France
国名：法兰西共和国【The French Republic 】
Abbreviation: France
Capital: Paris
Area: 550,000 square kilometers (excluding overseas territories)
Population: 68.04 million (as of 2023)
Official language: French
Nationalities: French, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican
Religion: Catholic
Major cities: Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nice, Cannes, Strasbourg, Lille, Ajaccio
Famous sights: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Versailles, Champs-Élysées, Seine, Paris Opera
National anthem: "La Marseillaise"
Currency: Euro
历史
The earliest human sites discovered in France are about 2 million years old. In 1000 B.C., the Celts moved here from the mountains of Central Europe. The Romans called the place Gaul and the inhabitants Gauls. In the 1st century BCE, the Roman governor of Gaul conquered all of Gaul and remained under Roman rule for 500 years. In the 5th century, the Franks conquered Gaul and established the Frankish kingdom. After the 10th century, feudal society developed rapidly. In 1337, the English royal family coveted the French throne, and the Hundred Years' War broke out between England and France. In the early days of the war, large swathes of France were invaded by the English and the French king was captured, and later the French people fought a war against aggression, ending the Hundred Years' War in 1453. On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution broke out, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man was issued, abolishing the monarchy. In 1792, the First Republic was established. Since then, it has gone through the First Empire established by Napoleon, the Bourbon Restoration, the July Dynasty, the Second Republic, the Second Empire, and the Third Republic. In March 1871, the people of Paris rebelled and founded the Paris Commune. In World War I, France joined the Entente and won the war against the Central Powers. During the German invasion of World War II, Vichy France was founded in France proper, and de Gaulle organized the Free France Movement. In August 1944, the Vichy government collapsed. In October 1946, the French Fourth Republic was established. In 1958, the Fifth Republic was established
geographical location
France is located in the western part of Europe, bordering Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, and the United Kingdom across the English Channel in the northwest. France is bordered to the south, west and northwest by the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the English Channel and the North Sea. With a land area of 550,000 square kilometers, France is the largest country in Western Europe, with a total length of 6,337 kilometers, including 3,424 kilometers of coastline, 2,913 kilometers of land line and 195 kilometers of inland river line
Geographical environment
The terrain of France is generally high in the southeast and low in the northwest, and the terrain is dominated by plains and hills. The whole territory can be roughly divided into nine topographic regions: the Pyrenees region on the southwestern border, the central plateau region in the south-central region, the Alpes-Jura region, the Vosges-Ardennes plateau region in the northeast, the Amorika hills in the northwest, the Paris basin region in the north-center, the Loire plain region in the west, the Aquitaine basin region in the southwest, and the Rhône valley in the south. Located on the border between France and Italy, Mont Blanc, the main peak of the Alps, is 4805.59 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak in France, the highest peak in Western Europe, and the highest peak in the Alps. There are many rivers in France, mainly the Seine, Loire, Garonne and Rhône. The Central Plateau is the watershed of several rivers that form a radial system of rivers around it. Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea is the largest island in France
climate
The south of France has a Mediterranean climate, with warm, humid winters and hot, dry summers. The northwest has a temperate oceanic climate with a small temperature difference throughout the year, humid and rainy all year round, and little sunshine. The northeast is far from the sea and has a more continental climate, with hot and rainy summers and cold and dry winters. With the exception of the mountains, France receives between 500 and 800 mm of rainfall per year, with rainfall gradually decreasing from west to east
economy
France is the most developed industrial country and a world leader in nuclear power, aviation, aerospace and railways. The main industrial sectors are automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding, machinery, textiles, chemicals, electronics, consumer goods, food processing, etc., and steel, automobiles and construction are the three pillars of industry. Emerging industrial sectors such as nuclear energy, petrochemicals, marine development, aviation and aerospace have developed rapidly in recent years. France is one of the world's largest cosmetics producers, mainly producing high-end cosmetics, with many world's top cosmetics brands such as Hermès, Chanel, Dior, Lancôme, and L'Oreal. France is the largest agricultural producer in the European Union and the world's leading exporter of agricultural and agri-food products. With a high degree of agricultural mechanization, the production of wheat, corn, potatoes, grapes and beef ranks first in Western Europe, and it is one of the world's famous wine regions. France is also one of the world's main tourist destinations, Paris, the Mediterranean coast, the Alps, and Corsica are all tourist destinations in France. France's imports mainly include energy, industrial raw materials, equipment, etc., and its exports mainly include textiles, medicines, agricultural and food products, chemical products and cosmetics, aerospace products, automobiles, energy, etc. The main trading partners are the countries of the European Union
Administrative divisions
