Geographic
The exact location of the country is 46.00 North, 2.00 East. The relative location of France is in Western Europe, between Belgium and Spain southeast of the United Kingdom; it has 1500 miles of beaches, lining three major bodies of water: the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the English Channel. It is roughly twice the size of Colorado with 547,030 square miles and is the largest Western European country. Its climate is a marine west coast climate, with cool winters and mild summers, though has hot summers and mild winters along the Mediterranean. With an occasional strong, cold wind from the North know as mistrals. The natural vegetation of France consists of mid-latitude deciduous forests, mixed forests and chaparral. The geographic features of France are diverse with the Pyrenees Mountains in the south, rolling hills and flat plains in the north and west and for mountain climbers and skiers there is the ever popular Alps in the East.
British autos with cannon in France (LOC)
No Mans Land, Flanders Field, France, 1919 (LOC)
OpenStreetMap LogoPolitical
The country is divided into 22 administrative regions (left) with the capitol being Paris. Each of the 22 regions are subdivided into 96 departments. France also has several dependent areas: Europa Island, French Polynesia, and Jaun de Nova Island to name a few. The population is rated 21st in the world with a population of 60,424,213 with a population density of 108 people per square kilometer. The city with the highest population is the capitol city of Paris, with a population of 2,107,700. The government of France is a republic, with a new president elected every five years, the minimum age for voting, like in the US is 18. The current chief of staff is President Jacques CHIRAC. The head of government is Prime Minister Jean-Pierre RAFFARIN. France's flag, (shown below) is often called the "Le drapeau tricolore" or the French...