Jump to content

France

Coordinates: 47°N 2°E / 47°N 2°E / 47; 2
Page semi-protected
Listen to this article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from France (country))

French Republic
République française (French)
Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité"
("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity")
Anthem: "La Marseillaise"
Diplomatic emblem
Location of France (blue or dark green)

– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)

Capital
and largest city
Paris
48°51′N 2°21′E / 48.850°N 2.350°E / 48.850; 2.350
Official language
and national language
French[II]
Nationality (2021)[3]
Religion
(2021)[4]
Demonym(s)French
GovernmentUnitary semi-presidential republic
• President
Emmanuel Macron
François Bayrou
Gérard Larcher
Yaël Braun-Pivet
LegislatureParliament
Senate
National Assembly
Establishment
10 August 843
22 September 1792
4 October 1958
Area
• Total
643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi)
(including metropolitan France and overseas France and excluding Terre Adelie[6]) (42nd)
• Water (%)
0.86[5]
551,695 km2 (213,011 sq mi)[III] (50th)
• Metropolitan France (Cadastre)
543,940.9 km2 (210,016.8 sq mi)[IV][7] (50th)
Population
• January 2024 estimate
Neutral increase 68,373,433[8] (20th)
• Density
106.20274/km2 (106th)
• Metropolitan France, estimate as of January 2024
Neutral increase 66,142,961[9] (23rd)
• Density
122/km2 (316.0/sq mi) (89th)
GDP (PPP)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $4.359 trillion[10] (9th)
• Per capita
Increase $65,940[10] (22nd)
GDP (nominal)2024 estimate
• Total
Increase $3.174 trillion[10] (7th)
• Per capita
Increase $48,011[10] (22nd)
Gini (2022)Negative increase 29.8[11]
low inequality
HDI (2022)Steady 0.910[12]
very high (28th)
Currency
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET[VII])
• Summer (DST)
UTC+2 (CEST)
Calling code+33[VIII]
ISO 3166 codeFR
Internet TLD.fr[IX]
Source gives area of metropolitan France as 551,500 km2 (212,900 sq mi) and lists overseas regions separately, whose areas sum to 89,179 km2 (34,432 sq mi). Adding these give the total shown here for the entire French Republic. The World Factbook reports the total as 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi).

France,[X] officially the French Republic,[XI] is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and 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, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north, Germany to the northeast, Switzerland to the east, Italy and Monaco to the southeast, Andorra and Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. 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 nearly 68.4 million as of January 2024. France is a semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.

Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture. In the Early Middle Ages, the Franks 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 evolving into the Kingdom of France. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but decentralized feudal kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with England known as the Hundred Years' War. In the 16th century, French culture flourished during the French Renaissance and a French colonial empire emerged. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots. 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 collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the Bourbon Restoration until the founding of the French Second Republic which was succeeded by the Second French Empire upon Napoleon III's takeover. His empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of the Third French Republic, and subsequent decades saw a period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing 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 Allies of World War II, but it surrendered and was occupied in 1940. Following its 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 fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the world's leading tourist destination, receiving 100 million foreign visitors in 2023. A developed country, France has a high nominal per capita income globally, and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world by both nominal GDP and PPP-adjusted GDP. It is a great power, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an official nuclear-weapon state. France is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the eurozone, as well as a member of the Group of Seven, NATO, OECD, and Francophonie.

Etymology

Originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or "realm of the Franks".[13] The name of the Franks is related to the English word frank ("free"): the latter stems from the Old French franc ("free, noble, sincere"), and ultimately from the Medieval Latin word francus ("free, exempt from service; freeman, Frank"), a generalisation of the tribal name that emerged as a Late Latin borrowing of the reconstructed Frankish endonym *Frank.[14][15] It has been suggested that the meaning "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation,[16] or more generally because they had the status of freemen in contrast to servants or slaves.[15] The etymology of *Frank is uncertain. It is traditionally derived from the Proto-Germanic word *frankōn, which translates as "javelin" or "lance" (the throwing axe of the Franks was known as the francisca),[17] although these weapons may have been named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around.[15]

In English, 'France' is pronounced /fræns/ FRANSS in American English and /frɑːns/ FRAHNSS or /fræns/ FRANSS in British English. The pronunciation with /ɑː/ is mostly confined to accents with the trap-bath split such as Received Pronunciation, though it can be also heard in some other dialects such as Cardiff English.[18]

History

Pre-6th century BC

The oldest traces of archaic humans in what is now France date from approximately 1.8 million years ago.[19] Neanderthals occupied the region into the Upper Paleolithic era but were slowly replaced by Homo sapiens around 35,000 BC.[20] This period witnessed the emergence of cave painting in the Dordogne and Pyrenees, including at Lascaux, dated to c. 18,000 BC.[19] At the end of the Last Glacial Period (10,000 BC), the climate became milder;[19] from approximately 7,000 BC, this part of Western Europe entered the Neolithic era, and its inhabitants became sedentary.

After demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, metallurgy appeared, initially working gold, copper and bronze, then later iron.[21] France has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic, including the Carnac stones site (approximately 3,300 BC).

Antiquity (6th century BC – 5th century AD)

In 600 BC, Ionian Greeks from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (present-day Marseille).[22] Celtic tribes penetrated parts of eastern and northern France, spreading through the rest of the country between the 5th and 3rd century BC.[23] Around 390 BC, the Gallic chieftain Brennus and his troops made their way to Roman Italy, defeated the Romans in the Battle of the Allia, and besieged and ransomed Rome.[24] This left Rome weakened, and the Gauls continued to harass the region until 345 BC when they entered into a peace treaty.[25] But the Romans and the Gauls remained adversaries for centuries.[26]

Maison Carrée temple in Nemausus Corinthian columns and portico
The Maison carrée was a temple of the Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day Nîmes) and is one of the best-preserved Roman temples anywhere.

Around 125 BC, the south of Gaul was conquered by the Romans, who called this region Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), which evolved into Provence in French.[27] Julius Caesar conquered the remainder of Gaul and overcame a revolt by Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in 52 BC.[28] Gaul was divided by Augustus into provinces[29] and many cities were founded during the Gallo-Roman period, including Lugdunum (present-day Lyon), the capital of the Gauls.[29] In 250–290 AD, Roman Gaul suffered a crisis with its fortified borders attacked by barbarians.[30] The situation improved in the first half of the 4th century, a period of revival and prosperity.[31] In 312, Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity. Christians, who had been persecuted, increased.[32] But from the 5th century, the Barbarian Invasions resumed.[33] Teutonic tribes invaded the region, the Visigoths settling in the southwest, the Burgundians along the Rhine River Valley, and the Franks in the north.[34]

Early Middle Ages (5th–10th century)

In Late antiquity, ancient Gaul was divided into Germanic kingdoms and a remaining Gallo-Roman territory. Celtic Britons, fleeing the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, settled in west Armorica; the Armorican peninsula was renamed Brittany and Celtic culture was revived.

The first leader to unite all Franks was Clovis I, who began his reign as king of the Salian Franks in 481, routing the last forces of the Roman governors in 486. Clovis said he would be baptised a Christian in the event of victory against the Visigothic Kingdom, which was said to have guaranteed the battle. Clovis regained the southwest from the Visigoths and was baptised in 508. Clovis I was the first Germanic conqueror after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire to convert to Catholic Christianity; thus France was given the title "Eldest daughter of the Church" by the papacy,[35] and French kings called "the Most Christian Kings of France".

painting of Clovis I conversion to Catholicism in 498, a king being baptised in a tub in a cathedral surrounded by bishop and monks
With Clovis's conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, elective and secular until then, became hereditary and of divine right.

The Franks embraced the Christian Gallo-Roman culture, and ancient Gaul was renamed Francia ("Land of the Franks"). The Germanic Franks adopted Romanic languages. Clovis made Paris his capital and established the Merovingian dynasty, but his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land as a private possession and divided it among their heirs, so four kingdoms emerged from that of Clovis: Paris, Orléans, Soissons, and Rheims. The last Merovingian kings lost power to their mayors of the palace (head of household). One mayor of the palace, Charles Martel, defeated an Umayyad invasion of Gaul at the Battle of Tours (732). His son, Pepin the Short, seized the crown of Francia from the weakened Merovingians and founded the Carolingian dynasty. Pepin's son, Charlemagne, reunited the Frankish kingdoms and built an empire across Western and Central Europe.

Proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III and thus establishing the French government's longtime historical association with the Catholic Church,[36] Charlemagne tried to revive the Western Roman Empire and its cultural grandeur. Charlemagne's son, Louis I kept the empire united, however in 843, it was divided between Louis' three sons, into East Francia, Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia approximated the area occupied by modern France and was its precursor.[37]

During the 9th and 10th centuries, threatened by Viking invasions, France became a decentralised state: the nobility's titles and lands became hereditary, and authority of the king became more religious than secular, and so was less effective and challenged by noblemen. Thus was established feudalism in France. Some king's vassals grew so powerful they posed a threat to the king. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror added "King of England" to his titles, becoming vassal and the equal of the king of France, creating recurring tensions.

High and Late Middle Ages (10th–15th century)

Joan of Arc led the French Army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which paved the way for the final victory.

The Carolingian dynasty ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet was crowned king of the Franks.[38] His descendants unified the country through wars and inheritance. From 1190, the Capetian rulers began to be referred as "kings of France" rather than "kings of the Franks".[39] Later kings expanded their directly possessed domaine royal to cover over half of modern France by the 15th century. Royal authority became more assertive, centred on a hierarchically conceived society distinguishing nobility, clergy, and commoners.

The nobility played a prominent role in Crusades to restore Christian access to the Holy Land. French knights made up most reinforcements in the 200 years of the Crusades, in such a fashion that the Arabs referred to crusaders as Franj.[40] French Crusaders imported French into the Levant, making Old French the base of the lingua franca ("Frankish language") of the Crusader states.[40] The Albigensian Crusade was launched in 1209 to eliminate the heretical Cathars in the southwest of modern-day France.[41]

From the 11th century, the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the County of Anjou, established its dominion over the surrounding provinces of Maine and Touraine, then built an "empire" from England to the Pyrenees, covering half of modern France. Tensions between France and the Plantagenet empire would last a hundred years, until Philip II of France conquered, between 1202 and 1214, most continental possessions of the empire, leaving England and Aquitaine to the Plantagenets.

Charles IV the Fair died without an heir in 1328.[42] The crown passed to Philip of Valois, rather than Edward of Plantagenet, who became Edward III of England. During the reign of Philip, the monarchy reached the height of its medieval power.[42] However Philip's seat on the throne was contested by Edward in 1337, and England and France entered the off-and-on Hundred Years' War.[43] Boundaries changed, but landholdings inside France by English Kings remained extensive for decades. With charismatic leaders, such as Joan of Arc, French counterattacks won back most English continental territories. France was struck by the Black Death, from which half of the 17 million population died.[44]

Early modern period (15th century–1789)

The French Renaissance saw cultural development and standardisation of French, which became the official language of France and Europe's aristocracy. France became rivals of the House of Habsburg during the Italian Wars, which would dictate much of their later foreign policy until the mid-18th century. French explorers claimed lands in the Americas, paving expansion of the French colonial empire. The rise of Protestantism led France to a civil war known as the French Wars of Religion.[45] This forced Huguenots to flee to Protestant regions such as the British Isles and Switzerland. The wars were ended by Henry IV's Edict of Nantes, which granted some freedom of religion to the Huguenots. Spanish troops,[46] assisted the Catholics from 1589 to 1594 and invaded France in 1597. Spain and France returned to all-out war between 1635 and 1659. The war cost France 300,000 casualties.[47]

Under Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu promoted centralisation of the state and reinforced royal power. He destroyed castles of defiant lords and denounced the use of private armies. By the end of the 1620s, Richelieu established "the royal monopoly of force".[48] France fought in the Thirty Years' War, supporting the Protestant side against the Habsburgs. From the 16th to the 19th century, France was responsible for about 10% of the transatlantic slave trade.[49]

Louis XIV of France standing in plate armour and blue sash facing left holding baton
Louis XIV, the "Sun King", was the absolute monarch of France and made France the leading European power.

During Louis XIV's minority, trouble known as The Fronde occurred. This rebellion was driven by feudal lords and sovereign courts as a reaction to the royal absolute power. The monarchy reached its peak during the 17th century and reign of Louis XIV, during which France further increased its influence.[50] By turning lords into courtiers at the Palace of Versailles, his command of the military went unchallenged. The "Sun King" made France the leading European power. France became the most populous European country and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. French became the most-used language in diplomacy, science, and literature until the 20th century.[51] France took control of territories in the Americas, Africa and Asia. In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, forcing thousands of Huguenots into exile and published the Code Noir providing the legal framework for slavery and expelling Jews from French colonies.[52]

Under the wars of Louis XV (r. 1715–1774), France lost New France and most Indian possessions after its defeat in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Its European territory kept growing, however, with acquisitions such as Lorraine and Corsica. Louis XV's weak rule, including the decadence of his court, discredited the monarchy, which in part paved the way for the French Revolution.[53]

Louis XVI (r. 1774–1793) supported America with money, fleets and armies, helping them win independence from Great Britain. France gained revenge, but verged on bankruptcy—a factor that contributed to the Revolution. Some of the Enlightenment occurred in French intellectual circles, and scientific breakthroughs, such as the naming of oxygen (1778) and the first hot air balloon carrying passengers (1783), were achieved by French scientists. French explorers took part in the voyages of scientific exploration through maritime expeditions. Enlightenment philosophy, in which reason is advocated as the primary source of legitimacy, undermined the power of and support for the monarchy and was a factor in the Revolution.

Revolutionary France (1789–1799)

drawing of the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, smoke of gunfire enveloping stone castle
The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 was the most emblematic event of the French Revolution.

The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change that began with the Estates General of 1789, and ended with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 and the formation of the French Consulate. Many of its ideas are fundamental principles of liberal democracy,[54] while its values and institutions remain central to modern political discourse.[55]

Its causes were a combination of social, political and economic factors, which the Ancien Régime proved unable to manage. A financial crisis and social distress led in May 1789 to the convocation of the Estates General, which was converted into a National Assembly in June. The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July led to a series of radical measures by the Assembly, among them the abolition of feudalism, state control over the Catholic Church in France, and a declaration of rights.

The next three years were dominated by struggle for political control, exacerbated by economic depression. Military defeats following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in April 1792 resulted in the insurrection of 10 August 1792. The monarchy was abolished and replaced by the French First Republic in September, while Louis XVI was executed in January 1793.

After another revolt in June 1793, the constitution was suspended and power passed from the National Convention to the Committee of Public Safety. About 16,000 people were executed in a Reign of Terror, which ended in July 1794. Weakened by external threats and internal opposition, the Republic was replaced in 1795 by the Directory. Four years later in 1799, the Consulate seized power in a coup led by Napoleon.

Napoleon and 19th century (1799–1914)

painting of Napoleon in 1806 standing with hand in vest attended by staff and Imperial guard regiment
Napoleon, Emperor of the French, built a vast empire across Europe.[56]

Napoleon became First Consul in 1799 and later Emperor of the French Empire (1804–1814; 1815). Changing sets of European coalitions declared wars on Napoleon's empire. His armies conquered most of continental Europe with swift victories such as the battles of Jena-Auerstadt and Austerlitz. Members of the Bonaparte family were appointed monarchs in some of the newly established kingdoms.[57]

These victories led to the worldwide expansion of French revolutionary ideals and reforms, such as the metric system, Napoleonic Code and Declaration of the Rights of Man. In 1812 Napoleon attacked Russia, reaching Moscow. Thereafter his army disintegrated through supply problems, disease, Russian attacks, and finally winter. After this catastrophic campaign and the ensuing uprising of European monarchies against his rule, Napoleon was defeated. About a million Frenchmen died during the Napoleonic Wars.[57] After his brief return from exile, Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, and the Bourbon monarchy was restored with new constitutional limitations.

