France - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

# France

### From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

République française

Official flag | Official Coat of Arms

National information
National motto: | National motto: Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood (French: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité)
National anthem: | La Marseillaise
About the people
Official languages: | French

Population:
(# of people)

- Total: 63,044,000[1]
- Metropolitan France: 60,560,000[2]
  (ranked #42)
- Density: 111/km&sup2 per km²

Geography / Places
Here is the country on a map of the world.
Capital city: | Paris
Largest city: | Paris

Area

- Total: 674,843 km²
  (ranked #40)
- Water: km² (%)

Politics / Government
Established: |

Leaders:

President:

  Jacques Chirac

Prime Minister:

  Dominique de Villepin

Economy / Money
Currency: (Name of money) | Euro (€)[3], CFP Franc[4]
International information

Time zone:

in summer

  CET (UTC+1)[2]
  CEST (UTC+2)[2]

Telephone dialing code: | 33
Internet domain: | .fr

France is a country in Europe. Its capital city is Paris. France is a member of the European Union and the largest country of this union. France is known for its many monuments, structures, and places such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Giverny, Versailles, and Notre Dame. France is a country divided in 'régions' and 'départements'.

There are many important cities in France. Some of them are Avignon, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, and Tours.

## [edit] Sports

The Tour de France cycling race in July is one of the best-known sporting events. It is a 3 weeks (3,630 km) race that covers most of France and ends in the center of Paris. Football is another popular sport in France. They won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and the UEFA European Football Championship in 2000.

## [edit] Religion

The main religion of France is Roman Catholic, but France is officially secular. The population is about 83-85% Roman Catholic, 2% Protestants, 5-10% Muslims, 1% Jewish and 4% unaffiliated.

## [edit] Landscape and Climate

France is in Western Europe. France has borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. France has two mountain ranges near its borders: the Alps and the Pyrenees. Inside of France, there are a lot of rivers. One of these rivers is the Loire. Low hills and river valleys cover much of north and west France. France climate is varied. The Atlantic has a large affect in the north and west. The east has cold clear winters and hot, often stormy summers.

## [edit] Attractions

One of the famous attractions in France is the Eiffel Tower. It is found in Paris, France beside Seine River. Another one is Le Mont St Michael.

## [edit] Language

French is the official language of France. It belongs to the Romance language group, which includes Italian and Spanish. Many regional dialects are used in France. Alsatian, a German dialect is spoken in Alsace and in parts of Lorraine in eastern France. French used to be the language of diplomacy and culture in Europe around 17th - 19th century.

Some people in France also speak Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican, German, Flemish, and Occitan.

## [edit] Health Care

The French enjoy high quality health care. The French government covers about 75% of the country’s total health care cost. About half the money goes to hospitals and a quarter to out-patient care. Private insurance companies pay only 3% of health care costs.

## [edit] Regions

France is split into (administrative) regions. 22 of them are in Metropolitan France (the part of the country that is in Europe):

1. Alsace
2. Aquitaine
3. Auvergne
4. Basse-Normandie
5. Bourgogne
6. Bretagne
7. Centre
8. Champagne-Ardenne
9. Corsica
10. Franche-Comté
11. Haute-Normandie

12. Île-de-France
13. Languedoc-Roussillon
14. Limousin
15. Lorraine
16. Midi-Pyrénées
17. Nord-Pas-de-Calais
18. Pays de la Loire
19. Picardie
20. Poitou-Charentes
21. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
22. Rhône-Alpes

  Corsica has a different status than the other 21 metropolian regions. It is called collectivité territoriale.

France had 4 overseas regions:

  1. Guadeloupe
  2. French Guiana
  3. Martinique
  4. Réunion

## [edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ Whole territory of the French Republic, including all the overseas departments and territories, but excluding the French territory of Terre Adélie in Antarctica where sovereignty is suspended since the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Metropolitan (i.e. European) France only
3. ↑ Whole of the French Republic except the overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean
4. ↑ French overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean only

## [edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
France

- France Maps & Photographs
- France Travel Guide
- Guide To Paris The Capital Of France With Pictures & Paris City Map
- France Pictures
- France Map

This short article can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.

