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 (disambiguation)

France is a country in Europe.

France may also refer to:

Transport

Radio

Film and television

France (European Parliament constituency)

In European elections, France was a constituency of the European Parliament. It was replaced by subdivided constituencies in 2004. The boundaries of this constituency were the same as the member state of France. Its MEPs can be found in MEPs representing the French constituencies before 2004

Results

1979

1984

1989

1994

1999

External links

100 megametres

To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists lengths starting at 10⁸metres (100 megametres or 100,000 kilometres or 62,150 miles).

Distances shorter than 10⁸ metres

Distances longer than 10⁹ metres

References

1 decametre

To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10 metres and 100 metres.

Conversions

10 metres (very rarely termed a decametre which is abbreviated as dam) is equal to:

Human-defined scales and structures

100 exametres

To help compare different orders of magnitude, this page lists distances starting at 100 Em (10²⁰m or 11,000 light years).

Distances shorter than 100 Em

Distances longer than 1 Zm

See also