The discredited Bourbon dynasty was overthrown by the July Revolution of 1830, which established the constitutional July Monarchy; French troops began the conquest of Algeria. Unrest led to the French Revolution of 1848 and the end of the July Monarchy. The abolition of slavery and introduction of male universal suffrage was re-enacted in 1848. In 1852, president of the French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoleon I's nephew, was proclaimed emperor of the Second Empire, as Napoleon III. He multiplied French interventions abroad, especially in Crimea, Mexico and Italy. Napoleon III was unseated following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and his regime replaced by the Third Republic. By 1875, the French conquest of Algeria was complete, with approximately 825,000 Algerians killed from famine, disease, and violence.[58]

The first (light blue) and second (dark blue) French colonial empire

France had colonial possessions since the beginning of the 17th century, but in the 19th and 20th centuries its empire extended greatly and became the second-largest behind the British Empire.[59] Including metropolitan France, the total area reached almost 13 million square kilometres in the 1920s and 1930s, 9% of the world's land. Known as the Belle Époque, the turn of the century was characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In 1905, state secularism was officially established.

Early to mid-20th century (1914–1946)

French Poilus posing with their war-torn flag in 1917, during World War I

France was invaded by Germany and defended by Great Britain at the start of World War I in August 1914. A rich industrial area in the north was occupied. France and the Allies emerged victorious against the Central Powers at tremendous human cost. It left 1.4 million French soldiers dead, 4% of its population.[60][61] Interwar was marked by intense international tensions and social reforms introduced by the Popular Front government (e.g., annual leave, eight-hour workdays, women in government).

In 1940, France was invaded and quickly defeated by Nazi Germany. France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north, an Italian occupation zone and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern France and the French empire. The Vichy government, an authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany, ruled the unoccupied territory. Free France, the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle, was set up in London.[62]

From 1942 to 1944, about 160,000 French citizens, including around 75,000 Jews,[63] were deported to death and concentration camps.[64] On 6 June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy, and in August they invaded Provence. The Allies and French Resistance emerged victorious, and French sovereignty was restored with the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF). This interim government, established by de Gaulle, continued to wage war against Germany and to purge collaborators from office. It made important reforms e.g. suffrage extended to women and the creation of a social security system.

1946–present

Charles de Gaulle seated in uniform looking left with folded arms
Charles de Gaulle, a hero of World War I, leader of the Free French during World War II, and President of France

A new constitution resulted in the Fourth Republic (1946–1958), which saw strong economic growth (les Trente Glorieuses). France was a founding member of NATO and attempted to regain control of French Indochina, but was defeated by the Viet Minh in 1954. France faced another anti-colonialist conflict in Algeria, then part of France and home to over one million European settlers (Pied-Noir). The French systematically used torture and repression, including extrajudicial killings to keep control.[65] This conflict nearly led to a coup and civil war.[66]

During the May 1958 crisis, the weak Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth Republic, which included a strengthened presidency.[67] The war concluded with the Évian Accords in 1962 which led to Algerian independence, at a high price: between half a million and one million deaths and over 2 million internally-displaced Algerians.[68] Around one million Pied-Noirs and Harkis fled from Algeria to France.[69] A vestige of empire is the French overseas departments and territories.

During the Cold War, de Gaulle pursued a policy of "national independence" towards the Western and Eastern blocs. He withdrew from NATO's military-integrated command (while remaining within the alliance), launched a nuclear development programme and made France the fourth nuclear power. He restored cordial Franco-German relations to create a European counterweight between American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a supranational Europe, favouring sovereign nations. The revolt of May 1968 had an enormous social impact; it was a watershed moment when a conservative moral ideal (religion, patriotism, respect for authority) shifted to a more liberal moral ideal (secularism, individualism, sexual revolution). Although the revolt was a political failure (the Gaullist party emerged stronger than before) it announced a split between the French and de Gaulle, who resigned.[70]

In the post-Gaullist era, France remained one of the most developed economies in the world but faced crises that resulted in high unemployment rates and increasing public debt. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, France has been at the forefront of the development of a supranational European Union, notably by signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, establishing the eurozone in 1999[71] and signing the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007.[72] France has fully reintegrated into NATO and since participated in most NATO-sponsored wars.[73] Since the 19th century, France has received many immigrants, often male foreign workers from European Catholic countries who generally returned home when not employed.[74] During the 1970s France faced an economic crisis and allowed new immigrants (mostly from the Maghreb, in northwest Africa)[74] to permanently settle in France with their families and acquire citizenship. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of Muslims living in subsidised public housing and suffering from high unemployment rates.[75] The government had a policy of assimilation of immigrants, where they were expected to adhere to French values and norms.[76]

Since the 1995 public transport bombings, France has been targeted by Islamist organisations, notably the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015 which provoked the largest public rallies in French history, gathering 4.4 million people,[77] the November 2015 Paris attacks which resulted in 130 deaths, the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II[78] and the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.[79] Opération Chammal, France's military efforts to contain ISIS, killed over 1,000 ISIS troops between 2014 and 2015.[80]

Geography

Location and borders

Chamonix valley with the Mont Blanc at background, the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe on the border with Italy

The vast majority of France's territory and population is situated in Western Europe and is called Metropolitan France. It is bordered by the North Sea in the north, the English Channel in the northwest, the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Mediterranean Sea in the southeast. Its land borders consist of Belgium and Luxembourg in the northeast, Germany and Switzerland in the east, Italy and Monaco in the southeast, and Andorra and Spain in the south and southwest. Except for the northeast, most of France's land borders are roughly delineated by natural boundaries and geographic features: to the south and southeast, the Pyrenees and the Alps and the Jura, respectively, and to the east, the Rhine river. Metropolitan France includes various coastal islands, of which the largest is Corsica. Metropolitan France is situated mostly between latitudes 41° and 51° N, and longitudes 6° W and 10° E, on the western edge of Europe, and thus lies within the northern temperate zone. Its continental part covers about 1000 km from north to south and from east to west.

Metropolitan France covers 551,500 square kilometres (212,935 sq mi),[81] the largest among European Union members.[71] France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories (excluding Adélie Land), is 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi),[82] 0.45% of the total land area on Earth. France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the southeast, the Massif Central in the south-central and Pyrenees in the southwest.

Due to its numerous overseas departments and territories scattered across the planet, France possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,261,000 sq mi). Its EEZ covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world.

Geology, topography and hydrography

Geological formations near Roussillon, Vaucluse

Metropolitan France has a wide variety of topographical sets and natural landscapes. During the Hercynian uplift in the Paleozoic Era, the Armorican Massif, the Massif Central, the Morvan, the Vosges and Ardennes ranges and the island of Corsica were formed. These massifs delineate several sedimentary basins such as the Aquitaine Basin in the southwest and the Paris Basin in the north. Various routes of natural passage, such as the Rhône Valley, allow easy communication. The Alpine, Pyrenean and Jura mountains are much younger and have less eroded forms. At 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft)[83] above sea level, Mont Blanc, located in the Alps on the France–Italy border, is the highest point in Western Europe. Although 60% of municipalities are classified as having seismic risks (though moderate).

The coastlines offer contrasting landscapes: mountain ranges along the French Riviera, coastal cliffs such as the Côte d'Albâtre, and wide sandy plains in the Languedoc. Corsica lies off the Mediterranean coast. France has an extensive river system consisting of the four major rivers Seine, the Loire, the Garonne, the Rhône and their tributaries, whose combined catchment includes over 62% of the metropolitan territory. The Rhône divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the Camargue. The Garonne meets the Dordogne just after Bordeaux, forming the Gironde estuary, the largest estuary in Western Europe which after approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) empties into the Atlantic Ocean.[84] Other water courses drain towards the Meuse and Rhine along the northeastern borders. France has 11,000,000 km2 (4,200,000 sq mi) of marine waters within three oceans under its jurisdiction, of which 97% are overseas.

Environment

France was one of the first countries to create an environment ministry, in 1971.[85] France is ranked 19th by carbon dioxide emissions due to the country's heavy investment in nuclear power following the 1973 oil crisis,[86] which now accounts for 75 per cent of its electricity production[87] and results in less pollution.[88][89] According to the 2020 Environmental Performance Index conducted by Yale and Columbia, France was the fifth most environmentally conscious country in the world.[90][91]

Like all European Union state members, France agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 20% of 1990 levels by 2020.[92] As of 2009, French carbon dioxide emissions per capita were lower than that of China.[93] The country was set to impose a carbon tax in 2009;[94] however, the plan was abandoned due to fears of burdening French businesses.[95]

The Gironde estuary is classified as a marine nature park and is part of the Natura 2000 network. The left bank is part of the Médoc regional nature park. With a surface area of 635 km2 (245 sq mi), it is the largest estuary in Europe.

Forests account for 31 per cent of France's land area—the fourth-highest proportion in Europe—representing an increase of 7 per cent since 1990.[96][97][98] French forests are some of the most diverse in Europe, comprising more than 140 species of trees.[99] France had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.52/10, ranking it 123rd globally.[100] There are nine national parks[101] and 46 natural parks in France.[102] A regional nature park[103] (French: parc naturel régional or PNR) is a public establishment in France between local authorities and the national government covering an inhabited rural area of outstanding beauty, to protect the scenery and heritage as well as setting up sustainable economic development in the area.[104][105] As of 2019 there are 54 PNRs in France.[106]

Politics

France is a representative democracy organised as a unitary semi-presidential republic.[107] Democratic traditions and values are deeply rooted in French culture, identity and politics.[108] The Constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by referendum on 28 September 1958, establishing a framework consisting of executive, legislative and judicial branches.[109] It sought to address the instability of the Third and Fourth Republics by combining elements of both parliamentary and presidential systems, while greatly strengthening the authority of the executive relative to the legislature.[108]

Government

The executive branch has two leaders. The president, currently Emmanuel Macron, is the head of state, elected directly by universal adult suffrage for a five-year term.[110] The prime minister, currently François Bayrou, is the head of government, appointed by the President to lead the government. The president has the power to dissolve Parliament or circumvent it by submitting referendums directly to the people; the president also appoints judges and civil servants, negotiates and ratifies international agreements, as well as serves as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The prime minister determines public policy and oversees the civil service, with an emphasis on domestic matters.[111] In the 2022 presidential election, Macron was re-elected.[112] Two months later, in the June 2022 legislative elections, Macron lost his parliamentary majority and had to form a minority government.[113]

Palais Bourbon, the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament

The legislature consists of the French Parliament, a bicameral body made up of a lower house, the National Assembly and an upper house, the Senate.[114] Legislators in the National Assembly, known as députés, represent local constituencies and are directly elected for five-year terms.[115] The Assembly has the power to dismiss the government by majority vote. Senators are chosen by an electoral college for six-year terms, with half the seats submitted to election every three years.[116] The Senate's legislative powers are limited; in the event of disagreement between the two chambers, the National Assembly has the final say.[117] The parliament is responsible for determining the rules and principles concerning most areas of law, political amnesty, and fiscal policy; however, the government may draft specific details concerning most laws.

From World War II until 2017, French politics was dominated by two politically opposed groupings: one left-wing, the French Section of the Workers' International, which was succeeded by the Socialist Party (in 1969); and the other right-wing, the Gaullist Party, whose name changed over time to the Rally of the French People (1947), the Union of Democrats for the Republic (1958), the Rally for the Republic (1976), the Union for a Popular Movement (2007) and The Republicans (since 2015). In the 2017 presidential and legislative elections, the radical centrist party La République En Marche! (LREM) became the dominant force, overtaking both Socialists and Republicans. LREM's opponent in the second round of the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections was the growing far-right party National Rally (RN). Since 2020, Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) have performed well in mayoral elections in major cities[118] while on a national level, an alliance of Left parties (the NUPES) was the second-largest voting block elected to the lower house in 2022.[119] Right-wing populist RN became the largest opposition party in the National Assembly in 2022.[120]

The electorate is constitutionally empowered to vote on amendments passed by the Parliament and bills submitted by the president. Referendums have played a key role in shaping French politics and even foreign policy; voters have decided on such matters as Algeria's independence, the election of the president by popular vote, the formation of the EU, and the reduction of presidential term limits.[121]

Administrative divisions

France is divided into 18 regions (located in Europe and overseas), five overseas collectivities, one overseas territory, one special collectivity—New Caledonia and one uninhabited island directly under the authority of the Minister of Overseas France—Clipperton.

Regions

Since 2016, France is divided into 18 administrative regions: 13 regions in metropolitan France (including Corsica),[122] and five overseas.[81] The regions are further subdivided into 101 departments,[123] which are numbered mainly alphabetically. The department number is used in postal codes and was formerly used on vehicle registration plates. Among the 101 French departments, five (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion) are in overseas regions (ROMs) that are simultaneously overseas departments (DOMs), enjoying the same status as metropolitan departments and are thereby included in the European Union.

The 101 departments are subdivided into 335 arrondissements, which are, in turn, subdivided into 2,054 cantons.[124] These cantons are then divided into 36,658 communes, which are municipalities with an elected municipal council.[124] Three communes—Paris, Lyon and Marseille—are subdivided into 45 municipal arrondissements.

Overseas territories and collectivities

In addition to the 18 regions and 101 departments, the French Republic has five overseas collectivities (French Polynesia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna), one sui generis collectivity (New Caledonia), one overseas territory (French Southern and Antarctic Lands), and one island possession in the Pacific Ocean (Clipperton Island). Overseas collectivities and territories form part of the French Republic, but do not form part of the European Union or its fiscal area (except for Saint Barthélemy, which seceded from Guadeloupe in 2007). The Pacific Collectivities (COMs) of French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia continue to use the CFP franc[125] whose value is strictly linked to that of the euro. In contrast, the five overseas regions used the French franc and now use the euro.[126]

Foreign relations

France is a founding member of the United Nations and serves as one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto rights.[127] In 2015, it was described as "the best networked state in the world" due to its membership in more international institutions than any other country;[128] these include the G7, World Trade Organization (WTO),[129] the Pacific Community (SPC)[130] and the Indian Ocean Commission (COI).[131] It is an associate member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)[132] and a leading member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) of 84 French-speaking countries.[133]

La Francophonie map (dozens of countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America are members of this international organisation.
88 states and governments are part of La Francophonie,[134] which promotes values of democracy, multilingualism and cultural diversity.[135] France has been a key member of this global organisation since its inception in 1970.
European Parliament opening in Strasbourg with crowd and many countries' flags on flagpoles
The European Parliament in Strasbourg (near the border with Germany). France is a founding member of all EU institutions.

As a significant hub for international relations, France has the third-largest assembly of diplomatic missions, second only to China and the United States. It also hosts the headquarters of several international organisations, including the OECD, UNESCO, Interpol, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, and the OIF.[136]

French foreign policy after World War II has been largely shaped by membership in the European Union, of which it was a founding member. Since the 1960s, France has developed close ties with reunified Germany to become the most influential driving force of the EU.[137] Since 1904, France has maintained an "Entente cordiale" with the United Kingdom, and there has been a strengthening of links between the countries, especially militarily.

