France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in <a href="/facts/Western_Europe/YmWlV59w">Western Europe</a>. <a href="/facts/Overseas_France/hpFN2jQh">Its overseas regions and territories</a> include <a href="/facts/French_Guiana/aFSETEKm">French Guiana</a> in <a href="/facts/South_America/PhrFEMk7">South America</a>, <a href="/facts/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon/X4lY6aCY">Saint Pierre and Miquelon</a> in the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Ocean/EI4uChIb">North Atlantic</a>, the <a href="/facts/French_West_Indies/4vJy9rP9">French West Indies</a>, and <a href="/facts/List_of_islands_of_France/qnGBJz5T">many islands</a> in <a href="/facts/Oceania/vzTEvsfV">Oceania</a> and the <a href="/facts/Indian_Ocean/Kv0crwKG">Indian Ocean</a>, giving it <a href="/facts/Exclusive_economic_zone_of_France/g3GqmsaT">one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world</a>. <a href="/facts/Metropolitan_France/azPuzr4V">Metropolitan France</a> shares borders with <a href="/facts/Belgium/YKuMXP5j">Belgium</a> and <a href="/facts/Luxembourg/vRN04l7f">Luxembourg</a> to the north; <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a> to the northeast; <a href="/facts/Switzerland/LcGuxeTe">Switzerland</a> to the east; <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a> and <a href="/facts/Monaco/QjjEJwKy">Monaco</a> to the southeast; <a href="/facts/Andorra/VItvtXBe">Andorra</a> and <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a> to the south; and a maritime border with the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the <a href="/facts/Rhine/MgJ88oaz">Rhine</a> to the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Ocean/EI4uChIb">Atlantic Ocean</a> and from the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean Sea</a> to the <a href="/facts/English_Channel/UPjaSEXf">English Channel</a> and the <a href="/facts/North_Sea/htGJNmsb">North Sea</a>. Its <a href="/facts/Regions_of_France/ovVDJLnK">eighteen integral regions</a>—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of 632,702 km2 (244,288 sq mi) and have an estimated total <a href="/facts/Demographics_of_France/eo5l1fHh">population</a> of over 68.6 million as of January 2025. France is a <a href="/facts/Semi-presidential_system/vncj96gR">semi-presidential republic</a> and its capital, <a href="/facts/List_of_communes_in_France_with_over_20%2c000_inhabitants/GAbD1DIH">largest city</a> and main cultural and economic centre is <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a>.
Metropolitan France was settled during the <a href="/facts/Iron_Age/mpQYShI0">Iron Age</a> by <a href="/facts/List_of_ancient_Celtic_peoples_and_tribes/AHn8bIdd">Celtic tribes</a> known as <a href="/facts/Gauls/r8nFrHmV">Gauls</a> before <a href="/facts/Roman_Gaul/lwD5gbaV">Rome annexed the area</a> in 51 BC, leading to a distinct <a href="/facts/Gallo-Roman_culture/mhYGcc0o">Gallo-Roman culture</a>. In the <a href="/facts/Early_Middle_Ages/9FrTq3rt">Early Middle Ages</a>, the <a href="/facts/Franks/RHyCqfkd">Franks</a> formed the kingdom of <a href="/facts/Francia/0fNvWt3n">Francia</a>, which became the heartland of the <a href="/facts/Carolingian_Empire/kyp74kXx">Carolingian Empire</a>. The <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Verdun/CdLoKatD">Treaty of Verdun</a> of 843 partitioned the empire, with <a href="/facts/West_Francia/rCGugs8D">West Francia</a> evolving into the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_France/Ul6rT7cQ">Kingdom of France</a>. In the <a href="/facts/High_Middle_Ages/uPRGYdE6">High Middle Ages</a>, France was a powerful but decentralized <a href="/facts/Feudalism/WCK7l9gA">feudal</a> kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_England/1VqdIuFc">England</a> known as the <a href="/facts/Hundred_Years%2527_War/Q6myk5Hu">Hundred Years' War</a>. In the <a href="/facts/16th_century/1LF6RNzn">16th century</a>, <a href="/facts/Culture_of_France/IFUhnanU">French culture</a> flourished during the <a href="/facts/French_Renaissance/mM9bHqGX">French Renaissance</a> and a <a href="/facts/French_colonial_empire/IRauBDs1">French colonial empire</a> emerged. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the <a href="/facts/House_of_Habsburg/0ttzWDwA">House of Habsburg</a> and the <a href="/facts/French_Wars_of_Religion/43pYXFXr">French Wars of Religion</a> between <a href="/facts/Catholics/rJ4F4gqH">Catholics</a> and <a href="/facts/Huguenots/x2FcqQ8J">Huguenots</a>. France was successful in the <a href="/facts/Thirty_Years%2527_War/7bgcxoxf">Thirty Years' War</a> and further increased its influence during the reign of <a href="/facts/Louis_XIV/2LseeIlj">Louis XIV</a>.
