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 (la Manche, "The Sleeve"; Ärmelkanal, "Sleeve Channel"; Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; Het Kanaal, "The Channel"), also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

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.

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 is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south.

The country's 18 integral regions (five of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of 643801 km2 and a total population of 67.3 million . France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.

France is divided into 18 administrative regions (région, ), including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions.

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 sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.

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

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

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, 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.

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.

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

Marseille (, ; English alternative spelling: Marseilles; Marselha ) is the second-largest city of France.

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.

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.

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 the United Kingdom (particularly England and Scotland), Denmark, Norway, Sweden, 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 département.

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.

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

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

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

It includes twelve sovereign states (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela), a part of France (French Guiana), and a non-sovereign area (the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory though this is disputed by Argentina).

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.

West Francia which became the Kingdom of France in 1190 emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 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), was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.

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.

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 a war 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.

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

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