France is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but under President de Gaulle excluded itself from the joint military command, in protest of the Special Relationship between the United States and Britain, and to preserve the independence of French foreign and security policies. Under Nicolas Sarkozy, France rejoined the NATO joint military command on 4 April 2009.[138][139][140]

France retains strong political and economic influence in its former African colonies (Françafrique)[141] and has supplied economic aid and troops for peacekeeping missions in Ivory Coast and Chad.[142] From 2012 to 2021, France and other African states intervened in support of the Malian government in the Northern Mali conflict.

In 2017, France was the world's fourth-largest donor of development aid in absolute terms, behind the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.[143] This represents 0.43% of its GNP, the 12th highest among the OECD.[144] Aid is provided by the governmental French Development Agency, which finances primarily humanitarian projects in sub-Saharan Africa,[145] with an emphasis on "developing infrastructure, access to health care and education, the implementation of appropriate economic policies and the consolidation of the rule of law and democracy".[145]

Military

The French Armed Forces (Forces armées françaises) are the military and paramilitary forces of France, under the President of the Republic as supreme commander. They consist of the French Army (Armée de Terre), the French Navy (Marine Nationale, formerly called Armée de Mer), the French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace), and the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale), which serves as both military police and civil police in rural areas. Together they are among the largest armed forces in the world and the largest in the EU. According to a 2015 study by Crédit Suisse, the French Armed Forces ranked as the world's sixth-most powerful military, and the second most powerful in Europe.[146] France's annual military expenditure in 2022 was US$53.6 billion, or 1.9% of its GDP, making it the eighth biggest military spender in the world.[147] There has been no national conscription since 1997.[148]

France has been a recognised nuclear state since 1960. It is a party to both the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)[149] and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The French nuclear force (formerly known as "Force de Frappe") consists of four Triomphant class submarines equipped with submarine-launched ballistic missiles. In addition to the submarine fleet, it is estimated that France has about 60 ASMP medium-range air-to-ground missiles with nuclear warheads;[150] 50 are deployed by the Air and Space Force using the Mirage 2000N long-range nuclear strike aircraft, while around 10 are deployed by the French Navy's Super Étendard Modernisé (SEM) attack aircraft, which operate from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91).

France has major military industries and one of the largest aerospace sectors in the world.[151] The country has produced such equipment as the Rafale fighter, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, the Exocet missile and the Leclerc tank among others. France is a major arms seller,[152][153] with most of its arsenal's designs available for the export market, except for nuclear-powered devices.

One French intelligence unit, the Directorate-General for External Security, is considered to be a component of the Armed Forces under the authority of the Ministry of Defense. The other, the Directorate-General for Internal Security operates under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior.[154] France's cybersecurity capabilities are regularly ranked as some of the most robust of any nation in the world.[155][156]

French weapons exported totaled 27 billion euros in 2022, up from 11.7 billion euros the previous year 2021. Additionally, the UAE alone contributed more than 16 billion euros arms to the French total.[157] Among the largest French defence companies are Dassault, Thales and Safran.[158]

Law

France uses a civil legal system, wherein law arises primarily from written statutes;[81] judges are not to make law, but merely to interpret it (though the amount of judicial interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to case law in a common law system). Basic principles of the rule of law were laid in the Napoleonic Code (which was largely based on the royal law codified under King Louis XIV). In agreement with the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the law should only prohibit actions detrimental to society.

color drawing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from 1789
The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

French law is divided into two principal areas: private law and public law. Private law includes, in particular, civil law and criminal law. Public law includes, in particular, administrative law and constitutional law. However, in practical terms, French law comprises three principal areas of law: civil law, criminal law, and administrative law. Criminal laws can only address the future and not the past (criminal ex post facto laws are prohibited).[159] While administrative law is often a subcategory of civil law in many countries, it is completely separated in France and each body of law is headed by a specific supreme court: ordinary courts (which handle criminal and civil litigation) are headed by the Court of Cassation and administrative courts are headed by the Council of State. To be applicable, every law must be officially published in the Journal officiel de la République française.[citation needed]

France does not recognise religious law as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions; it has long abolished blasphemy laws and sodomy laws (the latter in 1791). However, "offences against public decency" (contraires aux bonnes mœurs) or disturbing public order (trouble à l'ordre public) have been used to repress public expressions of homosexuality or street prostitution.[citation needed]

France generally has a positive reputation regarding LGBTQ rights.[160] Since 1999, civil unions for homosexual couples have been permitted, and since 2013, same-sex marriage and LGBT adoption are legal.[161] Laws prohibiting discriminatory speech in the press are as old as 1881. Some consider hate speech laws in France to be too broad or severe, undermining freedom of speech.[162] France has laws against racism and antisemitism,[163] while the 1990 Gayssot Act prohibits Holocaust denial. In 2024, France became the first nation in the European Union to explicitly protect abortion in its constitution.[164]

Freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed by the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State is the basis for laïcité (state secularism): the state does not formally recognise any religion, except in Alsace-Moselle, which continues to subsidize education and clergy of Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Judaism. Nonetheless, France does recognise religious associations. The Parliament has listed many religious movements as dangerous cults since 1995 and has banned wearing conspicuous religious symbols in schools since 2004. In 2010, it banned the wearing of face-covering Islamic veils in public; human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch described the law as discriminatory towards Muslims.[165][166] However, it is supported by most of the population.[167]

Economy

La Défense, seen from the Eiffel Tower
La Défense was in 2017 ranked by Ernst & Young as the leading central business district in continental Europe, and the fourth in the world.[168]

France has a social market economy characterised by sizeable government involvement and diversified sectors. For roughly two centuries, the French economy has consistently ranked among the ten largest globally; it is currently the world's ninth largest by purchasing power parity, the seventh largest by nominal GDP, and the second largest in the European Union by both metrics.[169] France is considered a great power with considerable economic strength,[170] being a member of the Group of Seven leading industrialised countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the Group of Twenty largest economies.

France's economy is highly diversified; services represent two-thirds of both the workforce and GDP,[171] while the industrial sector accounts for a fifth of GDP and a similar proportion of employment. France is the third-biggest manufacturing country in Europe, behind Germany and Italy, and ranks eighth in the world by share of global manufacturing output, at 1.9 per cent.[172] Less than 2 per cent of GDP is generated by the primary sector, namely agriculture;[173] however, France's agricultural sector is among the largest in value and leads the EU in terms of overall production.[174]

In 2018, France was the fifth-largest trading nation in the world and the second largest in Europe, with the value of exports representing over a fifth of GDP.[175] Its membership in the eurozone and the broader European single market facilitates access to capital, goods, services, and skilled labour.[176] Despite protectionist policies over certain industries, particularly in agriculture, France has generally played a leading role in fostering free trade and commercial integration in Europe to enhance its economy.[177][178] In 2019, it ranked first in Europe and 13th in the world in foreign direct investment, with European countries and the United States being leading sources.[179] According to the Bank of France (founded in 1800),[180] the leading recipients of FDI were manufacturing, real estate, finance and insurance.[181] The Paris Region has the highest concentration of multinational firms in mainland Europe.[181]

Under the doctrine of Dirigisme, the government historically played a major role in the economy; policies such as indicative planning and nationalisation are credited for contributing to three decades of unprecedented postwar economic growth known as Trente Glorieuses. At its peak in 1982, the public sector accounted for one-fifth of industrial employment and over four-fifths of the credit market. Beginning in the late 20th century, France loosened regulations and state involvement in the economy, with most leading companies now being privately owned; state ownership now dominates only transportation, defence and broadcasting.[182] Policies aimed at promoting economic dynamism and privatisation have improved France's economic standing globally: it is among the world's 10 most innovative countries in the 2020 Bloomberg Innovation Index,[183] and the 15th most competitive, according to the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report (up two places from 2018).[184]

The Paris stock exchange (French: La Bourse de Paris) is one of the oldest in the world, created in 1724.[185] In 2000, it merged with counterparts in Amsterdam and Brussels to form Euronext,[186] which in 2007 merged with the New York stock exchange to form NYSE Euronext, the world's largest stock exchange.[186] Euronext Paris, the French branch of NYSE Euronext, is Europe's second-largest stock exchange market. Some examples of the most valuable French companies include LVMH, L'Oréal and Sociéte Générale.[187]

France has historically been one of the world's major agricultural centres and remains a "global agricultural powerhouse"; France is the world's sixth-biggest exporter of agricultural products, generating a trade surplus of over €7.4 billion.[188][189] Nicknamed "the granary of the old continent",[190] over half its total land area is farmland, of which 45 per cent is devoted to permanent field crops such as cereals. The country's diverse climate, extensive arable land, modern farming technology, and EU subsidies have made it Europe's leading agricultural producer and exporter.[191]

Tourism

The Eiffel Tower is the world's most-visited paid monument, an icon of both Paris and France.

With 100 million international tourist arrivals in 2023,[192] France is the world's top tourist destination, ahead of Spain (85 million) and the United States (66 million). However, it ranks third in tourism-derived income due to the shorter duration of visits.[193] The most popular tourist sites include (annual visitors): Eiffel Tower (6.2 million), Château de Versailles (2.8 million), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (2 million), Pont du Gard (1.5 million), Arc de Triomphe (1.2 million), Mont Saint-Michel (1 million), Sainte-Chapelle (683,000), Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (549,000), Puy de Dôme (500,000), Musée Picasso (441,000), and Carcassonne (362,000).[194]

France, especially Paris, has some of the world's largest museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world (7.7 million visitors in 2022), the Musée d'Orsay (3.3 million), mostly devoted to Impressionism, the Musée de l'Orangerie (1.02 million), which is home to eight large Water Lily murals by Claude Monet, as well as the Centre Georges Pompidou (3 million), dedicated to contemporary art. Disneyland Paris is Europe's most popular theme park, with 15 million combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009.[195] With more than 10 million tourists a year, the French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur), in Southeast France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Paris Region.[196] With 6 million tourists a year, the castles of the Loire Valley (French: châteaux) and the Loire Valley itself are the third leading tourist destination in France.[197][198]

France has 52 sites inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities of high cultural interest, beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, as well as rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (literally "The Most Beautiful Villages of France"). The "Remarkable Gardens" label is a list of the over 200 gardens classified by the Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks. France attracts many religious pilgrims on their way to St. James, or to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées that hosts several million visitors a year.

Energy

Nuclear power plant in Cattenom, France four large cooling towers expelling white water vapour against a blue sky
Belleville Nuclear Power Plant. France derives most of its electricity from nuclear power, the highest percentage in the world.

France is the world's tenth-largest producer of electricity.[199] Électricité de France (EDF), which is majority-owned by the French government, is the country's main producer and distributor of electricity, and one of the world's largest electric utility companies, ranking third in revenue globally.[200] In 2018, EDF produced roughly one-fifth of the European Union's electricity, primarily from nuclear power.[201] As of 2021, France was the biggest energy exporter in Europe, mostly to the U.K. and Italy,[202] and the largest net exporter of electricity in the world.[202]

Since the 1973 oil crisis, France has pursued a strong policy of energy security,[202] namely through heavy investment in nuclear energy. It is one of 32 countries with nuclear power plants, ranking second in the world by the number of operational nuclear reactors, at 56.[203] Consequently, 70% of France's electricity is generated by nuclear power, the highest proportion in the world by a wide margin;[204] only Slovakia and Ukraine also derive a majority of electricity from nuclear power, at roughly 53% and 51%, respectively.[205] France is considered a world leader in nuclear technology, with reactors and fuel products being major exports.[202]

France's significant reliance on nuclear power has resulted in comparatively slower adoption of renewable energy relative to other Western nations. Nevertheless, between 2008 and 2019, France's production capacity from renewable energies rose consistently and nearly doubled.[206] Hydropower is by far the leading source, accounting for over half the country's renewable energy sources[207] and contributing 13% of its electricity,[206] the highest proportion in Europe after Norway and Turkey.[207] As with nuclear power, most hydroelectric plants, such as Eguzon, Étang de Soulcem, and Lac de Vouglans, are managed by EDF.[207] France aims to further expand hydropower into 2040.[206]

Transport

Millau Viaduct is the tallest bridge in the world.[208]

France's railway network, which stretches 29,473 kilometres (18,314 mi) as of 2008,[209] is the second most extensive in Western Europe after Germany.[210] It is operated by the SNCF, and high-speed trains include the Thalys, the Eurostar and TGV, which travels at 320 km/h (199 mph).[211] The Eurostar, along with the Eurotunnel Shuttle, connects with the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel. Rail connections exist to all other neighbouring countries in Europe except Andorra. Intra-urban connections are also well developed, with most major cities having underground or tramway services complementing bus services.

There are approximately 1,027,183 kilometres (638,262 mi) of serviceable roadway in France, ranking it the most extensive network of the European continent.[212] The Paris Region is enveloped with the densest network of roads and highways, which connect it with virtually all parts of the country. French roads also handle substantial international traffic, connecting with cities in neighbouring Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Andorra and Monaco. There is no annual registration fee or road tax; however, usage of the mostly privately owned motorways is through tolls except in the vicinity of large communes. The new car market is dominated by domestic brands such as Renault, Peugeot and Citroën.[213] France possesses the Millau Viaduct, the world's tallest bridge,[214] and has built many important bridges such as the Pont de Normandie. Diesel and petrol-driven cars and lorries cause a large part of the country's air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.[215][216]

There are 464 airports in France.[81] Charles de Gaulle Airport, located in the vicinity of Paris, is the largest and busiest airport in the country, handling the vast majority of popular and commercial traffic and connecting Paris with virtually all major cities across the world. Air France is the national carrier airline, although numerous private airline companies provide domestic and international travel services. There are ten major ports in France, the largest of which is in Marseille,[217] which also is the largest bordering the Mediterranean Sea.[218] 12,261 kilometres (7,619 mi) of waterways traverse France including the Canal du Midi, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean through the Garonne river.[81]

Science and technology

Ariane 5 rocket
France is in 2020 the biggest national financial contributor to the European Space Agency,[219] which conceived the Ariane rocket family, launched from French Guiana (Ariane 5 pictured).

Since the Middle Ages, France has contributed to scientific and technological achievement. In the early 11th century, the French-born Pope Sylvester II reintroduced the abacus and armillary sphere and introduced Arabic numerals and clocks to much of Europe.[220] The University of Paris, founded in the mid-12th century, is still one of the most important academic institutions in the Western world.[221] In the 17th century, mathematician and philosopher René Descartes pioneered rationalism as a method for acquiring scientific knowledge, while Blaise Pascal became famous for his work on probability and fluid mechanics; both were key figures of the Scientific Revolution, which blossomed in Europe during this period. The French Academy of Sciences, founded in the mid-17th century by Louis XIV to encourage and protect French scientific research, was one of the earliest national scientific institutions in history.

