franceDefinition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary Jump to: navigation, search See also FranceEsperantoFrom Wiktionary under the GNU Free Documentation License. Territory of the French Republic in the world (excl. Antarctica where sovereignty is suspended) Capital (and largest city) Paris 48°51.4′N 2°21.05′E / 48.8567°N 2.35083°E Official language(s) French Regional languages (both official and not official) Alsatian; Basque; Breton; New Caledonian languages; Catalan; Corsican; Creoles; Flemish; Franco-Provençal; Lorrain language; Shimaore dialect (Mayotte); Occitan; Oïl languages; Tahitian Ethnic groups ~85% French (included ~15% people with at least one ancestor from other European countries), ~15% other (Arab, Berber, Black, Asian, Multiracial...) Demonym French Government Unitary semi-presidential republic - President Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) - Prime Minister François Fillon (UMP) Legislature Parliament - Upper House Senate - Lower House National Assembly Formation - Traditional date 496 (baptism of Clovis) - Western Francia 10 August 843 (Treaty of Verdun) - Current constitution 5 October 1958 (5th Republic) EU accession 25 March 1957 Area - Total 674,843 km (43rd) 260,558 sq mi - Metropolitan France - IGN 551,695 km (47th) 213,010 sq mi - Cadastre 543,965 km (47th) 210,026 sq mi Population (1 January 2010 estimate) - Total 65,447,374 (20th) - Metropolitan France 62,793,432 (22nd) - Density 115/km (89th) 299/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate - Total $2.108 trillion - Per capita $33,678 GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate - Total $2.676 trillion - Per capita $42,747 Gini (2008) 32.7 HDI (2007) ▲ 0.961 (very high) (8th) Currency Euro, CFP Franc (EUR, XPF)
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
-
Summer (DST)
CEST (UTC+2)
Drives on the
right
Internet TLD
.fr
Calling code
33
The overseas regions and collectivities form part of the French telephone numbering plan, but have their own country calling codes: Guadeloupe +590; Martinique +596; French Guiana +594, Réunion and Mayotte +262; Saint Pierre et Miquelon +508. The overseas territories are not part of the French telephone numbering plan; their country calling codes are: New Caledonia +687, French Polynesia +689; Wallis and Futuna +681
Spoken mainly in overseas territories
France ( / ˈ f r æ n t s / frantss or / ˈ f r ɑː n t s / frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as L’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is bordered (clockwise starting from the northeast) by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco; with Spain and Andorra to the south. France is linked to the United Kingdom by the Channel Tunnel, which passes underneath the English Channel. France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Pacific islands. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its main ideals expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. France is one of the most developed countries and possesses the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP and seventh largest economy by purchasing power parity. France enjoys a high standard of living as well as a high public education level, and has also one of the world's highest life expectancies. It is the most visited country in the world, receiving 82 million foreign tourists annually. France is a founding member of the United Nations, and a member of the Francophonie, the G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, and the Latin Union. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and possesses the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License  aviationnews.eu Rob Vogelaar hu, 02 Sep 2010 18:55:24 GM Yesterday Air . France's. Airbus A380 served the Paris-Tokyo route for the very first time, making Tokyo the first destination in Asia to be served by the. From Google Blog Search: "france"  rugby.skyworldcup.com Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:44:24 PST MARSEILLE-WEB-Television wrote:. rugby.skyworldcup.com.  dkpod.