France -
History of France
Historic Periods - Prehistoric France - Celtic Gaul - Roman Gaul - Frankish Empire - Medieval France - Early Modern France - Nineteenth century France - Twentieth century France
Major Events - Hundred Years' War - French Renaissance - Wars of Religion - French Revolution - Franco-Prussian War - Dreyfus Affair - World War I - World War II - Vichy France - Algerian War - Military history
Dynasties and Regimes - Merovingians - Carolingians - Capetian Dynasty - Valois Dynasty - Bourbon Dynasty - Ancien Régime in France - First Empire - Second Empire - Third Republic - Fourth Republic - Fifth Republic
Monarchs of France - List of French monarchs - Charlemagne - Louis I the Pious - Charles II the Bald - Louis II the Stammerer - Louis III - Carloman - Charles III the Fat - Eudes (Odo) - Charles III the Simple - Robert I - Raoul (Rudolph) of Burgundy - Louis IV d'outremer - Lothair - Louis V the Indolent - Hugh Capet - Robert II the Pious - Henri I - Philippe I - Louis VI the Fat - Louis VII the Young - Philippe II Augustus - Louis VIII the Lion - Louis IX Saint Louis - Philippe III the Bold - Philippe IV the Fair - Louis X the Quarreller - Jean I the Posthumous - Philippe V the Tall - Charles IV the Fair - Philip VI of Valois - Jean II the Good - Charles V - Charles VI - Charles VII - Louis XI - Charles VIII - Louis XII - François I - Henri II - François II - Charles IX - Henri III - Henri IV - Louis XIII - Louis XIV - Louis XV - Louis XVI - Napoleon I - Napoleon II - Louis XVIII - Charles X - Louis-Philippe - Napoleon III
Other Major Historical Figures - Catherine de Medicis - Cardinal Richelieu - Mazarin - Jean-Baptiste Colbert - Jacques Necker - Jean Jaurès
Culture and People -
French culture -
French culture -
Museums in France -
French people -
Health in France -
Education in France -
Education in France -
Religion in France -
Languages of France - Languages of France - French language -
French cuisine -
French cuisine -
French wine -
Archaeology of France -
Basque culture -
Breton culture
Politics and Government -
Government of France -
Government of France -
French National Assembly -
French Senate -
Law of France -
French politics -
Politics of France -
Military of France -
Foreign relations of France -
Flags of France
Heads of State of France since 1871 - President of the French Republic
Third Republic: Adolphe Thiers • Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta • Jules Grévy • Marie François Sadi Carnot • Jean Casimir-Perier • Félix Faure • Émile Loubet • Armand Fallières • Raymond Poincaré • Paul Deschanel • Alexandre Millerand • Gaston Doumergue • Paul Doumer • Albert Lebrun
Provisional Government: Charles de Gaulle • Félix Gouin • Georges Bidault • Léon Blum
Fourth Republic: Vincent Auriol • René Coty
Fifth Republic: Charles de Gaulle • Georges Pompidou • Valéry Giscard d'Estaing • François Mitterrand • Jacques Chirac • Nicolas Sarkozy • François Hollande • Emmanuel Macron
Heads of Government of France since 1871 - Prime Minister of France
Economy, Industry and Media -
Economy of France -
Economy of France -
Economic history of France -
French businesspeople -
Companies of France -
French trade unions -
Communications in France -
Mass media in France -
French space program -
French airlines
Visual and Plastic Arts -
French art -
French artists -
French architecture -
French art
Historic periods: French Renaissance - French Baroque and Classicism - French Rococo and Neoclassicism - French art of the 19th century - French art of the 20th century
Art museums and galleries: Louvre - Palace of Versailles - Musée d'Orsay - Centre Georges Pompidou - Musée Picasso - Musée Rodin
Literature -
French literature -
French writers -
French literature - French poetry
Historic periods: Medieval French literature - French Renaissance literature - French literature of the 17th century - French literature of the 18th century - French literature of the 19th century - French literature of the 20th century
Music -
French music -
French composers -
French musicians -
Music of France -
French folk music -
French rock -
French hip hop and rap
Major articles. Linked categories are listed in bold typeface.
Main Category - France Geography -
Geography of France - Geography of France - Regions of France - Provinces of France - Subdivisions of France - Subdivisions of France - Overseas FranceMap of French citiesMap of French cities
Coastlines: Atlantic Ocean - Bay of Biscay ("Golfe de Gascogne") – Mediterranean Sea (Golfe du Lion) - Côte d'Azur ("French Riviera") – English Channel
Islands: Belle Île – Corsica – Île d'Oléron – Ouessant – Île de Ré – Île d'Yeu - Réunion - Martinique - Guadeloupe - Saint Barthélemy - Saint Martin - Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Canals:Canal du Midi – Canal de Nantes à Brest – Canal Saint-Martin – Briare Canal – Canal of Burgundy – Grand Canal d'Alsace – Sambre–Oise Canal
Lakes:Lake Annecy – Lac du Bourget – Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) – Étang de Thau – Étang de Berre
Mountains:
Major Mountain ranges: Alps – French Prealps – Pyrénées – Massif Central – Jura – Vosges
Other Mountain ranges: Aravis Range – Bauges – Belledonne – Chartreuse Mountains – Massif des Écrins – Vercors
Mountain peaks: Mont Blanc – Aiguille du Midi – Barre des Écrins – Ballon d'Alsace – Crêt de la Neige – Grandes Jorasses – Meije – Mont Aigoual – Mont Ventoux – Pic du Midi - Mont Pelvoux – Puy de Dôme – Puy de Sancy
Forests: Forest of Fontainebleau – Forest of Compiègne – Paimpont forest – Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
National parks and natural regions:Cévennes National Park – Écrins National Park – Mercantour National Park – Port-Cros National Park – Pyrénées National Park – Vanoise National Park – Boulonnais – Bresse – Beaujolais – Camargue – Pays de Bray – Sundgau – Vexin
Translation from French:See TRANSWIKI/French for details. fr:Formation territoriale de la France métropolitaine to Territorial formation of France – Loi constitutionnelle du 23 juillet 2008 to French constitutional law of 23 July 2008 – fr:Arbel Fauvet Rail to Arbel Fauvet Rail – fr:Merir to Merir – more...
NPOV : Foreign relations of France (Middle East section) – Torture during the Algerian War – François Mitterrand – Jean-Marie_Le_Pen – John Calvin – Marie Antoinette
Wikify: Dida Diafat – French architecture
Citations: Vichy France (section) – Falaise pocket – Charles de Gaulle – Vaux-le-Vicomte – Economy of France – Louisiana Purchase
Copyedit, Style or Cleanup: Antoine de la Sale – Albert Camus – Breton language – Claude Debussy – French Revolution – French language – Jean-Paul Sartre – Napoleon III of France – Nicolas Sarkozy – Picardy – Rennes – Sarah Bernhardt – Toulouse – Girondist – Louis XIV
Expand: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen – Vaux-le-Vicomte – Basque language – Being and Nothingness