The Age of Enlightenment was marked by the work of biologist Buffon, one of the first naturalists to recognize ecological succession, and chemist Lavoisier, who discovered the role of oxygen in combustion. Diderot and D'Alembert published the Encyclopédie, which aimed to give the public access to "useful knowledge" that could be applied to everyday life.[222] The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century saw spectacular scientific developments in France, with Augustin Fresnel founding modern optics, Sadi Carnot laying the foundations of thermodynamics, and Louis Pasteur pioneering microbiology. Other eminent French scientists of the period have their names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

Famous French scientists of the 20th century include the mathematician and physicist Henri Poincaré; physicists Henri Becquerel, Pierre and Marie Curie, who remain famous for their work on radioactivity; physicist Paul Langevin; and virologist Luc Montagnier, co-discoverer of HIV AIDS. Hand transplantation was developed in Lyon in 1998 by an international team that included Jean-Michel Dubernard, who afterward performed the first successful double hand transplant.[223] Telesurgery was first performed by French surgeons led by Jacques Marescaux on 7 September 2001 across the Atlantic Ocean.[224] A face transplant was first done on 27 November 2005 by Bernard Devauchelle.[225][226] France ranked 12th in the 2024 Global Innovation Index, compared to 16th in 2019.[227][228]

Demographics

Population density in France by arrondissement

With an estimated population of 68,373,433 people,[8][XII] France is the 20th most populous country in the world, the third-most populous in Europe (after Russia and Germany), and the second most populous in the European Union (after Germany).

For much of the 21st century, France has been an outlier among developed countries, particularly in Europe, for its relatively high rate of natural population growth; by birth rates alone, it was responsible for almost all natural population growth in the European Union in 2006.[229] Between 2006 and 2016, France saw the second-highest overall increase in population in the EU and was one of only four EU countries where natural births accounted for the most population growth.[230] This was the highest rate since the end of the baby boom in 1973 and coincides with the rise of the total fertility rate from a nadir of 1.7 in 1994 to 2.0 in 2010.

Since 2011, France's fertility rate has been steadily declining;[231] it stood at 1.79 per woman in 2023,[232] below the replacement rate of 2.1 and well below the high of 4.41 in 1800.[233][234][235] France's fertility rate and crude birth rate nonetheless remain the highest in the EU[236] and among the highest in Europe overall, where the average is 1.5.[237] The mean age of French women at the birth of their first child was 29.1, which is slightly younger than the EU average of 29.7.[236]

Like many developed nations, the French population is aging: The average age is 41.7 years, while roughly one-fifth of French people are 65 or over.[238] It is projected that one in three French will be over 60 by 2024. Life expectancy at birth is 82.7 years, the 12th highest in the world; additionally, French Polynesia and the French region of Réunion ranked fourth and 11th in life expectancy, at 84.07 years and 83.55, respectively.

From 2006 to 2011, population growth averaged 0.6 percent per year;[239] since 2011, annual growth has been between 0.4 and 0.5 percent annually,[240] and France is projected to continue growing until 2044.[241] Immigrants are major contributors to this trend; in 2010, roughly one in four newborns (27 percent) in metropolitan France had at least one foreign-born parent and another 24 percent had at least one parent born outside Europe (excluding French overseas territories).[242] In 2021, the share of children of foreign-born mothers was 23 percent.[236]

Major cities

France is a highly urbanised country, with its largest cities (in terms of metropolitan area population in 2021[243]) being Paris (13,171,056 inh.), Lyon (2,308,818), Marseille (1,888,788), Lille (1,521,660), Toulouse (1,490,640), Bordeaux (1,393,764), Nantes (1,031,953), Strasbourg (864,993), Montpellier (823,120), and Rennes (771,320). (Note: since its 2020 revision of metropolitan area borders, INSEE considers that Nice is a metropolitan area separate from the Cannes-Antibes metropolitan area; these two combined would have a population of 1,019,905, as of the 2021 census). Rural flight was a perennial political issue throughout most of the 20th century.

 
Largest metropolitan areas in France
2021 census
Rank Name Region Pop. Rank Name Region Pop.
Paris
Paris
Lyon
Lyon
1 Paris Île-de-France 13,171,056 11 Grenoble Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 722,904 Marseille
Marseille
Lille
Lille
2 Lyon Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2,308,818 12 Rouen Normandy 709,065
3 Marseille Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 1,888,788 13 Nice Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 626,218
4 Lille Hauts-de-France 1,521,660 14 Toulon Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 581,948
5 Toulouse Occitania 1,490,640 15 Tours Centre-Val de Loire 522,597
6 Bordeaux Nouvelle-Aquitaine 1,393,764 16 Nancy Grand Est 508,793
7 Nantes Pays de la Loire 1,031,953 17 Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 508,699
8 Strasbourg Grand Est 864,993 18 Saint-Étienne Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 500,562
9 Montpellier Occitania 823,120 19 Caen Normandy 478,105
10 Rennes Brittany 771,320 20 Orléans Centre-Val de Loire 456,452

Ethnic groups

Historically, French people were mainly of Celtic-Gallic origin, with a significant admixture of Italic (Romans) and Germanic (Franks) groups reflecting centuries of respective migration and settlement.[244] Through the course of the Middle Ages, France incorporated various neighbouring ethnic and linguistic groups, as evidenced by Breton elements in the west, Aquitanian in the southwest, Scandinavian in the northwest, Alemannic in the northeast, and Ligurian in the southeast.

Large-scale immigration over the last century and a half have led to a more multicultural society; beginning with the French Revolution and further codified in the French Constitution of 1958, the government is prohibited from collecting data on ethnicity and ancestry; most demographic information is drawn from private sector organisations or academic institutions. In 2004, the Institut Montaigne estimated that within Metropolitan France, 51 million people were White (85% of the population), 6 million were Northwest African (10%), 2 million were Black (3.3%), and 1 million were Asian (1.7%).[245][246]

A 2008 poll conducted jointly by the nstitut national d'études démographiques and the French National Institute of Statistics[247][248] estimated that the largest minority ancestry groups were Italian (5 million), followed by Northwest African (3–6 million),[249][250][251] Sub-Saharan African (2.5 million), Armenian (500,000), and Turkish (200,000).[252] There are also sizeable minorities of other European ethnic groups, namely Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Greek.[249][253][254] France has a significant Gitan (Romani) population, numbering between 20,000 and 400,000;[255] many foreign Roma are expelled back to Bulgaria and Romania frequently.[256]

Immigration

It is currently estimated that 40% of the French population is descended at least partially from the different waves of immigration since the early 20th century;[257] between 1921 and 1935 alone, about 1.1 million net immigrants came to France.[258] The next largest wave came in the 1960s when around 1.6 million pieds noirs returned to France following the independence of its Northwest African possessions, Algeria and Morocco.[259][260] They were joined by numerous former colonial subjects from North and West Africa, as well as numerous European immigrants from Spain and Portugal.

The Calais Jungle was a refugee and illegal migrant encampment in the vicinity of Calais, France, that existed from January 2015 to October 2016.

France remains a major destination for immigrants, accepting about 200,000 legal immigrants annually.[261] In 2005, it was Western Europe's leading recipient of asylum seekers, with an estimated 50,000 applications (albeit a 15% decrease from 2004).[262] In 2010, France received about 48,100 asylum applications—placing it among the top five asylum recipients in the world.[263] In subsequent years it saw the number of applications increase, ultimately doubling to 100,412 in 2017.[264] The European Union allows free movement between the member states, although France established controls to curb Eastern European migration.[citation needed] Foreigners' rights are established in the Code of Entry and Residence of Foreigners and of the Right to Asylum. Immigration remains a contentious political issue.[265]

In 2008, the INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) estimated that the total number of foreign-born immigrants was around 5 million (8% of the population), while their French-born descendants numbered 6.5 million, or 11% of the population. Thus, nearly a fifth of the country's population were either first or second-generation immigrants, of which more than 5 million were of European origin and 4 million of Maghrebi ancestry.[266][267][268] In 2008, France granted citizenship to 137,000 persons, mostly from Morocco, Algeria and Turkey.[269] In 2022, more than 320,000 migrants came to France, with the majority coming from Africa.[270]

In 2014, the INSEE reported a significant increase in the number of immigrants coming from Spain, Portugal and Italy between 2009 and 2012. According to the institute, this increase resulted from the financial crisis that hit several European countries in that period.[271] Statistics on Spanish immigrants in France show a growth of 107 per cent between 2009 and 2012, with the population growing from 5,300 to 11,000.[271] Of the total of 229,000 foreigners coming to France in 2012, nearly 8% were Portuguese, 5% British, 5% Spanish, 4% Italian, 4% German, 3% Romanian, and 3% Belgian.[271]

Language

world map of French speaking countries
Map of the Francophone world:
  Native language
  Administrative language
  Secondary or cultural language

The official language of France is French,[272] a Romance language derived from Latin. Since 1635, the Académie française has been France's official authority on the French language, although its recommendations carry no legal weight. There are also regional languages spoken in France, such as Occitan, Breton, Catalan, Flemish (Dutch dialect), Alsatian (German dialect), Basque, and Corsican (Italian dialect). Italian was the official language of Corsica until 9 May 1859.[273]

The Government of France does not regulate the choice of language in publications by individuals, but the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace communications. In addition to mandating the use of French in the territory of the Republic, the French government tries to promote French in the European Union and globally through institutions such as the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Besides French, there exist 77 vernacular minority languages of France, eight spoken in French metropolitan territory and 69 in the French overseas territories. It is estimated that between 300 million[274] and 500 million[275] people worldwide can speak French, either as a mother tongue or as a second language.

According to the 2007 Adult Education survey, part of a project by the European Union and carried out in France by the INSEE and based on a sample of 15,350 persons, French was the native language of 87.2% of the total population, or roughly 55.81 million people, followed by Arabic (3.6%, 2.3 million), Portuguese (1.5%, 960,000), Spanish (1.2%, 770,000) and Italian (1.0%, 640,000). Native speakers of other languages made up the remaining 5.2% of the population.[276]

Religion

Notre-Dame de Reims façade, gothic stone cathedral against blue sky
Notre-Dame de Reims is the Roman Catholic cathedral where the Kings of France were crowned until 1825.[XIII]

France is a secular country in which freedom of religion is a constitutional right. The French policy on religion is based on the concept of laïcité, a strict separation of church and state under which the government and public life are kept completely secular, detached from any religion. The region of Alsace and Moselle is an exception to the general French norm since the local law stipulates official status and state funding for Lutheranism, Catholicism, and Judaism.[277]

Catholicism has been the main religion in France for more than a millennium, and it was once the country's state religion.[278] France was traditionally considered the Church's eldest daughter (French: Fille aînée de l'Église), and the King of France always maintained close links to the Pope,[279] receiving the title Most Christian Majesty from the Pope in 1464.[280] However, the French monarchy maintained a significant degree of autonomy, namely through its policy of "Gallicanism", whereby the king selected bishops rather than the papacy.[281] Its role nowadays, however, has been greatly reduced, although, as of 2012, among the 47,000 religious buildings in France 94% were still Catholic churches.[282] After alternating between royal and secular republican governments during the 19th century, in 1905 France passed the 1905 law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, which established the aforementioned principle of laïcité.[283]

The government is prohibited from recognising specific rights to any religious community (with the exception of legacy statutes like those of military chaplains and the aforementioned local law in Alsace-Moselle). It recognises religious organisations according to formal legal criteria that do not address religious doctrine, and religious organisations are expected to refrain from intervening in policymaking.[284] Some religious groups, such as Scientology, the Children of God, the Unification Church, and the Order of the Solar Temple, are considered cults (sectes in French, which is considered a pejorative term[285]) in France, and therefore they are not granted the same status as recognised religions.[286]

Health

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, stone building with slate dome
The Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, a teaching hospital in Paris, is one of Europe's largest hospitals.[287]

The French health care system is one of universal health care largely financed by government national health insurance. In its 2000 assessment of world health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France provided the "close to best overall health care" in the world.[288] The French health care system was ranked first worldwide by the World Health Organization in 1997.[289][290] In 2011, France spent 11.6% of its GDP on health care, or US$4,086 per capita,[291] a figure much higher than the average spent by countries in Europe. Approximately 77% of health expenditures are covered by government-funded agencies.[292]

Care is generally free for people affected by chronic diseases (affections de longues durées) such as cancer, AIDS or cystic fibrosis. The life expectancy at birth is 78 years for men and 85 years for women.[293][294] There are 3.22 physicians for every 1000 inhabitants in France,[295] and average health care spending per capita was US$4,719 in 2008.[296] As of 2007, approximately 140,000 inhabitants (0.4%) of France are living with HIV/AIDS.[81]

Education

The ENS produces among the most Nobel Prize laureates per capita in the world.[297]

In 1802, Napoleon created the lycée, the second and final stage of secondary education that prepares students for higher education studies or a profession.[298] Jules Ferry is considered the father of the French modern school, leading reforms in the late 19th century that established free, secular and compulsory education (currently mandatory until the age of 16).[299][300]

French education is centralised and divided into three stages: primary, secondary, and higher education. The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, ranked France's education as near the OECD average in 2018.[301][302] France was one of the PISA-participating countries where school children perceived some of the lowest levels of support and feedback from their teachers.[302] Schoolchildren in France reported greater concern about the disciplinary climate and behaviour in classrooms compared to other OECD countries.[302]

Higher education is divided between public universities and the prestigious and selective Grandes écoles, such as Sciences Po Paris for political studies, HEC Paris for economics, Polytechnique, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales for social studies and the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris that produce high-profile engineers, or the École nationale d'administration for careers in the Grands Corps of the state. The Grandes écoles have been criticised for alleged elitism, producing many if not most of France's high-ranking civil servants, CEOs and politicians.[303]

Culture

Art

Claude Monet, founder of the Impressionist movement

The origins of French art were very much influenced by Flemish art and by Italian art at the time of the Renaissance. Jean Fouquet, the most famous medieval French painter, is said to have been the first to travel to Italy and experience the Early Renaissance firsthand. The Renaissance painting School of Fontainebleau was directly inspired by Italian painters such as Primaticcio and Rosso Fiorentino, who both worked in France. Two of the most famous French artists of the time of the Baroque era, Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain, lived in Italy.

French artists developed the rococo style in the 18th century, as a more intimate imitation of the old baroque style, the works of the court-endorsed artists Antoine Watteau, François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard being the most representative in the country. The French Revolution brought great changes, as Napoleon favoured artists of neoclassic style such as Jacques-Louis David and the highly influential Académie des Beaux-Arts defined the style known as Academism.

In the second part of the 19th century, France's influence over painting grew, with the development of new styles of painting such as Impressionism and Symbolism. The most famous impressionist painters of the period were Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir.[304] The second generation of impressionist-style painters, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges Seurat, were also at the avant-garde of artistic evolutions,[305] as well as the fauvist artists Henri Matisse, André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck.[306][307]

At the beginning of the 20th century, Cubism was developed by Georges Braque and the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, living in Paris. Other foreign artists also settled and worked in or near Paris, such as Vincent van Gogh, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani and Wassily Kandinsky.

There are many art museums in France, the most famous of which being the state-owned Musée du Louvre, which collects artwork from the 18th century and earlier. The Musée d'Orsay was inaugurated in 1986 in the old railway station Gare d'Orsay, in a major reorganisation of national art collections, to gather French paintings from the second part of the 19th century (mainly Impressionism and Fauvism movements).[308][309] It was voted the best museum in the world in 2018.[310] Modern works are presented in the Musée National d'Art Moderne, which moved in 1976 to the Centre Georges Pompidou. These three state-owned museums are visited by close to 17 million people a year.[311]

Architecture

Sainte Chapelle interior showing painted stonework vaulting and stained glass
Saint Louis's Sainte-Chapelle represents the French impact on religious architecture.

During the Middle Ages, many fortified castles were built by feudal nobles to mark their powers. Some French castles that survived are Chinon, Château d'Angers, the massive Château de Vincennes and the so-called Cathar castles. During this era, France had been using Romanesque architecture like most of Western Europe.

