France - Tourism and Travel

France is a country in western Europe with coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The island of Corsica in the Mediterranean is part of France.

France is an important center of culture, fashion, industry and agriculture.

The country has an area of 210,026 square miles (543,965 square kilometers).

Northern and western France is mostly made of rolling or flat countryside.

Here you will find the lowlands of the Paris basin, which is drained by the Seine river system, the Loire valley, which is drained by the Loire river system, and the Aquitaine basin, which is drained by the Garonne river system.

The Paris basin is made up of layers of sedimentary rocks. This region is very fertile.

The Alps, the Jura Mountains and the Vosges Mountains are in the East.

In the center-south of the country, the Massif Central, a hilly region, dominates.

The Pyrenees Mountains are along the border with Spain in the South.

France's northern peninsula, the Vosges and the Massif Central began to form around 220 million years ago.

The Alps, the Pyrenees, the Jura Mountains, the Paris and Garonne basins, and the Rhône basin in the southeast are much younger. They began to form around 65 million years ago.

The Auvergne region of France has extinct volcanoes with cones that have worn away, leaving lava plugs.

Beautiful limestone caves and gorges can be found in the Dordogne region.

France has a 2,141 mile (3,427 kilometer) coastline.

Brittany has a coastline that is very indented. Here, deep valleys have been submerged beneath the sea.

There are high chalk cliffs along the coast of Normandy.

The northern peninsula of Corsica has cliffs made of folded limestone.

Most of France has a temperate climate, with cool winters and hot dry summers.

There are mild winters and hot, dry summers on the Mediterranean coast.

France has a population of 62,343,000.

The southern Alps, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees are sparsely populated.

More than seven tenths of the people live in urban areas. More than 11 million people live in Île-de-Franc, the area in and around Paris.

90% of the people are French, 6% are North African, 2% are German and 1% are Breton.

The official language is French. Other languages spoken in France include Basque, Catalan, Provençal, Breton and German.

88% of the people are Roman Catholic, 8% are Muslim, 2% are Protestant, 1% are Buddhist and 1% are Jewish.

France is the leading agricultural producer of western Europe.

The country produces both fresh and processed food.

Grains, garlic, pepper, olives and lavender are among the many products cultivated.

French grapes are the source of France's famous wines.

There are traditional vineyards all over France. Winemaking was introduced to France by the Romans.

France has some oil, coal and natural gas reserves, but it is heavily reliant on imported fuels, hydroelectric power and nuclear power.

The country has few mineral resources.

Important industries are tourism, high-tech, nuclear energy, aerospace, food processing, chemicals, automobile manufacture, electronics, oil refining, iron, steel and aluminum, plastics and transportation equipment.

France is a member of the European Union. Its official currency is the euro.

The government of France is a mixed presidential-parliamentary system.