France Is A Country Whose Territory Consists of Metropolitan France in Western

France is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western
Europe and several overseas regions and territories.[XIII] The metropolitan area of France extends

from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the
Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the
northeast, Switzerland, Monaco, and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The
overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the
Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions (five of which are situated
overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total
population of 67.07 million (as of May 2020).[10] France is a unitary semi-
presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and
commercial centre. Other major urban
areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice. France, including its
overseas territories, has the most number of time zones of any country, with a total of 12.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls,
a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival
of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of Francia. The Treaty of Verdun of 843
partitioned Francia into East Francia, Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia, which
became the Kingdom of France in 987, emerged as a major European power in the Middle
Ages under King Philip Augustus. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and
a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second
largest in the world.[11] The 16th century was dominated by religious civil
wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). France became Europe's dominant cultural,
political, and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV.[12] In the late 18th century,
the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, establishing one of modern history's
earliest republics and drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which
expresses the nation's ideals to this day.
In the 19th century, Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire. His
subsequent Napoleonic Wars (1803–15) shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the
collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating
with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. France was a major
participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, and was one of
the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940.
Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course
of the Algerian War. The Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and
remains today. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s, with
most retaining close economic and military connections with France.
France has long been a global centre of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts the world's fifth-
largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving
over 89 million foreign visitors in 2018.[13] France is a developed country with the
world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the tenth-largest by PPP. In terms of
aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world.[14] France performs well in international
rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, and human development.[15][16] France is
considered a great power in global affairs,[17] being one of the five permanent members of the
United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It
is a leading member state of the European Union and the Eurozone,[18] and a member of
the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and La
Francophonie.

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France is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western

Europe and several overseas regions and territories.[XIII] The metropolitan area of France extends

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