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:03:07 PST DKPOD : Journal France 3 19/20 Champagne-Ardenne du 03 fevrier 2010 : Portail de podcasts & videocasts francophones : Journal France 3 19/20 ... dkpod.com.  youtube.com Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:32:45 PST Videoclip of the new Jump hit by DJ Mark with a K, Felix Project and Anonymous: The Highstreet Allstars - To France. youtube.com. From Google Video Search: "france"  reuters.com Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:02:15 GMT+00:00 winner Laurent Fignon Reuters He won his first Tour de France in 1983 when Bernard Hinault, who had won the four previous years, did not take part due to injury. ... Two-times Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon dies The Guardian Laurent Fignon, Greg LeMond and the closest Tour ever Washington Post (blog) Tour de France winner Fignon dies Toronto Sun AFP - SkySports - ABC Online  worldtennismagazine.com Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:57:49 GMT+00:00 World Tennis Magazine In third-round men's matches, second-seeded Roger Federer breezed through with a 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu of France ; fifth-seeded Robin ... American teen sensation Beatrice Capra follows past US Open script MiamiHerald.com Maria Sharapova routs Beatrice Capra 6-0, 6-0 at US Open | Tennis Seattle Times Capraesque tale may be unfolding Boston Globe Charlotte Observer - CBC.ca  mercurynews.com Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:06:22 GMT+00:00 San Jose Mercury News Tales of an American Family Living in France " by Shawn Underwood ($14.95, Five Star Misadventures, 194 pages) It all began with an innocent comment: "We ... From Google News Search: "france"  highwaygold.co.uk 600px x 750px | 24.60kB [source page] France View More Photos Copyright HighwayGold Photo Gallery From Yahoo Image Search: "france" Is there anyway you can sail through France just using the rivers? Q. I am planning to sail a light watercraft down through France. Is it possible to go all the way from top to bottom without leaving the river system? Also does anyone know how one would organise getting permission to sail down France's waterways? What authority grants permission for that? Asked by hiltonanything - Sun Jan 31 16:00:25 2010 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments A. This site shows that there are three different routes. It's easier for you to check it out yourself than for me to list it all here since there's a lot of information about these routes. I used to live on the Canal Du Midi (outside La Redorte), most of France's canals are navigable in a small yacht (with a foldable mast), unless it has a very long keel. I hear that the Rhone has quite a fast current in winter so it can be a bit scary at times. Anyway, it sounds like great fun, I'm sure you'll have an interesting voyage. Answered by A - Sun Jan 31 16:10:16 2010 Can i work in France as the spouse of an austrian? Q. I am a Canadian, living with my austrian boyfriend in Montreal since 3 years. We are planning to move to France, and i try to figure the best way for me to be able to work freely in France. My question is: if we marry in Quebec before leaving, does this gives me the right to work freely in France as the spouse of an austrian? Any info will be much appreciated! We are not married but plan to do so before leaving for france, to make it possible for me to move and then search for work there. Asked by m-c - Wed Nov 11 17:32:01 2009 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. NO Answered by Cherryblossum - Wed Nov 11 17:55:51 2009 In France, are there different dialects for different regions?
Q. I lived in Germany for a long time and I know that Germans from different regions have different dialects. Some, if very broad, can be difficult to understand by other Germans even. I was wondering if the same is true for France? For example, people in the south, do they sound different to people in the north? Or country people sound different from city people? I know that Belgian French sounds different from French French and Canadian French and so on. I need this for a project. Asked by Andrea H - Thu Jun 3 03:24:38 2010 - - 3 Answers - 1 Comments A. We have different dialects and we have different languages. During the First Republic right after the revolution there were five official languages in France, it was only at the end of the 19th century that a drive was made to impose French as the only language and to wipe out the others. It nearly succeeded. Everyone speaks French, some speak also dialects close to French (Picard for exemple) which survived better because they were close to French, or languages (Breton, Provencal to name two). Then you have regional accents in France, someone from the north will not sound the same as someone from the south, or from the Alps, or Alsace, etc. You can recognise the accent and place the person easily if you know them. Usually (not everywhere) [cont.] Answered by Cabal - Thu Jun 3 04:57:57 2010 From Yahoo Answer Search: "france" FranceFrom Wikiquote Jump to: navigation, searchFrance is a country in Western Europe. This Geography article is a stub. You can help Wikiquote by expanding it.ContentsSource
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