Place:Outline of France

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Short description: Overview of and topical guide to France
The flag of France
The national emblem of France
The location of Metropolitan France
The territory of the French Republic
An enlargeable map of Metropolitan France

The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide of France:

France – country in Western Europe with several overseas regions and territories. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. From its shape, it is often referred to in French as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon").


General reference

Constituent lands of the French Republic

Geography of France

An enlargeable topographic map of Metropolitan France
 Spain 623 km (387 mi)
 Belgium 620 km (385 mi)
  Switzerland 573 km (356 mi)
 Italy 488 km (303 mi)
 Germany 451 km (280 mi)
 Luxembourg 73 km (45 mi)
 Andorra 57 km (35 mi)
 Monaco 4 km (2 mi)
  • French Guiana: 1,183 km (735 mi)
 Brazil 673 km (418 mi)
 Suriname 510 km (317 mi)
  • Coastline: 4,668 km (2,901 mi)
  • Metropolitan France: 3,427 km (2,129 mi)
  • Incorporated overseas territories: 1,241 km (771 mi)
  • Population of France: 68,035,000 people (2021 estimate) – 20th most populous country
  • Area of France: 674,843 km2 (260,558 sq mi) – 40th largest country
  • Atlas of France
  • Communes (municipalities) of France

Environment of France

An enlargeable satellite image of Metropolitan France
  • Climate of France
  • Ecology of France
    • Renewable energy in France
  • Geology of France
  • National parks of France
  • Wildlife of France
    • Flora of France
    • Fauna of France
      • Birds of France
      • Mammals of France
      • Non-marine molluscs of France

Geographic features of France

The Seine as seen from the Pont Royal
  • Glaciers of France
  • Islands of France
  • Lakes of France
  • Mountains of France
    • French Alps
    • Volcanoes in France
  • Rivers of France
  • List of World Heritage Sites in France (See also List of World Heritage Sites in Western Europe for transboundary sites)

Regions of France

"Region" is also the name of France's main type of political division

Administrative divisions of France

  • Regions of France
    • Departments of France
      • Municipalities of France ("Communes")
Regions of France (Administrative)

Regions of France Since January 1, 2016, continental France is divided into 13 administrative Regions instead of the former 22 regions. The 5 overseas regions are untouched:

Before 2016 From January, 1st 2016

  1. Alsace
  2. Aquitaine
  3. Auvergne
  4. Lower Normandy
  5. Burgundy
  6. Brittany
  7. Centre-Val de Loire
  8. Champagne-Ardenne
  9. Corsica (special status)
10. Franche-Comté
11. Upper Normandy

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

  1. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
  2. Nouvelle-Aquitaine
  3. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  4. Normandy
  5. Grand Est
  6. Brittany
  7. Centre-Val de Loire
  8. Occitanie
  9. Hauts-de-France
10. Île-de-France
11. Pays de la Loire

12. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
13. Corsica (special status)

Departments of France

Departments of France French departments are roughly analogous to British counties.

Departments and Regions of France
INSEE code Arms Department Prefecture
01 Ain Bourg-en-Bresse
02 Aisne Laon
03 Allier Moulins
04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Digne-les-Bains
05 Hautes-Alpes Gap
06 Alpes-Maritimes Nice
07 Ardèche Privas
08 Ardennes Charleville-Mézières
09 Ariège Foix
10 Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination Aube Troyes
11 Aude Carcassonne
12 Aveyron Rodez
13 Bouches-du-Rhône Marseille
14 Calvados Caen
15 Cantal Aurillac
16 Charente Angoulême
17 Charente-Maritime La Rochelle
18 Cher Bourges
19 Corrèze Tulle
2A Corse-du-Sud Ajaccio
2B Haute-Corse Bastia
21 Côte-d'Or Dijon
22 Côtes-d'Armor Saint-Brieuc
23 Creuse Guéret
24 Dordogne Périgueux
25 Doubs Besançon
26 Drôme Valence
27 Eure Évreux
28 Eure-et-Loir Chartres
29 Finistère Quimper
30 Gard Nîmes
31 Haute-Garonne Toulouse
32 Gers Auch
33 Gironde Bordeaux
34 Hérault Montpellier
35 Ille-et-Vilaine Rennes
36 Indre Châteauroux
37 Indre-et-Loire Tours
38 Isère Grenoble
39 Jura Lons-le-Saunier
40 Landes Mont-de-Marsan
41 Loir-et-Cher Blois
42 Loire Saint-Étienne
43 Haute-Loire Le Puy-en-Velay
44 Loire-Atlantique Nantes
45 Loiret Orléans
46 Lot Cahors
47 Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination Lot-et-Garonne Agen
48 Lozère Mende
49 Maine-et-Loire Angers
50 Manche Saint-Lô
51 Marne Châlons-en-Champagne
52 Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination Haute-Marne Chaumont
53 Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination Mayenne Laval
54 Meurthe-et-Moselle Nancy
55 Meuse Bar-le-Duc
56 Morbihan Vannes
57 Moselle Metz
58 Nièvre Nevers
59 Nord Lille
60 Oise Beauvais
61 Orne Alençon
62 Pas-de-Calais Arras
63 Puy-de-Dôme Clermont-Ferrand
64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pau
65 Hautes-Pyrénées Tarbes
66 Pyrénées-Orientales Perpignan
67 Bas-Rhin Strasbourg
68 Haut-Rhin Colmar
69 Rhône Lyon
70 Haute-Saône Vesoul
71 Saône-et-Loire Mâcon
72 Sarthe Le Mans
73

Savoie Chambéry
74

Haute-Savoie Annecy
75 Paris¹ Paris
76 Seine-Maritime Rouen
77 Seine-et-Marne Melun
78 Yvelines² Versailles
79 Deux-Sèvres Niort
80 Somme Amiens
81 Tarn Albi
82 Tarn-et-Garonne Montauban
83 Var Toulon
84 Vaucluse Avignon
85 Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon
86 Vienne Poitiers
87 Haute-Vienne Limoges
88 Vosges Épinal
89 Yonne Auxerre
90 Territoire de Belfort Belfort
91 Essonne³ Évry
92 Hauts-de-Seine4 Nanterre
93 Seine-Saint-Denis5 Bobigny
94 Val-de-Marne Créteil
95 Val-d'Oise Cergy/Pontoise6
971 Guadeloupe7 Basse-Terre
972 Martinique7 Fort-de-France
973 Guyane7 Cayenne
974 La Réunion7 Saint-Denis
976 Mayotte7 Mamoudzou
The Eiffel Tower, with the skyline of Paris in the background
Municipalities of France
  • Cities of France
    • Capital of France: Paris – also the largest city in France, with over 2,000,000 inhabitants
    • Strasbourg – official seat of the European Parliament
    • Lyon – silk capital of the world and the location of the headquarters of Interpol and Euronews
    • Marseille – France's largest commercial port

Demography of France

Neighbors of France

Map showing France and its neighbours

Metropolitan France is bordered by:

France is also linked to:

France's overseas departments share borders with:

  • Brazil (borders French Guiana)
  • Suriname (borders French Guiana)
  • Sint Maarten (borders Saint-Martin)

Government and politics of France

  • Form of government: unitary semi-presidential republic
  • Capital of France: Paris
  • Constitutional Council of France
  • Elections in France
    • French presidential elections:   1848 – 1958 – 1965 – 1969 – 1974 – 1981 – 1988 – 1995 – 2002 – 2007 – 2012 – 2017
    • French parliamentary elections:   1795 – 1798 – 1815 – 1816 – 1820 – 1824 – 1827 – 1830 – 1831 – 1834 – 1837 – 1839 – 1842 – 1846 – 1848 – 1849 – 1852 – 1857 – 1863 – 1869 – 1871 (Feb) – 1871 (Jul) – 1876 – 1877 – 1881 – 1885 – 1889 – 1893 – 1898 – 1902 – 1906 – 1910 – 1914 – 1919 – 1924 – 1928 – 1932 – 1936 – 1945 – 1946 (Jun) – 1946 (Nov) – 1951 – 1956 – 1958 – 1962 – 1967 – 1968 – 1973 – 1978 – 1981 – 1986 – 1988 – 1993 – 1997 – 2002 – 2007 – 2012 – 2017
    • French referendums:   1793 – 1795 – 1800 – 1802 – 1804 – 1815 – 1851 – 1852 – 1870 – 1945 – 1946 (May) – 1946 (Oct) – 1958 – 1961 – 1962 (Jun) – 1962 (Oct) – 1969 – 1972 – 1988 – 1992 – 2000 – 2005
  • Feminism in France
  • Foreign relations of France
  • Liberalism and radicalism in France
  • Political parties in France
  • Political scandals of France
  • Taxation in France

Branches of the government of France

Executive branch

Emmanuel Macron, current President of France

  • Head of state: President of the French Republic
  • Le Gouvernement (Cabinet of ministers)
    • Head of government: Prime Minister of France
    • Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • Minister of the Interior
    • Minister of Overseas France
    • Minister of the Environment
    • Minister of Transportation
    • Minister of Public Works
    • Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry
    • Minister of Defence
    • Minister of Justice
    • Minister of National Education
    • Minister of Higher Education and Research
    • Minister of Culture
    • Minister of Agriculture
    • Minister of Tourism
    • Minister of the Sea
    • Minister of Health
    • Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
    • Minister of Budget, Public Accounting and Civil Servants
    • Minister of Immigration, Integration, National identity and Co-development
    • Minister of Social Affairs
    • Minister of Housing

Legislative branch

  • Parliament of France (Parlement) (see also: Congress of France)
    • French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale)
    • French Senate (Sénat)
  • French Economic and Social Council (consultative assembly)

Judicial branch

  • Constitutional Council of France

International relations of France

Foreign relations

  • Foreign relations of France
  • Foreign policy of François Mitterrand
  • France is a nuclear power
  • France–Africa relations
  • France–Americas relations
  • France–Asia relations
  • Evolution of the French Empire
  • French colonial empire
  • French colonisation of the Americas
  • International relations, 1648–1814
  • International relations (1814–1919)
  • Aftermath of World War I
  • International relations (1919–1939)
  • Diplomatic History of World War II
  • Cold War
    • Foreign policy of Charles de Gaulle
  • International relations since 1989

International organization membership

The French Republic is a member of:[3]

Law of France

A policeman armed with a submachine gun guarding a police station in Paris
  • Adoption in France
  • Cannabis in France
  • Capital punishment in France
  • Census in France
  • Constitution of France
  • Crime in France
    • Polygamy in France
  • Law enforcement in France
    • National law enforcement agencies
      • National Police ("Police Nationale")
      • National Gendarmerie ("Gendarmerie Nationale")
        • Mobile Gendarmerie ("Gendarmerie Mobile")
    • Local law enforcement agencies
      • Police municipale (Municipal police) – may be maintained by local governments (communes), but have very limited law enforcement powers outside of traffic issues and local ordinance enforcement
      • Garde champetre or Police Rurale (Rural police) – may be formed by Rural communes, and are responsible for limited local patrol and protecting the environment
      • Équipes régionales d’intervention et de sécurité (SWAT teams) – are operated by The Department of Corrections (the prison system or Administration pénitentiaire)
      • In Wallis and Futuna, there is a territorial guard as well as royal police.
  • Human rights in France
    • Abortion in France
    • Censorship in France
    • Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
    • Gambling in France
    • LGBT rights in France
    • Prostitution in France
    • Smoking in France

Historical law

  • Napoleonic code

Military of France

French Armed Forces, armed with FAMAS F1 assault rifles, await for the opening of the Memorial Day ceremony at the LaFayette Escadrille Monument in Paris, France.
  • Command
  • French Armed Forces
    • French Army (Armée de Terre)
      • French Foreign Legion
      • Ranks in the French Army
    • French Navy (Marine Nationale)
      • Ranks in the French Navy
    • French Air Force (Armée de l'Air)
    • National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale)
  • Military history of France

History of France

General topics

Napoleon Crossing the Alps, by Jacques-Louis David. Portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Territorial formation of France
  • Historical French provinces
  • Cultural history of France
    • Art history of France
    • Literary history of France
  • Colonial history of France
  • Demographics of France
  • Economic history of France
  • Historical positions and figures
    • Prime Ministers of France
    • Constable of France
  • Military history of France
    • Military history of France during World War II

By period

  • Ancient history
  • France in the Middle Ages
    • Carolingians (751–987)
    • Direct Capetians (987–1328)
    • Valois (direct) (1328–1498)
  • Early Modern France (1492–1792)
    • Valois-Orléans (1498–1515)
    • Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589)
    • House of Bourbon (1589–1792)
    • French Revolution


Charles de Gaulle was the leader (and General) of the Free French Forces during World War II, he founded the Provisional Government of the French Republic, was a prime minister of the French Fourth Republic, and was the first president of the French Fifth Republic.

Culture of France

Palace of Versailles
Eiffel tower on Bastille Day
The Louvre Museum, in Paris, is home to many of the world's greatest masterpieces of art, including the Mona Lisa.
  • Architecture of France
    • French Baroque architecture
    • French Colonial
    • French Gothic architecture
    • French Renaissance architecture
    • French Restoration style
    • French Romanesque architecture
  • Art in France
    • Museums in France
    • Literature of France
      • French novelists
    • Music of France
      • French rock
    • Theatre in France
      • French playwrights
  • Cuisine of France
  • Cultural icons of France
  • Languages of France
  • Media in France
    • Cinema of France
    • Television in France
  • Mythology in France
  • National symbols of France
    • Coat of arms of France
    • Flag of France
    • National anthem of France
  • People of France
    • Ethnic minorities in France
      • Armenians in France
      • Chinese diaspora in France
      • Koreans in France
      • Turks in France
  • Public holidays in France
  • Racism in France
  • Scouting and Guiding in France
  • World Heritage Sites in France (See also Transboundary sites)

Religion and belief systems in France

  • Belief systems
    • Humanism in France
    • Irreligion and atheism in France
  • Religion in France
    • Freedom of religion in France
    • Religions in France
      • Buddhism in France
      • Christianity in France
        • Eastern Orthodoxy in France
        • Oriental Orthodoxy in France
        • Protestantism in France
        • Roman Catholicism in France
      • Hinduism in France
      • Islam in France
      • Judaism in France
      • Scientology in France
      • Sikhism in France

Sports in France

Tour de France 2005: Arrival in Mulhouse from Gérardmer
A traceur – a practitioner of parkour – performs an équilibre de chat (cat balance).

Sport articles specific to France:

  • Fédération Française de Basket-Ball
  • Football in France
  • France at the Olympics: the modern Olympics were invented in France, in 1894
  • Grand Prix de France
  • French Open (tennis)
  • Open de France
  • Pétanque
  • Parkour ('urban running')
  • Rugby in France:
    • Rugby union in France
    • Rugby League in France
  • Tour de France
  • Alps Tour
  • France men's national handball team

Economy and infrastructure of France

TGV Duplex in Paris, Gare de Lyon. TVG stands for train à grande vitesse, which is French for "train of great speed"), and is the name of France's high-speed rail service.

France is the most visited country in the world, receiving over 79 million foreign tourists annually (including business visitors, but excluding people staying less than 24 hours in France).[4]

  • Economic rank
  • Agriculture in France
  • Banking in France
  • Communications in France
    • Newspapers in France
    • Radio in France
    • Telecommunications in France
      • Internet in France
      • Television in France
  • Companies of France
Euro banknotes
  • Currency of France: Euro (see also: Euro topics)
  • Economic history of France
  • Energy in France
    • Nuclear power in France
    • Renewable energy in France
  • Health care in France
    • Emergency medical services in France
  • Poverty in France
  • Tourism in France
    • Eiffel Tower
  • Transport in France
    • Airports in France
    • Highway system of France
    • Rail transport in France
      • Trams in France
  • Water supply and sanitation in France

Education in France

The three stages of the education process in France:

  • Primary education (enseignement primaire)
  • Secondary education (enseignement secondaire)
    • Collèges – cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15
    • Lycées – provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between the ages of 15 and 18, during which pupils are prepared for the baccalauréat (commonly referred to as le bac).
  • Higher education (enseignement supérieur)

Health in France

  • Hospitals in France
  • Obesity in France

See also

France

Notes

  1. French Guiana is located in South America; Guadeloupe and Martinique are in the Caribbean; and Réunion and Mayotte are in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Africa. All five are considered integral parts of the republic.

References

  1. Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development. Human Development Report 2009. the United Nations Development Programme. New York. ISBN:978-0-230-23904-3
  2. Map of France, SitesAtlas.com, 2009, webpage: SitA-507.
  3. "France". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 2, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/france/. 
  4. Government of France, Directorate of Tourism. "79 millions d'arrivées de touristes internationaux en 2006" (in fr). http://www.tourisme.gouv.fr/fr/z2/stat/tis/att00015987/TIS_2007-2.pdf. 
  • [1] Radio France Internationale in English

French government

Country profiles

Culture