Gothic architecture, originally named Opus Francigenum meaning "French work",[312] was born in Île-de-France and was the first French style of architecture to be imitated throughout Europe.[313] Northern France is the home of some of the most important Gothic cathedrals and basilicas, the first of these being the Saint Denis Basilica (used as the royal necropolis); other important French Gothic cathedrals are Notre-Dame de Chartres and Notre-Dame d'Amiens. The kings were crowned in another important Gothic church: Notre-Dame de Reims.[314]

The final victory in the Hundred Years' War marked an important stage in the evolution of French architecture. It was the time of the French Renaissance and several artists from Italy were invited to the French court; many residential palaces were built in the Loire Valley, from 1450 as a first reference the Château de Montsoreau.[315] Examples of such residential castles include the Château de Chambord, the Château de Chenonceau, or the Château d'Amboise.

Following the Renaissance and the end of the Middle Ages, Baroque architecture replaced the traditional Gothic style. However, in France, Baroque architecture found greater success in the secular domain than in the religious one.[316] In the secular domain, the Palace of Versailles has many Baroque features. Jules Hardouin Mansart, who designed the extensions to Versailles, was one of the most influential French architects of the Baroque era; he is famous for his dome at Les Invalides.[317] Some of the most impressive provincial Baroque architecture is found in places that were not yet French such as Place Stanislas in Nancy. On the military architectural side, Vauban designed some of the most efficient fortresses in Europe and became an influential military architect; as a result, imitations of his works can be found all over Europe, the Americas, Russia and Turkey.[318][319]

After the Revolution, the Republicans favoured Neoclassicism although it was introduced in France before the revolution with such buildings as the Parisian Pantheon or the Capitole de Toulouse. Built during the first French Empire, the Arc de Triomphe and Sainte Marie-Madeleine represent the best example of Empire-style architecture.[320] Under Napoleon III, a new wave of urbanism and architecture was given birth; extravagant buildings such as the neo-Baroque Palais Garnier were built. The urban planning of the time was very organised and rigorous; most notably, Haussmann's renovation of Paris. The architecture associated with this era is named Second Empire in English, the term being taken from the Second French Empire. At this time there was a strong Gothic resurgence across Europe and in France; the associated architect was Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. In the late 19th century, Gustave Eiffel designed many bridges, such as the Garabit viaduct, and remains one of the most influential bridge designers of his time, although he is best remembered for the Eiffel Tower.

In the 20th century, French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier designed several buildings in France. More recently, French architects have combined both modern and old architectural styles. The Louvre Pyramid is an example of modern architecture added to an older building. The most difficult buildings to integrate within French cities are skyscrapers, as they are visible from afar. For instance, in Paris, since 1977, new buildings had to be under 37 metres (121 ft).[321] France's largest financial district is La Défense, where a significant number of skyscrapers are located.[322] Other massive buildings that are a challenge to integrate into their environment are large bridges; an example of the way this has been done is the Millau Viaduct. Some famous modern French architects include Jean Nouvel, Dominique Perrault, Christian de Portzamparc and Paul Andreu.

Literature and philosophy

Victor Hugo, a French Romantic writer and politician

The earliest French literature dates from the Middle Ages when what is now known as modern France did not have a single, uniform language. There were several languages and dialects, and writers used their own spelling and grammar. Some authors of French medieval texts, such as Tristan and Iseult and Lancelot-Grail are unknown. Three famous medieval authors are Chrétien de Troyes, Christine de Pizan (langue d'oïl), and Duke William IX of Aquitaine (langue d'oc). Much medieval French poetry and literature was inspired by the legends of the Carolingian cycle, such as the Song of Roland and the chansons de geste. The Roman de Renart, written in 1175 by Perrout de Saint Cloude, tells the story of the medieval character Reynard ('the Fox') and is another example of early French writing. An important 16th-century writer was François Rabelais, who wrote five popular early picaresque novels. Rabelais was also in regular communication with Marguerite de Navarre, author of the Heptameron.[323] Another 16th-century author was Michel de Montaigne, whose most famous work, Essais, started a literary genre.[324]

French literature and poetry flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries. Denis Diderot is best known as the main editor of the Encyclopédie, whose aim was to sum up all the knowledge of his century and to fight ignorance and obscurantism. During that same century, Charles Perrault was a prolific writer of children's fairy tales including Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Bluebeard. At the start of the 19th century, symbolist poetry was an important movement in French literature, with poets such as Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé.[325]

The 19th century saw the writings of many French authors. Victor Hugo is sometimes seen as "the greatest French writer of all time"[326] for excelling in all literary genres. Hugo's verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Dante and Homer.[327] His novel Les Misérables is widely seen as one of the greatest novels ever written[328] and The Hunchback of Notre Dame has remained immensely popular. Other major authors of that century include Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo), Jules Verne (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas), Émile Zola (Les Rougon-Macquart), Honoré de Balzac (La Comédie humaine), Guy de Maupassant, Théophile Gautier and Stendhal (The Red and the Black, The Charterhouse of Parma), whose works are among the most well known in France and the world.

In the early 20th century France was a haven for literary freedom.[329] Works banned for obscenity in the US, the UK and other Anglophone nations were published in France decades before they were available in the respective authors' home countries.[329] The French were disinclined to punish literary figures for their writing, and prosecutions were rare.[329] Important writers of the 20th century include Marcel Proust, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote The Little Prince, which is one of the best selling books in history.[330][331]

Medieval philosophy was dominated by Scholasticism until the emergence of Humanism in the Renaissance. Modern philosophy began in France in the 17th century with the philosophy of René Descartes, Blaise Pascal and Nicolas Malebranche. Descartes was the first Western philosopher since ancient times to attempt to build a philosophical system from the ground up rather than building on the work of predecessors.[332][333] France in the 18th century saw major philosophical contributions from Voltaire who came to embody the Enlightenment and Jean-Jacques Rousseau whose work highly influenced the French Revolution.[334][335] French philosophers made major contributions to the field in the 20th century including the existentialist works of Simone de Beauvoir, Camus, and Sartre.[336] Other influential contributions during this time include the moral and political works of Simone Weil, contributions to structuralism including from Claude Lévi-Strauss and the post-structuralist works by Michel Foucault.[337][338]

Music

Claude Debussy, a French composer

France has a long and varied musical history. It experienced a golden age in the 17th century thanks to Louis XIV, who employed talented musicians and composers in the royal court. Composers of this period include Marc-Antoine Charpentier, François Couperin, Michel-Richard Delalande, Jean-Baptiste Lully and Marin Marais, all of them composers at the court. After the death of the "Roi Soleil", French musical creation lost dynamism, but in the next century the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau reached some prestige.[citation needed] Rameau became the dominant composer of French opera and the leading French composer of the harpsichord.[339]

In the field of classical music, France has produced a number of notable composers such as Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Hector Berlioz. Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music. The two composers invented new musical forms[340][341][342][343] and new sounds. Debussy was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed.[344] His music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of atonality. Erik Satie was a key member of the early-20th-century Parisian avant-garde. Francis Poulenc's best-known works are his piano suite Trois mouvements perpétuels (1919), the ballet Les biches (1923), the Concert champêtre (1928) for harpsichord and orchestra, the opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1957) and the Gloria (1959) for soprano, choir and orchestra. In the middle of the 20th century, Maurice Ohana, Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Boulez contributed to the evolution of contemporary classical music.[345]

French music then followed the rapid emergence of pop and rock music in the middle of the 20th century. Although English-speaking creations achieved popularity in the country, French pop music, known as chanson française, has also remained very popular. Among the most important French artists of the century are Édith Piaf, Georges Brassens, Léo Ferré, Charles Aznavour and Serge Gainsbourg.[346] Modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French hip hop, French rock, techno/funk, and turntablists/DJs. Although there are very few rock bands in France compared to English-speaking countries,[347] bands such as Noir Désir, Mano Negra, Niagara, Les Rita Mitsouko and more recently Superbus, Phoenix and Gojira,[348] or Shaka Ponk, have reached worldwide popularity.

Cinema

Palme d'Or award in presentation case
A Palme d'Or from the Cannes Film Festival, one of the "Big Three" film festivals alongside the Venice Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival[349][350][351]

France has historical and strong links with cinema, with two Frenchmen, Auguste and Louis Lumière (known as the Lumière Brothers) credited with creating cinema in 1895.[352] The world's first female filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blaché, was also from France.[353] Several important cinematic movements, including the late 1950s and 1960s Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. It is noted for having a strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the government. France remains a leader in filmmaking, as of 2015 producing more films than any other European country.[354][355] The nation also hosts the Cannes Festival, one of the most important and famous film festivals in the world.[356][357]

Apart from its strong and innovative film tradition, France has also been a gathering spot for artists from across Europe and the world. For this reason, French cinema is sometimes intertwined with the cinema of foreign nations. Directors from nations such as Poland (Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Andrzej Żuławski), Argentina (Gaspar Noé, Edgardo Cozarinsky), Russia (Alexandre Alexeieff, Anatole Litvak), Austria (Michael Haneke) and Georgia (Géla Babluani, Otar Iosseliani) are prominent in the ranks of French cinema. Conversely, French directors have had prolific and influential careers in other countries, such as Luc Besson, Jacques Tourneur or Francis Veber in the United States. Although the French film market is dominated by Hollywood, France is the only nation in the world where American films make up the smallest share of total film revenues, at 50%, compared with 77% in Germany and 69% in Japan.[358] French films account for 35% of the total film revenues of France, which is the highest percentage of national film revenues in the developed world outside the United States, compared to 14% in Spain and 8% in the UK.[358] In 2013 France was the second greatest exporter of films in the world, after the United States.[359]

As part of its advocacy of cultural exception, a political concept of treating culture differently from other commercial products,[360] France succeeded in convincing all EU members to refuse to include culture and audiovisuals in the list of liberalised sectors of the WTO in 1993.[361] Moreover, this decision was confirmed in a vote by UNESCO in 2005: the principle of "cultural exception" won an overwhelming victory with 198 countries voting for it and only 2 countries, the United States and Israel, voting against it.[362]

Fashion

Chanel's headquarters storefront window at the Place Vendôme Paris with awning
Chanel's headquarters on Place Vendôme, Paris

Fashion has been an important industry and cultural export of France since the 17th century, and modern "haute couture" originated in Paris in the 1860s. Today, Paris, along with London, Milan, and New York City, is considered one of the world's fashion capitals, and the city is home or headquarters to many of the premier fashion houses. The expression Haute couture is, in France, a legally protected name, guaranteeing certain quality standards.

The association of France with fashion and style (French: la mode) dates largely to the reign of Louis XIV[363] when the luxury goods industries in France came increasingly under royal control and the French royal court became, arguably, the arbiter of taste and style in Europe. But France renewed its dominance of the high fashion (French: couture or haute couture) industry in the years 1860–1960 through the establishment of the great couturier houses such as Chanel, Dior, and Givenchy. The French perfume industry is the world leader in its sector and is centred on the town of Grasse.[364]

According to 2017 data compiled by Deloitte, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey (LVMH), a French brand, is the largest luxury company in the world by sales, selling more than twice the amount of its nearest competitor.[365] Moreover, France also possesses 3 of the top 10 luxury goods companies by sales (LVMH, Kering SA, L'Oréal), more than any other country in the world.[365]

Media

Le Figaro was founded in 1826 and it is still considered a newspaper of record.[366]

In 2021, regional daily newspapers, such as Ouest-France, Sud Ouest, La Voix du Nord, Dauphiné Libéré, Le Télégramme, and Le Progrès, more than doubled the sales of national newspapers, such as Le Monde, Le Figaro, L'Équipe (sports), Le Parisien, and Les Echos (finance). Free dailies, distributed in metropolitan centers, continue to increase their market share.[367] The sector of weekly magazines includes more than 400 specialised weekly magazines published in the country.[368]

The most influential news magazines are the left-wing Le Nouvel Observateur, centrist L'Express and right-wing Le Point (in 2009 more than 400,000 copies),[369] but the highest circulation numbers for weeklies are attained by TV magazines and by women's magazines, among them Marie Claire and ELLE, which have foreign versions. Influential weeklies also include investigative and satirical papers Le Canard Enchaîné and Charlie Hebdo, as well as Paris Match. As in most industrialised nations, the print media have been affected by a severe crisis with the rise of the internet. In 2008, the government launched a major initiative to help the sector reform and become financially independent,[370][371] but in 2009 it had to give 600,000 euros to help the print media cope with the economic crisis, in addition to existing subsidies.[372] In 1974, after years of centralised monopoly on radio and television, the governmental agency ORTF was split into several national institutions, but the three already-existing TV channels and four national radio stations[373][374] remained under state control. It was only in 1981 that the government allowed free broadcasting in the territory, ending the state monopoly on radio.[374]

Cuisine

French wines are usually made to accompany French cuisine.

Different regions have different styles. In the north, butter and cream are common ingredients, whereas olive oil is more commonly used in the south.[375] Each region of France has traditional specialties: cassoulet in the southwest, choucroute in Alsace, quiche in the Lorraine region, beef bourguignon in Burgundy, Provençal tapenade, etc. France is most famous for its wines[376] and cheeses, which are often named for the territory where they are produced (AOC).[377][378] A meal typically consists of three courses, entrée ('starter'), plat principal ('main course'), and fromage ('cheese') or dessert, sometimes with a salad served before the cheese or dessert.

French cuisine is also regarded as a key element of the quality of life and the attractiveness of France. A French publication, the Michelin Guide, awards Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments.[379][380] The acquisition or loss of a star can have dramatic effects on the success of a restaurant. By 2006, the Michelin Guide had awarded 620 stars to French restaurants.[381]

In addition to its wine tradition, France is also a major producer of beer and rum. The three main French brewing regions are Alsace (60% of national production), Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and Lorraine. French rum is made in distilleries located on islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans.[382][383]

Sports

The peloton in the streets of Nice during the 2nd stage of the Tour de France on 30 August 2020
Starting in 1903, the Tour de France is the most prestigious of Grands Tours, and the world's most famous cycling race.[384]

France hosts "the world's biggest annual sporting event", the annual cycling race Tour de France.[385] Other popular sports played in France include: football, judo, tennis,[386] rugby union[387] and pétanque. France has hosted events such as the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups,[388] the 2007 Rugby World Cup,[389] and the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[390] The country also hosted the 1960 European Nations' Cup, UEFA Euro 1984, UEFA Euro 2016 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. The Stade de France in Saint-Denis is France's largest stadium and was the venue for the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2007 Rugby World Cup finals. Since 1923, France is famous for its 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car endurance race.[391] Several major tennis tournaments take place in France, including the Paris Masters and the French Open, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. French martial arts include Savate and Fencing.

