France

The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean.

The English Channel, also called simply the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France and links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end.

It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south.

It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest.

It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south.

It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west.

France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 km2 and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019.

The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

French Guiana ( or ; Guyane ) is an overseas department and region of France on the northern, Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas.

It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south.

Andorra (, also ; ), officially the Principality of Andorra (Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra (Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a sovereign landlocked microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south.

It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south.

Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.

France, officially the French Republic (République française, ), is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.

Metropolitan France (France métropolitaine or la Métropole), also known as European France or Mainland France, is the part of France in Europe.

It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south.

The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.

Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Lille (Rijsel ; ; Rysel) is a city at the northern tip of France, in French Flanders.

The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean.

The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain (particularly England and Scotland), Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Nice (, ; ; Niçard Niça, classical norm, or Nissa, nonstandard, ; Nizza ; Νίκαια; Nicaea) is the seventh most populous urban area in France and the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes department.

Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Bordeaux (Gascon Bordèu ) is a port city on the Garonne in the Gironde department in Southwestern France.

Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of Francia.

It is the predecessor of the modern states of France and Germany.

During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people.

Gaul (Gallia) was a historical region of Western Europe during the Iron Age that was inhabited by Celtic tribes, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, and parts of Northern Italy, Netherlands, and Germany, particularly the west bank of the Rhine.

The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean.

The countries surrounding the Mediterranean in clockwise order are Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco; Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea.

West Francia, which became the Kingdom of France in 987, emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, following its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).

France and England experienced serious peasant uprisings, such as the Jacquerie and the Peasants' Revolt, as well as over a century of intermittent conflict, the Hundred Years' War.

In the 19th century, Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire.

The First French Empire, officially the French Empire (Empire Français; Imperium Francicum), was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.

During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second largest in the world.

The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries.

Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War.

The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian War of Independence or the Algerian Revolution (الثورة الجزائرية Al-thawra Al-Jazaa'iriyya; ; Guerre d'Algérie or Révolution algérienne) was fought between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale – FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France.

The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains today.

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led the French Resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to reestablish democracy in France.

The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains today.

The Fifth Republic, France's current republican system of government, was established by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958.

France has long been a global centre of art, science, and philosophy.

French art consists of the visual and plastic arts (including French architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France.

France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, and was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940.

The Military Administration in France (Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France.

It hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually.

France was visited by 85.7 million foreign tourists in 2013, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world.