Normandy

Normandy (/ˈnɔːrməndi/; French: Normandie, pronounced [nɔʁ.mɑ̃.di], Norman: Normaundie, from Old French Normanz, plural of Normant, originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is one of the regions of France, corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy.

Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments: Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne, and Seine-Maritime. It covers 30,627 km² (11825 sq mi), forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France.

The historical region of Normandy comprised the present-day region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements of Mayenne and Sarthe.The Channel Islands (referred to as Îles Anglo-Normandes in French) are also historically part of Normandy; they cover 194 km² and comprise two bailiwicks: Guernsey and Jersey, which are British Crown dependencies.

Normandy's name is derived from the settlement of the territory by mainly Norwegian and Danish Vikings ("Northmen") from the 9th century, and confirmed by treaty in the 10th century between King Charles III of France and Earl Rollo of Møre, Norway. For a century and a half following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman and Frankish rulers.

France

France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign state comprising territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European part of France, called metropolitan France, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. France spans 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and has a total population of 66.6 million. It is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. The Constitution of France establishes the state as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.

During the Iron Age, what is now Metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The Gauls were conquered in 51 BC by the Roman Empire, which held Gaul until 486. The Gallo-Romans faced raids and migration from the Germanic Franks, who dominated the region for hundreds of years, eventually creating the medieval Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) strengthening French state-building and paving the way for a future centralized absolute monarchy. During the Renaissance, France experienced a vast cultural development and established the beginning of a global colonial empire. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).

France Ô

France Ô (pronounced: [fʁɑ̃s o]) is a French public television network featuring programming from the French overseas departments and collectivities in Metropolitan France. It is part of the France Télévisions group. Its overseas counterpart is Outre-Mer 1ère.

It is available through cable, satellite, ADSL and the new digital terrestrial television system.

Formerly known as RFO Sat, the channel was originally broadcasting 9 hours per day only. It was re-branded France Ô in 2004 in order to better show it was part of the France Télévisions group. The "O" stands for Outre-mer (overseas), and the accent shows that the channel was opened to all accents and dialects of the world, but also ensures that the name of the channel is not read as France 0 ("France zéro").

The channel became available in overseas territories in November 2010, replacing the RFO-operated Tempo.

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French wine

French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally to more modest wines usually only seen within France as the Margnat wines were during the post war period.

Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of "terroir", which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards.