France

France France is a country that contains everything a tourist could want. This big country lying between Spain and Germany,has beaches, countrysides, mountains for skiing or climbing, as well as cities such as the capital Paris, known as the benchmark for beauty, culture and class. One of the things France is most known for is its food and wine, that you get to try while you are there.

Area: 543.965 Km²
Population: 59.344.000 (2002 est.)
Density: 109 pop/Km²

System of government: Republic
Capital: Paris (2.150.000 pop., 11.175.000 urban aggl.)
Major cities: Marseille 807.000 pop. (1.515.000 urban aggl.), Lyon 453.000 pop. (1.650.000 urban aggl.), Toulouse 398.000 pop. (965.000 urban aggl.), Nice 346.000 pop. (935.000 urban aggl.), Nantes 278.000 pop. (710.000 urban aggl.), Strasbourg 267.000 pop. (610.000 urban aggl.), Montpellier 229.000 pop. (460.000 urban aggl.), Bordeaux 219.000 pop. (925.000 urban aggl.), Lille 191.000 pop. (1.145.000 urban aggl.)
Ethnic majority: French 92%, others (Slavic, North African, Indochinese) 8%
Border countries: Spain, Andorra and Monaco SOUTH; Italy, Switzerland and Germany EAST, Luxembourg and Belgium NORTH

Principal mountains: Mont Blanc 4810 m
Principal rivers: Loire 1020 Km, Seine 776 Km, Garonne 650 Km, Rhone 548 Km (french tract, total 812 Km)
Principal lakes: Lake Geneve 234 Km² (french part, total 581 Km²), Etang de Berre 155 Km²
Principal islands: Corsica 8680 Km², Ile d'Oléron 174 Km²
Climate: Continental - oceanic

Language: French (official), Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish
Religion: Catholic 90%, Protestant 2%, Muslim 1%, Jewish 1%
Currency: Euro (€)

Overseas department: Guadeloupe (1.706 Km², 431.000 pop.), Martinique (1.100 Km², 418.000 pop.), French Guiana (91.000 Km², 177.500 pop.), Reunion (2.512 Km², 733.000 pop.)
Overseas territories: New Caledonia and Dependencies (19.060 Km², 205.000 pop.), French Polynesia (4.167 Km², 253.500 pop.), Wallis and Futuna (274 Km², 15.400 pop.), French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Ile Amsterdam, Ile Saint-Paul, Iles Crozet and Iles Kerguelen) (7.781 Km², 0 pop.), Adelie Land (Antarctic, 500.000 Km²)
Territorial Collectivities: St. Pierre and Miquelon (242 Km², 6.900 pop.), New Caledonia and Dependencies (19.060 Km², 205.000 pop.), Mayotte (376 Km², 163.500 pop.)

Fixed public holidays: 1/1, 1/5, 8/5, 14/7, 15/8, 1/11, 11/11, 25/12, 26/12 (only Alsazia and Lorena)
Dialling code: 0033
GMT: +1

World Heritage List:

• Chartres Cathedral (1979)
• Decorated Grottoes of the Vézère Valley (1979)
• Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay (1979)
• Palace and Park of Versailles (1979)
• Vézelay, Church and Hill (1979)
• Amiens Cathedral (1981)
• Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay (1981)
• Palace and Park of Fontainebleau (1981)
• Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles (1981)
• Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange (1981)
• Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans (1982)
• Cape Girolata, Cape Porto, Scandola Nature Reserve and the Piana Calanches in Corsica (1983)
• Church of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe (1983)
• Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance in Nancy (1983)
• Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct) (1985)
• Strasbourg - Grande île (1988)
• Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims (1991)
• Paris, Banks of the Seine (1991)
• Bourges Cathedral (1992)
• Historic Centre of Avignon (1995)
• Canal du Midi (1996)
• Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne (1997)
• Pyrénées - Mont Perdu (1997, 1999) *
• Historic Site of Lyons (1998)
• Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France (1998)
• Belfries of Belgium and France (1999, 2005) *
• Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion (1999)
• The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes (2000) 7
• Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs (2001)
• Le Havre, the City rebuilt by Auguste Perret (2005)