The administrative regions of France are divided into regions, departments and communes. The mainland is divided into 13 regions, 96 departments, 5 single overseas regions, 5 overseas administrative regions and 1 special overseas territory;
National symbol
national flag
The French flag consists of three vertical rectangles, blue, white and red from left to right. There are many origins of the French flag, the most representative of which is that during the French Revolution in 1789, the National Guard in Paris adopted the blue, white and red tricolor as its flag. White represents the king, symbolizing the sanctity of the king, blue and red represent the citizens of Paris, while the three colors symbolize the French royal family and the Parisian bourgeois alliance. The French people today also believe that the blue color of the tricolor flag symbolizes freedom, the white color symbolizes equality, and the red color represents fraternity, just as the French people proclamated "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" (French: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité"). In 2021, according to AFP, French President Emmanuel Macron's office changed the blue of the French flag used by the Élysée Palace, the National Assembly and government departments to dark blue in July 2020
national emblem
France does not have an official coat of arms, but it has traditionally adopted the coat of arms of the French Revolution as the emblem of the state. The coat of arms is oval in shape and is painted with the rod, one of the symbols popular during the French Revolution, a symbol of authority used by the high magistrates of ancient Rome. The sides of the rod are decorated with olive branches and oak branches and leaves, and the frieze between them is inscribed in French with the words "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". The entire motif is surrounded by a ribbon bearing the medals of the ancient Roman legions
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower stands on the Champ de Mars in Paris, the tower is 330 meters high, it was built to hold the 1889 World's Fair to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the victory of the French Revolution, designed by the famous French architect - Gustave Eiffel, was built on January 26, 1887, and was completed on March 31, 1889, and since its completion, the Eiffel Tower has maintained the status of the tallest building in the world, and this record was not broken until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Despite this, the Eiffel Tower remains the tallest building in Paris, not only as a symbol of France, but also as a landmark of Paris and the entire country
Marianne
She is the national symbol of France. In its extended sense, she is also an anthropomorphic expression of freedom and rationality. In contrast to the "Gallic Rooster", which represents the French nation and its history, land and culture, her image is not only engraved on the seals of national government offices and French postage stamps, but also on French euro coins and francs that have been withdrawn from circulation. Mariana has become one of the most famous symbols of France
culture
France is a world-famous country with a food culture, and French cuisine is widely spread all over the world and is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. French wines are the staple drinks in French cuisine, including Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Boursa. Cheese is one of the staples of French cuisine, with more than 400 varieties such as Camembert, Roquefort and Bouli. Some of the basic recipes of French cuisine vary from region to region, such as the preference for butter in the north and olive oil in the south. In addition, many regions of France have their own signature dishes, with seafood being the best in the north-east, Normandy lamb in the west, where milk and apples are made into dairy and brandy, and Lyon, where the central region is famous for its produce, such as the famous chicken Berhes, the dry ham of the Morvon mountains, the casserole of the south-west, the Alsatian sauerkraut of Alsace, the savoury pie of Lorraine, the goulash in red wine of Burgundy and the tapenade of Provence
society
The French love sports, and the more popular sports are football, tennis, rugby, boccia, sailing, swimming, skiing, cycling, etc. [3] Football is the number one sport in France, with the French team winning the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In 2016, France hosted the 15th European Football Championship. The French Football League is one of the top football leagues in the world. The French Open is one of the four Grand Slams in tennis and is the most expensive clay tournament on the ATP Tour. The Tour de France is a well-known world cycling event that takes place in France every summer. The world's extreme sport – parkour originated in France
major cities
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city of France, as well as the political, economic, cultural and commercial center of France, one of the world's five international metropolises (the other four are New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong), and a first-tier city in the world. Located in the middle of the Paris Basin in northern France, straddling both sides of the Seine, Paris has been its capital for more than 1,400 years, and it is the political, economic and cultural center not only of France, but also of Western Europe. In 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that Paris would be the host city of the 2024 Olympic Games, and on July 26, 2024, the 33rd Summer Olympic Games will open in Paris
diplomacy
France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a founding member of the European Union and a member of NATO, and is home to the headquarters of many international organizations such as UNESCO, Interpol, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the European Parliament. On January 27, 1964, China and France established diplomatic relations, and France was the first Western power to formally establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China