France

France

France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris. The country’s 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 and a total population of 67. 07 million. France, including its overseas territories, has the most time zones of any country, with a total of 12.

About France in brief

Summary FranceFrance is a country, primarily located in Western Europe, consisting of metropolitan France and several overseas regions and territories. The country’s 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 and a total population of 67. 07 million. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country’s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. France, including its overseas territories, has the most time zones of any country, with a total of 12. During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a collection of Celtic tribes. The area was annexed by Rome in 51 BC, developing a distinct Gallo-Roman culture that laid the foundation of the French language. In the mid-14th century, French monarchs were embroiled in a series of dynastic conflicts with their English counterparts, which lasted over 100 years. By the end of his reign, France had emerged as the most powerful state in Europe. The French Revolution in 1789 saw the fall of the absolute monarchy that characterized the Ancien Régime and from its ashes, rose one of modern history’s earliest republics, which drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. France was one of the prominent participants of World War I, from which it emerged victorious. It is a developed country with the world’s seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the tenth-largest by aggregate wealth. It hosts the fifth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving over 89million foreign visitors in 2018.

In aggregate, France is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of household wealth, with the tenth largest economy in the aggregate by PPP terms of aggregate wealth and the seventh largest by nominal wealth by household wealth by aggregate household wealth of PPPs (PPP). The French Republic was established in 1870 in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War. The Fourth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day in nearly all all of France’s colonies, with most retaining close economic and military connections with Algeria, France’s other French colonies, and Algeria in the 1960s. The Fifth Republic, established in 1958, was later dissolved in the course of the Fourth World War, but came back to life after the liberation of Algeria in 1944. It remains the only French republic in the European Union and remains the largest economy and most close to the rest of the world. It also hosts the world’s fifth largest number of World Heritage sites, with 89million tourists in 2018, making it the leading destination for foreign visitors, with over 89 million foreign visitors per year. It was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, who founded the First French Empire in the early 19th century and ruled until the early 20th century. It has been the scene of several major wars, including the Seven Years’ War and American War of Independence among them.