Zidane is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

France has a close association with the Modern Olympic Games; it was a French aristocrat, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who suggested the Games' revival, at the end of the 19th century.[392][393] After Athens was awarded the first Games, in reference to the Olympics' Greek origins, Paris hosted the second Games in 1900.[394] Paris was the first home of the International Olympic Committee, before it moved to Lausanne.[395] Since 1900, France has hosted the Olympics on 5 further occasions: the 1924 Summer Olympics, the 2024 Summer Olympics both in Paris[393] and three Winter Games (1924 in Chamonix, 1968 in Grenoble and 1992 in Albertville).[393] Similar to the Olympics, France introduced Olympics for deaf people (Deaflympics) in 1924 with the idea of a French deaf car mechanic, Eugène Rubens-Alcais who paved the way to organise the inaugural edition of the Summer Deaflympics in Paris.[396]

Both the national football team and the national rugby union team are nicknamed "Les Bleus" in reference to the team's shirt colour as well as the national French tricolour flag. Football is the most popular sport in France, with over 1,800,000 registered players and over 18,000 registered clubs.[397]

The French Open, also called Roland-Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. It is the premier clay court tennis championship event in the world and the second of four annual Grand Slam tournaments.[398]

Rugby union is popular, particularly in Paris and the southwest of France.[399] The national rugby union team has competed at every Rugby World Cup; it takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The current Constitution of France does not specify a national emblem.[1] The lictor's fasces is very often used to represent the French Republic, although it holds no official status.[2] In addition to the coat of arms, France also uses a different emblem for diplomatic and consular purposes.
  2. ^ For information about regional languages, see Languages of France.
  3. ^ French National Geographic Institute data, which includes bodies of water
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Whole of the except the overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean
  6. ^ French overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean only
  7. ^ Various other time zones are used in overseas France, from UTC−10 (French Polynesia) to UTC+12 (Wallis and Futana). For further information, view Time in France.
  8. ^ The overseas regions and collectivities form part of the French telephone numbering plan, but have their own country calling codes: Guadeloupe +590; Martinique +596; French Guiana +594; Réunion and Mayotte +262; Saint Pierre and Miquelon +508. The overseas territories are not part of the French telephone numbering plan; their country calling codes are: New Caledonia +687; French Polynesia +689; Wallis and Futuna +681.
  9. ^ In addition to .fr, several other Internet TLDs are used in French overseas départements and territories: .re, .mq, .gp, .tf, .nc, .pf, .wf, .pm, .gf and .yt. The .cat domain is used in Catalan-speaking territories.
  10. ^ French: [fʁɑ̃s]
  11. ^ French: République française French: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz]
  12. ^ As of January 2024.
  13. ^ The last sacre was that of Charles X, 29 May 1825.