The <a href="/facts/French_Revolution/PIkDlrC0">French Revolution</a> of 1789 overthrew the <a href="/facts/Ancien_R%25C3%25A9gime/4pCsWuFK">Ancien Régime</a> and produced the <a href="/facts/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen/BYezGCs7">Declaration of the Rights of Man</a>, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early <a href="/facts/19th_century/6LHXycA8">19th century</a> under <a href="/facts/Napoleon/8TKBIjPM">Napoleon Bonaparte</a>, subjugating part of continental Europe and establishing the <a href="/facts/First_French_Empire/b16nSfY7">First French Empire</a>. The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the <a href="/facts/Bourbon_Restoration_in_France/hKbV35eL">Bourbon Restoration</a> until the founding of the <a href="/facts/French_Second_Republic/yWcYlavX">French Second Republic</a> which was succeeded by the <a href="/facts/Second_French_Empire/5oS28M6v">Second French Empire</a> upon <a href="/facts/Napoleon_III/F29546rc">Napoleon III</a>'s takeover. His empire collapsed during the <a href="/facts/Franco-Prussian_War/DU9aBkVB">Franco-Prussian War</a> in 1870. This led to the establishment of the <a href="/facts/Third_French_Republic/I2nlEmcn">Third French Republic</a>, and subsequent decades saw a period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as the <a href="/facts/Belle_%25C3%2589poque/abSoulMC">Belle Époque</a>. France was one of the <a href="/facts/Triple_Entente/pyxyg1cA">major participants</a> of <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, from which <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Versailles/BsNmjaqV">it emerged victorious</a> at great human and economic cost. It was among the <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_II/YzCdtjDY">Allies of World War II</a>, but it surrendered and <a href="/facts/German_military_administration_in_occupied_France_during_World_War_II/R7nv8sUa">was occupied</a> in 1940. Following <a href="/facts/Liberation_of_France/YKyEyBMo">its liberation in 1944</a>, the short-lived <a href="/facts/French_Fourth_Republic/rkMkxrH9">Fourth Republic</a> was established and later dissolved in the course of the defeat in the <a href="/facts/Algerian_War/5VAQbI3y">Algerian War</a>. The current <a href="/facts/French_Fifth_Republic/aVtg3Wlb">Fifth Republic</a> was formed in 1958 by <a href="/facts/Charles_de_Gaulle/elj4Djpo">Charles de Gaulle</a>. <a href="/facts/Algeria/UXDF4Tj6">Algeria</a> and most <a href="/facts/French_colonies/T1pTy70Y">French colonies</a> became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining <a href="/facts/Fran%25C3%25A7afrique/rnIbwPDJ">close economic and military ties with France</a>.
France retains its centuries-long status as a global centre <a href="/facts/French_art/6b34rqsW">of art</a>, <a href="/facts/Science_and_technology_in_France/Vr6JLLyC">science</a>, and <a href="/facts/French_philosophy/s0KPGe8v">philosophy</a>. <a href="/facts/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_France/81BvJKxh">It hosts</a> the <a href="/facts/World_Heritage_Sites_by_country/9If7r6t6">fourth-largest number</a> of <a href="/facts/UNESCO_World_Heritage_Site/6AbWWKV4">UNESCO World Heritage Sites</a> and is the <a href="/facts/World_Tourism_rankings/WHLW8GqP">world's leading tourist destination</a>, having received 100 million foreign <a href="/facts/Tourism_in_France/CHoSjb6g">visitors in 2023</a>. A <a href="/facts/Developed_country/sqwTSDHm">developed country</a>, France has a <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita/CKNIxpFU">high nominal per capita income globally</a>, and <a href="/facts/Economy_of_France/xWUTlqn8">its advanced economy</a> ranks among the largest in the world by both <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)/k3Lf3RIL">nominal GDP</a> and <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)/fDw3Ibeo">PPP-adjusted GDP</a>. It is a <a href="/facts/Great_power/KBtjXLun">great power</a>, being one of the five <a href="/facts/Permanent_members_of_the_United_Nations_Security_Council/4Vkl8rI0">permanent members of the United Nations Security Council</a> and an official <a href="/facts/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons/urhNKh4Q">nuclear-weapon state</a>. The country is part of <a href="/facts/Outline_of_France/GnyRtGcU">multiple international organizations and forums</a>.

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France