France - Simple English Wikipedia

# France

### From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

République française

National motto: Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood (French: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité)
Official language | French1
Capital | Paris
Largest City | Paris
President: | Jacques Chirac
Prime Minister: | Dominique de Villepin

Area
- Total2
- Metropolitan France3
- % water

Ranked 42nd
674,843 km²
(260,558 sq. mi.)
Ranked 47th
551,695 km²4
(213,011 sq. mi.)
543,965 km²5
(210,026 sq. mi.)
0.26%

Population (January 1, 2005) - Total2 - Metropolitan France3 - Density3 | Ranked 20th 63,044,000 60,560,000 111/km²
GDP (PPP) - Total (2003) - GDP/head | Ranked 5th $1.661 Trillion $27,600
Currency | Euro (€)6, CFP Franc7
Time zone - in summer | CET (UTC+1)3 CEST (UTC+2)3
National anthem | La Marseillaise
Internet TLD | .fr
Calling Code | 33

1 See Demographics for regional languages
2 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
3 Metropolitan (i.e. European) France only
4 French National Geographic Institute data
5 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers
6 Whole of the French Republic except the overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean
7 French overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean only

France is a country in Europe. Its capital city is Paris.

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

The French people speak the French language.

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

France has borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. France has two mountain ranges near its borders too, the Alps and the Pyrenees. Inside of France, there are a lot of rivers. One of these rivers is the Loire.

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'

The main religion of France is Roman Catholic. But France is officially secular.

The most popular sport in France is soccer. In France and Europe soccer is called football.

## [edit] External links

- France Travel Guide
- France Pictures
- France Map

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Countries and territories of Europe
Albania - Andorra - 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.

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

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