References

  1. ^ Article II of the Constitution of France (1958)
  2. ^ "THE LICTOR'S FASCES". 15 December 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  3. ^ "L'essentiel sur... les immigrés et les étrangers". Insee. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Etat des lieux de la laïcité en France - 2021" (PDF) (official statistics) (in French). Observatoire de la laïcité, Government of France. p. 37. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Surface water and surface water change". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Field Listing :: Area". Comparateur de territoire. IGN. Retrieved 19 November 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ "France Métropolitaine". INSEE. 2011. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Bilan démographique 2023 – Composantes de la croissance démographique, France". Insee. 16 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Bilan démographique 2023 – Composantes de la croissance démographique, France métropolitaine". Insee. 16 January 2024. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition. (France)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. p. 288. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  13. ^ "History of France". Discoverfrance.net. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  14. ^ Examples: "frank". American Heritage Dictionary. "frank". Webster's Third New International Dictionary. And so on.
  15. ^ a b c "Origin and meaning of Frank". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  16. ^ Rouche, Michel (1987). "The Early Middle Ages in the West". In Veyne, Paul (ed.). A History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium. Belknap Press. p. 425. ISBN 978-0-674-39974-7. OCLC 59830199.
  17. ^ Tarassuk, Leonid; Blair, Claude (1982). The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons: the most comprehensive reference work ever published on arms and armor from prehistoric times to the present with over 1,250 illustrations. Simon & Schuster. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-671-42257-8. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  18. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.; Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (1990). "The Phonetics of Cardiff English". In Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan Richard (eds.). English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change. Multilingual Matters Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-85359-032-0.
  19. ^ a b c Jean Carpentier (dir.), François Lebrun (dir.), Alain Tranoy, Élisabeth Carpentier et Jean-Marie Mayeur (préface de Jacques Le Goff), Histoire de France, Points Seuil, coll. " Histoire ", Paris, 2000 (1re éd. 1987), p. 17 ISBN 978-2-02-010879-9
  20. ^ Jenkins, C. (2011). "Cro-Magnon Man, Roman Gaul and the Feudal Kingdom". A Brief History of France. Little, Brown Book Group. p. 6. ISBN 978-1849018128. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  21. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 20–24.
  22. ^ The Cambridge ancient history. Cambridge University Press. 2000. p. 754. ISBN 978-0-521-08691-2. Retrieved 23 January 2011.; Claude Orrieux (1999). A history of ancient Greece. John Wiley & Sons. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-631-20309-4. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  23. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, p. 29.
  24. ^ "Cornelius Tacitus, The History, BOOK II, chapter 91". perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  25. ^ Polybius, The Histories, 2.18.19
  26. ^ Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome, p. 325
  27. ^ "Provence in Stone". Life. 13 July 1953. p. 77. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  28. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 44–45.
  29. ^ a b Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 53–55.
  30. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 76–77
  31. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 79–82.
  32. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, p. 81.
  33. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, p. 84.
  34. ^ Carpentier et al. 2000, pp. 84–88.
  35. ^ "Faith of the Eldest Daughter – Can France retain her Catholic heritage?". Wf-f.org. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  36. ^ "France". Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011. See drop-down essay on "Religion and Politics until the French Revolution"
  37. ^ "Treaty of Verdun". History.howstuffworks.com. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  38. ^ "History of France – The Capetian kings of France: AD 987–1328". Historyworld.net. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  39. ^ Babbitt, Susan M. (1985). Oresme's Livre de Politiques and the France of Charles V. American Philosophical Society. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-871-69751-6. OL 2874232M. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  40. ^ a b Nadeau, Jean-Benoit; Barlow, Julie (2008). The Story of French. St. Martin's Press. pp. 34ff. ISBN 978-1-4299-3240-0. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  41. ^ "Massacre of the Pure". Time. New York. 28 April 1961. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008.
  42. ^ a b Guerard, Albert (1959). France: A Modern History. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 100, 101.
  43. ^ Templeman, Geoffrey (1952). "Edward III and the beginnings of the Hundred Years War". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 2: 69–88. doi:10.2307/3678784. ISSN 0080-4401. JSTOR 3678784. S2CID 161389883.
  44. ^ Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel (1987). The French peasantry, 1450–1660. University of California Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-520-05523-0.; Turchin, Peter (2003). Historical dynamics: why states rise and fall. Princeton University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-691-11669-3.
  45. ^ "Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  46. ^ Rex, Richard (2014). Tudors: The Illustrated History. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-4403-5. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2019 – via Google Books.
  47. ^ Michael Clodfelter, Warfare and armed conflicts: a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1492-2015 (McFarland, 2017) p.40
  48. ^ Tilly, Charles (1985). "War making and state making as organized crime," in Bringing the State Back In, eds P.B. Evans, D. Rueschemeyer, & T. Skocpol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. p. 174.
  49. ^ Cécil Vidal (May 2021). "Slave trade". bnf.fr. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  50. ^ R.R. Palmer; Joel Colton (1978). A History of the Modern World (5th ed.). p. 161.
  51. ^ "Language and Diplomacy". Nakedtranslations.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  52. ^ Vernon Valentine Palmer (1996). "The Origins and Authors of the Code Noir". Louisiana Law Review. 56 (2). Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  53. ^ "BBC History: Louis XV (1710–1774)". BBC. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2011.; "Scholarly bibliography by Colin Jones (2002)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  54. ^ * Livesey, James (2001). Making Democracy in the French Revolution. Harvard University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-6740-0624-9.
  55. ^ Fehér, Ferenc (1990). The French Revolution and the Birth of Modernity (1992 ed.). University of California Press. pp. 117–130. ISBN 978-0-5200-7120-9.
  56. ^ Thackeray, Frank W. (1996). Events that Changed the World in the Nineteenth Century. Greenwood Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-313-29076-3. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  57. ^ a b Blanning, Tim (April 1998). "Napoleon and German identity". History Today. Vol. 48. London.
  58. ^ Kiernan, Ben (2007). Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. Yale University Press. p. 374. ISBN 978-0-300-10098-3.
  59. ^ Hargreaves, Alan G., ed. (2005). Memory, Empire, and Postcolonialism: Legacies of French Colonialism. Lexington Books. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-7391-0821-5.
  60. ^ "France's oldest WWI veteran dies". London: BBC News. 20 January 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  61. ^ Spencer C. Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts (2005). Encyclopedia Of World War I: A Political, Social, And Military History Archived 18 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-420-2
  62. ^ Crémieux-Brilhac, Jean-Louis (1996). La France libre (in French). Paris: Gallimard. ISBN 2-07-073032-8.
  63. ^ "The Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies". Archived from the original on 16 April 2014.; "BBC – History – World Wars: The Vichy Policy on Jewish Deportation". BBC. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.; France, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "France". Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  64. ^ Noir sur Blanc: Les premières photos du camp de concentration de Buchenwald après la libération,"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (French)
  65. ^ Macqueen, Norrie (2014). Colonialism. Routledge. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-317-86480-6. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.; Kimmelman, Michael (4 March 2009). "In France, a War of Memories Over Memories of War". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  66. ^ Crozier, Brian; Mansell, Gerard (July 1960). "France and Algeria". International Affairs. 36 (3): 310–321. doi:10.2307/2610008. JSTOR 2610008. S2CID 153591784.
  67. ^ "From Fourth to Fifth Republic". University of Sunderland. Archived from the original on 23 May 2008.
  68. ^ A New Paradigm of the African State: Fundi wa Afrika. Springer. 2009. p. 75.; David P Forsythe (2009). Encyclopedia of Human Rights. OUP US. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-19-533402-9.; Elizabeth Schmidt (2013). Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-107-31065-0. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  69. ^ Cutts, M.; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2000). The State of the World's Refugees, 2000: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action. Oxford University Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0199241040. Retrieved 13 January 2017. Referring to Evans, Martin. 2012. Algeria: France's Undeclared War. New York: Oxford University Press.
  70. ^ Julian Bourg, From revolution to ethics: May 1968 and contemporary French thought (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2017).
  71. ^ a b "Europa Official Site – France". EU. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  72. ^ "Declaration by the Franco-German Defense and Security Council". Elysee.fr. Archived from the original on 25 October 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  73. ^ "France and NATO". La France à l'Otan. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014.
  74. ^ a b Marie-Christine Weidmann-Koop, Rosalie Vermette, "France at the dawn of the twenty-first century, trends and transformations", p. 160
  75. ^ Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Michael J. Balz, "The October Riots in France: A Failed Immigration Policy or the Empire Strikes Back?" International Migration (2006) 44#2 pp. 23–34.
  76. ^ Zappi, Sylvia. "French Government Revives Assimilation Policy". Migration Policy Institute. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  77. ^ Hinnant, Lori; Adamson, Thomas (11 January 2015). "Officials: Paris Unity Rally Largest in French History". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.; "Paris attacks: Millions rally for unity in France". BBC News. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  78. ^ "Parisians throw open doors in wake of attacks, but Muslims fear repercussions". The Guardian. 14 November 2015. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.; Syeed, Nafeesa (15 November 2015). "Yes, Parisians are traumatised, but the spirit of resistance still lingers". The Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  79. ^ "Europe's open-border policy may become latest victim of terrorism". The Irish Times. 19 November 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  80. ^ "French policies provoke terrorist attacks". The Matador. 14 December 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2024.; Goodliffe, Gabriel; Brizzi, Riccardo, eds. (2015). France After 2012. Berghahn Books.
  81. ^ a b c d e f "Europe :: France". The World Factbook. CIA. 3 January 2018.
  82. ^ "Field Listing :: Area". The World Factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2015. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  83. ^ "Mont Blanc shrinks by 45 cm (17.72 in) in two years". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  84. ^ "Close to ESTUARY". Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  85. ^ "Protection of the Environment". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011.
  86. ^ "Nuclear Power in France". World Nuclear Association. July 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  87. ^ Eia (10 September 2010) [First published: 23 April 2010]. "Energy profile of France". In Cleveland, Cutler J. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Earth. Topic editor: Langdon D. Clough. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  88. ^ Remy, Morgane (18 June 2010). "CO2 : la France moins pollueuse grâce au nucléaire" [CO2: France less polluting thanks to nuclear]. L'Usine Nouvelle (in French). Archived from the original on 21 June 2010.
  89. ^ "L'énergie nucléaire en France" [Nuclear energy in France]. La France en Chine (in French). 7 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010.
  90. ^ "2018 EPI Results | Environmental Performance Index". epi.envirocenter.yale.edu. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  91. ^ Hsu, A.; et al. (2016). "2016 Environmental Performance Index" (PDF). New Haven, CT: Yale University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  92. ^ Traynor, Ian; Gow, David (21 February 2007). "EU promises 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  93. ^ Kanter, James (1 July 2010). "Per-Capita Emissions Rising in China". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  94. ^ "France Sets Carbon Tax at 17 Euros a Ton". The New York Times. France. Reuters. 10 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  95. ^ Saltmarsh, Matthew (23 March 2010). "France Abandons Plan for Carbon Tax". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  96. ^ "Why France's forests are getting bigger". The Economist. 18 July 2019. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  97. ^ "Countries Compared by Environment > Forest area > % of land area". Nationmaster.com. International Statistics. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  98. ^ "Evolution of the French forest from 1984 to 1996". Inventaire Forestier National [National Forest Inventory]. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011.
  99. ^ "La forêt en France et dans le monde" [The forest in France and in the world]. lepapier.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 27 July 2010.
  100. ^ Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5978G. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
  101. ^ "Parks and other protected areas in France". Parks.it. Archived from the original on 23 August 2004. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  102. ^ "Fédération des parcs naturels régionaux de France" [Federation of Regional Natural Parks of France] (in French). Archived from the original on 12 July 2010.
  103. ^ "The regional nature Parks of France" (PDF). Fédération des Parcs naturels régionaux de France [Federation of the regional nature Parks of France]. 22 July 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  104. ^ Lafferty, William M. (2001). Sustainable communities in Europe. Earthscan. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-85383-791-3.
  105. ^ "Regional Natural Parks". France Guide. Maison de la France. 2008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  106. ^ "Découvrir les 54 Parcs". Fédération des Parcs naturels régionaux de France. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  107. ^ "Constitutional Limits on Government: Country Studies – France". Democracy Web: Comparative studies in Freedom. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  108. ^ a b "France | History, Map, Flag, Capital, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  109. ^ Drake, Helen (2011). Contemporary France. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 95. doi:10.1007/978-0-230-36688-6 (inactive 19 November 2024). ISBN 978-0-333-79243-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  110. ^ "Le quinquennat : le référendum du 24 Septembre 2000" [The 5-year term: referendum of 24 September 2000] (in French). Archived from the original on 12 August 2010.
  111. ^ "The French National Assembly – Constitution of October 4, 1958". 13 March 2013. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  112. ^ "What's in Emmanuel Macron's intray after his re-election as French president?". the Guardian. 24 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  113. ^ "France learns parliamentary democracy the hard way". Politico. 2 July 2022. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  114. ^ "The National Assembly and the Senate – General Characteristics of the Parliament". Assemblée Nationale. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008.
  115. ^ "Election of deputies". Assemblée Nationale. Archived from the original on 4 July 2011.
  116. ^ "The senatorial elections". Sénate. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  117. ^ "Le role du Sénat" [What is the purpose of the Senate?] (in French). 18 August 2007. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010.
  118. ^ Romain Brunet (29 June 2020). "After green wave in local elections, is France's left back on track?". France24. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  119. ^ "Takeaways from the final round of France's parliamentary elections". France 24. 20 June 2022. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  120. ^ "The makeover of France's National Rally". Politico. 16 October 2022. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  121. ^ "France – Parliamentary composition and functions". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  122. ^ "La réforme territoriale" (in French). Government of France. 18 December 2015. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  123. ^ "Departments of France" (in French). Myfrenchproperty.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  124. ^ a b "Circonscriptions administratives au 1er janvier 2015 : comparaisons régionales" [Administrative constituencies of 1 January 2015: regional comparisons] (in French). INSEE. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  125. ^ "Currency and Exchange Rate". Thetahititraveler.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  126. ^ "2085rank". The World Factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  127. ^ "Membership of the Security Councils of the UN". 6 July 2010. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  128. ^ "The Soft Power 30" (PDF). Monocle. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015.
  129. ^ "Members and Observers". World Trade Organization. Archived from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  130. ^ "History". Secretariate of the Pacific Community. 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010.
  131. ^ "Les pays membres de la COI" [IOC member countries]. Commission de l'Océan Indien | Indian Ocean Commission (in French). Archived from the original on 2 April 2012.
  132. ^ "About the Association of Caribbean States". Association of Caribbean States. 24 July 1994. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  133. ^ "84 États et gouvernements" [84 states and governments]. Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  134. ^ La Francophonie en bref Archived 28 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine, La Francophonie, retrieved on 26 January 2020
  135. ^ Anne Gazeau-Secret, Francophonie et diplomatie d'influence Archived 14 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Cairn.info, dans Géoéconomie 2010/4 (n° 55), pages 39 à 56
  136. ^ "Embassies and consulates". France Diplomatie. The French Ministry of Foreign affairs. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010.
  137. ^ Pierre-Louis Germain (12 November 2009). "L'alliance Franco-allemande au coeur de la puissance européenne" [The Franco-German alliance at the heart of European power] (in French). Institut Montaigne. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010.
  138. ^ Lasserre, Isabelle (11 March 2009). "Quand Mitterrand, déjà, négociait le retour de la France dans l'Otan" [Mitterrand already negotiated the return of France to NATO]. Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  139. ^ "France ends four-decade Nato rift". BBC News. 12 March 2009. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  140. ^ Roger, Patrick (11 March 2009). "Le retour de la France dans l'OTAN suscite un malaise dans les rangs de la Droite" [The return of France to NATO causes discomfort in the ranks of the right]. Le Monde (in French). Paris. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  141. ^ "L'empire colonial français". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011.
  142. ^ "France involvement in peace-keeping operations". Delegfrance-onu-geneve.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  143. ^ "Official development assistance (ODA) – Net ODA – OECD Data". theOECD. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  144. ^ "Aid to developing countries rebounds in 2013 to reach an all-time high". OECD. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  145. ^ a b France priorities Archived 22 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine – France Diplomatie
  146. ^ O’Sullivan, Michael; Subramanian, Krithika (17 October 2015). The End of Globalization or a more Multipolar World? (Report). Credit Suisse AG. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  147. ^ Trends in World Military Expenditure Archived 8 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine SIPRI. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  148. ^ (in French) La fin du service militaire obligatoire Archived 8 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine – La documentation française
  149. ^ "Status of signature and ratification". CTBTO Preparatory Commission. 26 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  150. ^ (in French) Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la Paix et les Conflits, Etat des forces nucléaires françaises au 15 août 2004 Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  151. ^ "90.07.06: The Aerospace Industry: Its History and How it Affects the U.S. Economy". Yale. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  152. ^ Gadault, Thierry (13 June 2002). "La France demeure un fournisseur d'armes de premier plan" [France stays one of the biggest arms supplier]]. L'express (in French). Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. En 2001, la France a vendu pour 1,288 milliard de dollars d'équipements militaires, ce qui la met au troisième rang mondial des exportateurs derrière les États-Unis et la Russie. [In 2001, France sold $1,288 billion of military equipment, ranking 3rd in the world for arms exportations behind the USA and Russia
  153. ^ "Les ventes d'armes explosent en 2009" [Sales of weapons explode in 2009]. 20 minutes (in French). 8 February 2010. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017. La France est au 4ème rang mondial des exportateurs d'armes, derrière les Etats-Unis, le Royaume-Uni et la Russie, et devant Israël, selon un rapport du ministère de la Défense publié l'an dernier. [France is 4th biggest arms exporter, behind the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia, and ahead of Israel, according to a report of the Ministry of Defense published a year ago.]
  154. ^ "La Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure" [The Directorate General of Internal Security]. French Ministry of the Interior (in French). Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  155. ^ Bruce Sussman, The List: Best and Worst Countries for Cybersecurity Archived 15 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine, 13 November 2019, Securworld
  156. ^ Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2018 Archived 1 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine, International Telecommunication Union
  157. ^ "Rafale Sales Help France Reach Arms Exports Record". 26 July 2023.
  158. ^ "Factbox: France's military and defense contractors". Reuters. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  159. ^ In European countries, legal doctrine has long faced the question of succession of criminal laws in time: Buonomo, Giampiero (2015). "La rivendicazione di Gallo". Mondoperaio Edizione Online.
  160. ^ "Country Ranking - Rainbow Europe". rainbow-europe.org. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  161. ^ "François Hollande signs same-sex marriage into law". France 24. 18 May 2013. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  162. ^ "France: Strict Defamation and Privacy Laws Limit Free Expression – Index on Censorship| Index on Censorship." France: Strict Defamation and Privacy Laws Limit Free Expression – Index on Censorship| Index on Censorship. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 February 2014. "France: Strict defamation and privacy laws limit free expression – Index on Censorship". Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014..
  163. ^ (in French) La lutte contre le racisme et l'antisémintisme en France. AmbaFrance
  164. ^ Niewiarowski, Erik (5 March 2024). "France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic vote". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  165. ^ Roth, Kenneth (26 February 2004). "Human Rights Watch". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 1 November 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  166. ^ "France votes to ban full-face veils". Amnesty International. 13 July 2010. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014.
  167. ^ "L'image de l'islam en France" (PDF). ifop.fr (in French). IFOP. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  168. ^ The attractiveness of world-class business districts: Paris La Défense vs. its global competitors Archived 18 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine, EY, November 2017
  169. ^ "GDP, PPP (current international $)". The World Bank Group. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  170. ^ Jack S. Levy, War in the Modern Great Power System, 1495–1975, (2014) p. 29
  171. ^ Country profile: France Archived 1 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Euler Hermes
  172. ^ "These are the top 10 manufacturing countries in the world". World Economic Forum. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  173. ^ Country profil: France, CIA World factbook
  174. ^ France: the market Archived 19 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Société Générale (latest Update: September 2020)
  175. ^ World Trade Statistical Review 2019 Archived 30 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, World Trade Organization, p. 11
  176. ^ Andrews, Edmund L. (1 January 2002). "Germans Say Goodbye to the Mark, a Symbol of Strength and Unity". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  177. ^ "France – Finance". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  178. ^ Taylor Martin, Susan (28 December 1998). "On Jan. 1, out of many arises one Euro". St. Petersburg Times. p. National, 1.A.
  179. ^ How can Europe reset the investment agenda now to rebuild its future? Archived 19 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine, EY, 28 May 2020
  180. ^ "Welcome to the Banque de France website | Banque de France". www.banque-france.fr. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  181. ^ a b "Foreign direct investment (FDI) in France – Investing – International Trade Portal International Trade Portal". lloydsbanktrade.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  182. ^ "France – Economy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  183. ^ These are the world's most innovative countries Archived 24 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Business Insider
  184. ^ "The Global Competitiveness Report 2019" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  185. ^ Vautherot, Audrey (19 November 2007). "La Bourse de Paris : une institution depuis 1724" [The Paris Stock Exchange: an institution since 1724]. Gralon (in French). Archived from the original on 8 September 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  186. ^ a b Embassy of France. "Embassy of France in Washington: Economy of France". Ambafrance-us.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  187. ^ "French companies by market capitalization". companiesmarketcap.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  188. ^ "France – Agriculture". Nations Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 4 January 2011.
