Area

550,000 sq.km

France is the largest country in Western Europe (almost one fifth of the total area of the European Union), with a vast maritime zone (exclusive economic zone extending over 11 million sq.km)

Terrain

  Plains: cover two thirds of the country
  Main mountain ranges: the Alps (the highest peak, Mont Blanc, rises to 4,807 metres making it the highest mountain in Western Europe), the Pyrenees, the Jura, the Ardennes, the Massif Central and the Vosges.
  Coastline: bordered by four seas (North Sea, Channel, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean), France has 5,500 km of coastline

Climate

Three types:

  Oceanic in the west
  Mediterranean in the south
  Continental in central and eastern France

Environement

  Farms and forests cover 48 million hectares, i.e. 82% of the total area of mainland France.
  Nearly 30% of French soil is covered by forests, placing France third in European Union in terms of land under forest, behind Sweden and Finland. Forested areas in France have doubled in the last 200 years and have expanded by 46% since 1945.
  France boasts 136 different kinds of trees (exceptional for a European country) and the number of large animals is on the rise: in 20 years, the deer population has doubled and the number of roe deer has tripled. In order to conserve and develop France's natural heritage, the government has established: 7 national parks, 156 nature reserves, 516 designated areas for protected species, 429 protected coastal areas and 43 regional parks covering more than 12% of the country. In 2006, 47.7 billion euros was allocated by environmental protection (= 755 euros per inhabitant). Three-quarters of this went on wastewater management and waste management.
  France is party to many international treaties and conventions on the environment, among them United Nations conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification.

www.environment.gov.fr (in French)

Population

63.8 million inhabitants (2008) Density: 98.1 habitants per sq.km France has 57 urban areas with over 100,000 inhabitants. The five largest are (in 2005) :

1. Paris - 9.6 million
2. Lille - 1.7 million
3. Lyon - 1.4 million
4. Marseille - 1.3 million
5. Toulouse - 1 million

Administrative organization

The French Republic is made up of :

  Mainland France, divided into 22 regions and subdivided into 96 departments
  Four overseas departments (DOM) = Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Reunion Islands
  Seven overseas territories (TOM) = French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, The French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Saint-Bartholemy, and Saint-Martin
  And one territory with special status = New Caledonia

www.outre-mer.gouv.fr(in French)