Countries and territories of Europe
Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Azerbaijan1 - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus2 - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Georgia1 - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Republic of Macedonia - Romania - Russia1 - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey1 - Ukraine - United Kingdom - Vatican City
Dependencies: Akrotiri and Dhekelia2 - Faroe Islands - Gibraltar - Guernsey - Jan Mayen - Jersey - Isle of Man - Svalbard
Unrecognised countries: Abkhazia | Nagorno-Karabakh2 | South Ossetia | Transnistria | Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus2
1. Country partly in Asia. 2. Geographically in Asia, but often counted as part of Europe for cultural and historical reasons.

G8
Canada | France | Germany | Japan | Italy | United Kingdom | Russia | United States

Members of the European Union
Austria - Belgium - Bulgaria - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Netherlands - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - United Kingdom

Retrieved from "http://simple.wikipedia.org../../../f/r/a/France.html"

Category: France

##### Views

- Article
- Talk
- Newest version

##### Search

##### In other languages

- Afrikaans
- Alemannisch
- አማርኛ
- Anglo Saxon
- العربية
- Aragonés
- ܐܪܡܝܐ
- Armâneashti
- Arpitan
- Asturianu
- Azərbaycan
- বাংলা
- Bân-lâm-gú
- Беларуская
- Boarisch
- བོད་ཡིག
- Bosanski
- Brezhoneg
- Български
- Català
- Чăвашла
- Cebuano
- Česky
- Corsu
- Cymraeg
- Dansk
- Deitsch
- Deutsch
- ދިވެހިބަސް
- Eesti
- Ελληνικά
- English
- Español
- Esperanto
- Euskara
- فارسی
- Français
- Frysk
- Furlan
- Gaeilge
- Gaelg
- Gàidhlig
- Galego
- ગુજરાતી
- 古文 / 文言文
- 한국어
- Հայերեն
- हिन्दी
- Hornjoserbsce
- Hrvatski
- Ido
- Ilokano
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Interlingua
- Иронау
- Íslenska
- Italiano
- עברית
- Basa Jawa
- Kapampangan
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ქართული
- कश्मीरी - (كشميري)
- Kaszëbsczi
- Қазақша
- Kernewek
- Kiswahili
- Коми
- Krèyol ayisyen
- Kurdî / كوردي
- Ladino
- Latina
- Latviešu
- Lëtzebuergesch
- Lietuvių
- Limburgs
- Lingála
- Lojban
- Lumbaart
- Magyar
- Македонски
- Malagasy
- മലയാളം
- मराठी
- Bahasa Melayu
- Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄
- Монгол
- Ekakairũ Naoero
- Nederlands
- Nedersaksisch
- नेपाली
- 日本語
- Нохчийн
- ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬
- ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬
- Nouormand
- Novial
- Occitan
- Oyghurque
- پښتو
- Piemontèis
- Plattdüütsch
- Polski
- Português
- Reo Mā`ohi
- Ripoarisch
- Română
- Romani
- Rumantsch
- Runa Simi
- Русский
- Sámegiella
- संस्कृत
- Sardu
- Scots
- seSotho
- Shqip
- Сибирской
- Sicilianu
- Slovenčina
- Slovenščina
- Soomaaliga
- Српски / Srpski
- Srpskohrvatski / Српскохрватски
- Suomi
- Svenska
- Tagalog
- தமிழ்
- Tetun
- ไทย
- Tiếng Việt
- Тоҷикӣ
- Tok Pisin
- Türkçe
- Удмурт
- Українська
- اردو
- Vèneto
- Volapük
- Võro
- West-Vlams
- Winaray
- ייִדיש
- 粵語
- Zazaki
- 中文