  189. ^ "Country Memo – France". globalEDGE. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  190. ^ "Topic: Agriculture in France". Statista. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  191. ^ "Key figures of the French economy". France Diplomatie. French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. France is the world's fifth largest exporter of goods (mainly durables). The country ranks fourth in services and third in agriculture (especially in cereals and the agri-food sector). It is the leading producer and exporter of farm products in Europe.
  192. ^ "World Tourism Barometer" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. May 2024. p. 19. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  193. ^ Dilorenzo, Sarah (18 July 2013). "France learns to speak 'touriste'". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  194. ^ "Fréquentation des musées et des bâtiments historiques" [Frequentation of museums and historic buildings] (in French). 2003. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007.
  195. ^ Rubin, Judith, ed. (2009). "TEA/AECOM Attraction Attendance Report for 2009" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  196. ^ "The French Riviera Tourist Board". CÔTE D'AZUR. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  197. ^ Foucher. "Tourism: The Loire Valley, an intoxicating destination for visitors". TourMaG.com, 1er journal des professionnels du tourisme francophone (in French). Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  198. ^ "Chateaux deluxe: 5 best Loire Valley castles". CNN. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  199. ^ "BP Statistical Review of World Energy July 2021"". Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  200. ^ "The ten biggest power companies in 2018". Power Technology. 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  201. ^ Electricity production, consumption and market overview Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Eurostat
  202. ^ a b c d "Nuclear Power in France | French Nuclear Energy – World Nuclear Association". world-nuclear.org. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  203. ^ "PRIS – Miscellaneous reports – Nuclear Share". pris.iaea.org. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  204. ^ "Nuclear share figures, 2006–2016". World Nuclear Association. April 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  205. ^ "France". IAEA | PRIS Power Reactor Information System. International Atomic Energy Agency. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  206. ^ a b c "Topic: Hydropower in France". Statista. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  207. ^ a b c "France". hydropower.org. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  208. ^ Millau Viaduct at Structurae. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  209. ^ "Chiffres clés du transport Édition 2010" (PDF) (in French). Ministère de l'Écologie, de l'Énergie, du Développement Durable et de la Mer. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  210. ^ "Country comparison :: railways". The World Factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  211. ^ "TGV – The French High-speed Train Service". h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition. 22 April 2002. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  212. ^ "Country comparison :: roadways". The World Factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  213. ^ (in French) L'automobile magazine, hors-série 2003/2004 page 294
  214. ^ Bockman, Chris (4 November 2003). "France builds world's tallest bridge". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  215. ^ Damiani, Anne (15 April 2021). "First lockdown in France improved air quality, avoided thousands of deaths". euractiv.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  216. ^ Yeung, Peter. "How France is testing free public transport". BBC. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  217. ^ "Strikes block French ports". The Journal of Commerce Online. 23 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008 – via BDP International.
  218. ^ "Marseille : un grand port maritime qui ne demande qu'à se montrer" [Marseille: a grand seaport just waiting to show]. La Provence (in French). 27 June 2009. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  219. ^ "Funding". esa.int. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  220. ^ Godwin, William (1876). "Lives of the Necromancers". p. 232.
  221. ^ André Thuilier, Histoire de l'université de Paris et de la Sorbonne, Paris, Nouvelle librairie de France, 1994
  222. ^ Burke, Peter, A social history of knowledge: from Gutenberg to Diderot, Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2000, p. 17
  223. ^ Lanzetta M; Petruzzo P; Dubernard JM; et al. (July 2007). "Second report (1998–2006) of the International Registry of Hand and Composite Tissue Transplantation". Transpl Immunol. 18 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.trim.2007.03.002. PMID 17584595.
  224. ^ Dr. Ghodoussi. "Media Collection". Interface Surgical Technologies, LLC. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  225. ^ Austin, Naomi (17 October 2006). "My face transplant saved me". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2007.
  226. ^ "Woman has first face transplant". BBC News. 30 November 2005. Archived from the original on 2 December 2005. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  227. ^ World Intellectual Property Organization (2024). Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship. World Intellectual Property Organization. p. 18. doi:10.34667/tind.50062. ISBN 978-92-805-3681-2. Retrieved 6 October 2024. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  228. ^ "Global Innovation Index 2019". www.wipo.int. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  229. ^ "Bilan démographique 2006: un excédent naturel record" (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  230. ^ "People in the EU – statistics on demographic changes – Statistics Explained". European Commission. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  231. ^ "Fertility rate in France: historical evolution 2022". Statista. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  232. ^ "Why the French are having fewer children". 13 September 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  233. ^ Roser, Max (2014), "Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries", Our World in Data, Gapminder Foundation, archived from the original on 8 July 2019, retrieved 7 May 2019
  234. ^ "Bilan démographique 2016" (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  235. ^ "Bilan démographique 2020" (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  236. ^ a b c "Which countries have the highest and lowest fertility rates in Europe?". euronews. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  237. ^ "Total fertility rate Europe by country 2023". Statista. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  238. ^ "World Factbook EUROPE : FRANCE", The World Factbook, 4 February 2021, archived from the original on 16 March 2022, retrieved 18 May 2024
  239. ^ "Évolution générale de la situation démographique, France" (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  240. ^ "WDI – Home". World Bank. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  241. ^ "Continued population ageing in France over the next half century - Press centre". Ined - Institut national d’études démographiques. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  242. ^ "Naissances selon le pays de naissance des parents 2010". Insee. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  243. ^ INSEE. "France par aire d'attraction des villes - Population municipale 2021 >> Tableau". Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  244. ^ Jean-Louis Brunaux (2008). Seuil (ed.). Nos ancêtres les Gaulois [Our ancestors the Gauls]. p. 261.
  245. ^ Yazid Sabeg; Laurence Méhaignerie (January 2004). Les oubliés de l'égalité des chances [The forgotten of equal opportunities] (PDF) (in French). Institut Montaigne. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  246. ^ "France's ethnic minorities: To count or not to count". The Economist. 26 March 2009. Archived from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  247. ^ "'Trajectories and Origins' Survey". Ined. 2008. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011.
  248. ^ Oppenheimer, David B. (2008). "Why France needs to collect data on racial identity...in a French way". Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. 31 (2): 735–752. SSRN 1236362.
  249. ^ a b Cohen, Robin (1995). The Cambridge Survey of World Migration. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-44405-7.
  250. ^ "France's crisis of national identity". The Independent. London. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  251. ^ "Les personnes d'origine maghrébine y sont également au nombre de 5 à 6 millions; 3,5 millions ont la nationalité française (don't 500 000 harkis)", Évelyne Perrin, Identité Nationale, Amer Ministère, L'Harmattan, 2010, p. 112 ISBN 978-2-296-10839-4
  252. ^ Gbadamassi, Falila. "Les personnes originaires d'Afrique, des Dom-Tom et de la Turquie sont 5,5 millions dans l'Hexagone". Afrik.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013.
  253. ^ Richburg, Keith B. (24 April 2005). "Europe's Minority Politicians in Short Supply". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  254. ^ Sachs, Susan (12 January 2007). "In officially colorblind France, blacks have a dream – and now a lobby". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  255. ^ "National strategy for Roma integration – European Commission – DG Justiceunknown label". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
  256. ^ Astier, Henri (13 February 2014). "France's unwanted Roma". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  257. ^ "Paris Riots in Perspective". ABC News. New York. 4 November 2005. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  258. ^ Hassell, James E. (1991). "III. French Government and the Refugees". Russian Refugees in France and the United States Between the World Wars. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 81/7. American Philosophical Society. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-87169-817-9.
  259. ^ Markham, James M. (6 April 1988). "For Pieds-Noirs, the Anger Endures". The New York Times.
  260. ^ De Azevedo, Raimondo Cagiano, ed. (1994). Migration and development co-operation. p. 25. ISBN 978-92-871-2611-5.
  261. ^ "Flux d'immigration par continent d'origine" [Immigration flow by continent of origin]. Ined (in French). 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012.
  262. ^ "Western Europe" (PDF). UNHCR Global Report 2005. UNHCR. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
  263. ^ Kalt, Anne; Hossain, Mazeda; Kiss, Ligia; Zimmerman, Cathy (March 2013). "Asylum Seekers, Violence and Health: A Systematic Review of Research in High-Income Host Countries". American Journal of Public Health. 103 (3): e30 – e42. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.301136. ISSN 0090-0036. PMC 3673512. PMID 23327250.
  264. ^ "aida – Asylum Information Database – Country Report: France" (PDF). 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  265. ^ "Le regard des Français sur l'immigration". IFOP (in French). 16 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  266. ^ Catherine Borrel; Bertrand Lhommeau (30 March 2010). "Être né en France d'un parent immigré" [To be born in France of an immigrant parent] (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012.
  267. ^ "Répartition des immigrés par pays de naissance" [Distribution of immigrants by country of birth] (in French). Insee. 2008. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011.
  268. ^ Borrel, Catherine (August 2006). "Enquêtes annuelles de recensement 2004 et 2005" [Annual census surveys 2004 and 2005] (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 12 December 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
  269. ^ Swalec, Andrea (6 July 2010). "Turks and Moroccans top list of new EU citizens". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012.
  270. ^ "Immigration rose in France in 2022, driven by labor needs and foreign students". Le Monde.fr. 27 January 2023. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023.
  271. ^ a b c "Qui sont les nouveaux immigrés qui vivent en France?" [Who are the new immigrants living in France?]. SudOuest (in French). 2 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  272. ^ (in French) La Constitution- La Constitution du 4 Octobre 1958 – Légifrance.
  273. ^ Abalain, Hervé, (2007) Le français et les langues historiques de la France, Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot, p. 113.
  274. ^ "French: one of the world's main languages". About-france.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  275. ^ (in French) Qu'est-ce que la Francophonie ? Archived 23 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
  276. ^ "GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences". gesis.org. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  277. ^ Drouhot, Lucas; Simon, Patrick; Tiberj, Vincent (30 March 2023). "La diversité religieuse en France : transmissions intergénérationnelles et pratiques selon les origines" [Religious diversity in France: Intergenerational transmissions and practices according to the origins] (PDF) (official statistics) (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2023.
  278. ^ Wolf, John Baptiste Wolf (1962). The Emergence of European Civilization: From the Middle Ages to the Opening of the Nineteenth Century. University of Virginia Press. p. 419. ISBN 9789733203162.
  279. ^ Parisse, Michael (2005). "Lotharingia". In Reuter, T. (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 900–c. 1024. Vol. III. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 313–315.
  280. ^ "Christian Majesty, His Most".
  281. ^ Wolfe, M. (2005). Jotham Parsons. The Church in the Republic: Gallicanism and Political Ideology in Renaissance France. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. 2004. pp. ix, 322. The American Historical Review, 110(4), 1254–1255.
  282. ^ "Observatoire du patrimoine religieux". 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. 94% des édifices sont catholiques (dont 50% églises paroissiales, 25% chapelles, 25% édifices appartenant au clergé régulier)
  283. ^ "France". Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011.
  284. ^ Joy of Sects, Sam Jordison, 2006, p. 166
  285. ^ "Society2; religion in France; beliefs; secularism (laicité)". Understandfrance.org. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2009.[self-published source]
  286. ^ "Commission d'enquête sur les sectes". Assemblee-nationale.fr. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  287. ^ How to conduct European clinical trials from the Paris Region ? Clinical Trials. Paris. February 2003
  288. ^ "World Health Organization Assesses the World's Health Systems". Who.int. 8 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  289. ^ The ranking, see spreadsheet details for a whole analysis Archived 5 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine photius.com
  290. ^ "Measuring Overall Health System Performance for 191 Countries" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  291. ^ "WHO country facts: France". Who.int. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  292. ^ The World Health Report 2000: WHO
  293. ^ "Espérance de vie, taux de mortalité et taux de mortalité infantile dans le monde" (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  294. ^ "Evolution de l'espérance de vie à divers âges" (in French). Insee. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  295. ^ "Nombre de médecins pour 1000 habitants" (in French). Statistiques mondiales. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010.
  296. ^ "Dépenses de santé par habitants" (in French). Statistiques mondiales. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009.
  297. ^ Tom Clynes, Where Nobel winners get their start Archived 15 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Nature, 7 October 2016
  298. ^ "Lycée". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  299. ^ (in French) II. L'évolution du contenu de l'obligation scolaire Archived 29 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Sénat.fr
  300. ^ (in French) 1881–1882 : Lois Ferry École publique gratuite, laïque et obligatoire. Assemblé Nationale
  301. ^ "Compare your country – PISA 2018". www2.compareyourcountry.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  302. ^ a b c "Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) France report" (PDF). oecd. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  303. ^ (in French) Les grandes écoles dans la tourmente Archived 15 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Le Figaro
  304. ^ "Guide to Impressionism". National Gallery. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  305. ^ (in French) RFI, Le néo-impressionnisme de Seurat à Paul Klee Archived 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine 15 March 2005
  306. ^ National Gallery of Art (United States), The Fauves (dossier) Archived 5 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  307. ^ (in French) RFI, Vlaminck, version fauve Archived 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, 25 February 2008
  308. ^ Musée d'Orsay (official website), History of the museum – From station to museum
  309. ^ "History of the painting collection". Musee-orsay.fr. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  310. ^ The top 10 museums in the world, The Independent, 6 September 2018
  311. ^ (in French) Ministry of Tourism, Sites touristiques en France Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine page 2 "Palmarès des 30 premiers sites culturels (entrées comptabilisées)" [Ranking of 30 most visited cultural sites in France]
  312. ^ Brodie, Allan M. (2003). "Opus francigenum". Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t063666. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  313. ^ "The Gothic Period". Justfrance.org. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  314. ^ (in French) Histoire et Architecture – Site officiel de la Cathedrale de Notre-Dame de Reims Archived 17 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  315. ^ Loire, Mission Val de. "Charles VII et Louis XI -Know -Val de Loire patrimoine mondial". loirevalley-worldheritage.org. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  316. ^ (in French) Claude Lébedel – Les Splendeurs du Baroque en France: Histoire et splendeurs du baroque en France page 9: "Si en allant plus loin, on prononce les mots 'art baroque en France', on provoque alors le plus souvent une moue interrogative, parfois seulement étonnée, parfois franchement réprobatrice: Mais voyons, l'art baroque n'existe pas en France!"
  317. ^ Hills, Helen (2003). Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe. Ashgate Publishing. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-7546-0309-2.
  318. ^ "Fortifications of Vauban". UNESCO. 8 July 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  319. ^ "Official site of the UNESCO". UNESCO. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  320. ^ Paris: City Guide. Lonely Planet. 2008. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-74059-850-7.
  321. ^ Seckel, Henri (8 July 2008). "Urbanisme : Des gratte-ciel à Paris : qu'en pensez-vous  – Posez vos questions". MYTF1News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2010.
  322. ^ In the heart of the main European Business area Archived 29 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine – NCI Business Center
  323. ^ Bauschatz, Cathleen M. (2003). "Rabelais and Marguerite de Navarre on Sixteenth-Century Views of Clandestine Marriage". Sixteenth Century Journal. 34 (2): 395–408. doi:10.2307/20061415. JSTOR 20061415. S2CID 163972746.
  324. ^ "Montaigne". Humanistictexts.org. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  325. ^ "Le Symbolisme français". users.skynet.be. Archived from the original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  326. ^ "Victor Hugo est le plus grand écrivain français" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2013.
  327. ^ "Victor Hugo 1802–1885". Enotes.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  328. ^ "All-Time 100 Best Novels List". Adherents.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2005. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  329. ^ a b c "Dirty books and literary freedom: The Lady Chatterley publisher who beat the censors". BBC. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  330. ^ Modiano strengthens France's literature Nobel dominance Archived 18 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Global Post, 9 October 2014
  331. ^ "The Little Prince | Plot, Analysis, & Facts | Britannica.com". 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  332. ^ Russell, Bertrand (2004) [1945]. A History of Western Philosophy. Routledge. p. 511
  333. ^ Kenny, Anthony (2006). The Rise of Modern Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 40
  334. ^ "VOLTAIRE - University of Kent". www.kent.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  335. ^ Williams, David Lay (1 August 2012). "Review of Rousseau and Revolution". ISSN 1538-1617.
  336. ^ "Who Were the Most Famous Existentialists?". TheCollector. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  337. ^ Norman, Max (11 April 2021). "The subversive philosophy of Simone Weil". Prospect. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  338. ^ Pollard, Christopher (26 August 2019). "Explainer: the ideas of Foucault". The Conversation. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  339. ^ Girdlestone, Cuthbert (1969). Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work (paperback ed.). Dover. p. 14: "It is customary to couple him with Couperin as one couples Haydn with Mozart or Ravel with Debussy."
  340. ^ Huizenga, Tom (14 October 2005). "Debussy's 'La Mer' Marks 100th Birthday". NPR. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  341. ^ "Debussy's Musical Game of Deception". NPR. 12 July 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  342. ^ "Biography of Claude Debussy". Classicfm.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  343. ^ "Biography of Maurice Ravel". Classicfm.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  344. ^ Schrott, Allen. "Claude Debussy – Biography – AllMusic". AllMusic.
  345. ^ Schwartz, Lloyd (24 May 2010). "Composer-Conductor Pierre Boulez at 85". NPR. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  346. ^ "100人の偉大なアーティスト - No. 62" [The 100 Greatest Artists – No. 62]. ローチケHMV [Roachke HMV] (in Japanese). 21 April 2003.
  347. ^ "Biography of Noir Désir". rfi Music. RFI Musique. December 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2018. Rock music doesn't come naturally to the French. A Latin country, with more affinity to poetry and melody, France has very rarely produced talented rock musicians. Rock music has other, more Anglo-Saxon ingredients: fury, excess, electricity.
  348. ^ "French music has the whole planet singing". France Diplomatie. 22 June 2009. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010.
  349. ^ Dargis, Manohla. "Cannes International Film Festival". The New York Times.
  350. ^ Lim, Dennis (15 May 2012). "They'll Always Have Cannes". The New York Times.
  351. ^ Woolsey, Matt. "In Pictures: Chic Cannes Hideaways". Forbes.
  352. ^ Larousse, Éditions. "Encyclopédie Larousse en ligne – les frères Lumière". larousse.fr.
  353. ^ Dargis, Manohla; Scott, A.O. (20 September 2018). "You Know These 20 Movies. Now Meet the Women Behind Them". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  354. ^ UIS. "UIS Statistics". UNESCO.
  355. ^ Riding, Alan (28 February 1995). "The Birthplace Celebrates Film's Big 1–0–0". The New York Times.
  356. ^ "Cannes – a festival virgin's guide". Cannesguide.com. 15 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  357. ^ "Cannes Film Festival - Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France". Whatsonwhen.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012.
  358. ^ a b (in French) Damien Rousselière Cinéma et diversité culturelle: le cinéma indépendant face à la mondialisation des industries culturelles. Horizons philosophiques Vol. 15 No. 2 2005
  359. ^ "Enquête sur l'image du cinéma français dans le monde". unifrance.org. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014.
  360. ^ Joëlle Farchy (1999) La Fin de l'exception culturelle ? CNRS ISBN 978-2-271-05633-7
  361. ^ The cultural exception is not negotiable by Catherine Trautmann – Ministry of Culture
  362. ^ "La Convention UNESCO pour la diversité culturelle : vers un droit international culturel contraignant ?" (PDF) (in French). Fédération Nationale des Syndicats du spectacle du cinéma, de l'audiovisuel et de l'action culturelle. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2011.
  363. ^ Kelly, 181. DeJean, chapters 2–4.
  364. ^ "French perfume". About-France.com.
  365. ^ a b Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2019: Bridging the gap between the old and the new, Deloitte
  366. ^ "Le Figaro". Encyclopædia Britannica. 5 October 2023.
  367. ^ "L'observatoire de la presse et des médias de L'APCM 2022". acpm.fr. 2022.
  368. ^ (in French) Observatoire de la Presse, Presse Magazine – Synthèse Archived 29 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  369. ^ (in French) Observatoire de la Presse, Presse News Archived 29 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  370. ^ The Telegraph, Nicolas Sarkozy: French media faces 'death' without reform 2 October 2008
  371. ^ French government portal, Lancement des états généraux de la presse Archived 25 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine 2 October 2008 [Launching of General State of written media]
  372. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (23 January 2009). "Sarkozy pledges €600m to newspapers". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  373. ^ Radio France, "L'entreprise", Repères. Landmarks of Radio France company
  374. ^ a b (in French) Vie Publique, Chronologie de la politique de l'audiovisuel Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine 20 August 2004 [Chronology of policy for audiovisual]
  375. ^ Véronique MARTINACHE (30 November 2009). "La France du beurre et celle de l'huile d'olive maintiennent leurs positions" [France butter and olive oil maintain their positions]. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011.
  376. ^ "Wines of France". Walter's Web. 17 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
  377. ^ "French Cheese". Goodcooking. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  378. ^ "French Cheese". Archived from the original on 27 August 2010.
  379. ^ Fairburn, Carolyn (29 February 1992). "Fading stars – Michelin Red Guide". The Times.
  380. ^ Beale, Victoria; Boxell, James (16 July 2011). "Falling stars". Financial Times.
  381. ^ "Michelin 3 Star Restaurants around the world". Andy Hayler's 3 Star Restaurant Guide. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  382. ^ "Région Guadeloupe-Guadeloupe, a land of cultures and flavours". www.regionguadeloupe.fr. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  383. ^ "Rum and Reunion Island – La Saga du Rhum". Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  384. ^ "Union Cycliste Internationale". Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  385. ^ "Tour De France 2019: Everything you need to know". BBC. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  386. ^ (in French) Les licences sportives en France – Insee
  387. ^ "All you need to know about sport in France". Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  388. ^ "History of the World Cup Final Draw" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  389. ^ France wins right to host the 2007 rugby world cup. Associated Press. 11 April 2003
  390. ^ McLaughlin, Luke; Symons, Harvey; Amani, Julian (6 September 2023). "Everything you need to know about the 2023 Rugby World Cup". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  391. ^ "Une course légendaire" (in French). Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. – Site officiel du 24 heures du Mans
  392. ^ Hill, Christopher R. (1996). Olympic Politics. Manchester University Press ND. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7190-4451-9. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  393. ^ a b c Olympic History – World Atlas of Travel
  394. ^ "Paris 1900 Summer Olympics. Official Site of the Olympic Movement". International Olympic Committee. 27 August 2018.
  395. ^ Lausanne, olympic capital – Tourism in Lausanne Archived 6 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  396. ^ "Deaflympics lowdown". 29 December 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  397. ^ "Fédération Française de Football". fff.fr.
  398. ^ Clarey, Christopher (30 June 2001). "Change Seems Essential to Escape Extinction: Wimbledon: World's Most Loved Dinosaur". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  399. ^ Rugby. 123 Voyage

Further reading

Listen to this article (2 hours and 40 minutes)
Spoken Wikipedia icon
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 8 April 2023 (2023-04-08), and does not reflect subsequent edits.

Economy

Government

Culture

47°N 2°E / 47°N 2°E / 47; 2