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Situated in northwestern Europe, France has historically and culturally been among
the most important countries in the Western world. Former French colonies in every
corner of the globe attest to the country's stature in world affairs. The French language
ranks second only to English in international use, and French culture has spread far
and greatly influenced the development of art and science, particularly anthropology,
philosophy, and sociology. France is Europe's most important agricultural producer,
providing wheat, wine, and other food products to the world, as well as an industrial
power. The capital, Paris, is a preeminent cultural and commercial center.
France is among the world's oldest countries, having been united under a single ruler
since the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the 21st century, as in that era, the central
government is strong, even though France's 22 rgions wield significant power. The
French people look to the government as the guardian of liberty, and the government
in turn provides generous benefits for its citizens, from free education to health care
and pension plans. Even so, France also has insisted on strong protection for
individual freedom. The country has been influential in the spread of democratic
ideals throughout the world, with the Enlightenment and the French Revolution
inspiring political movements for centuries. France has also been a leading advocate
of European integration, eventually emerging as a leading member of the European
Union.
France has many visible traces of its richly varied past. Beginning with the Stone Age
monuments at Carnac and the cave paintings of Lascaux, artists have recorded the
flow of past centuries down to some of today's most advanced creative expressions.
The French people have molded almost every part of the country, creating the
hedgerows of Normandy, the vast open fields of the Paris Basin, and the miles of
carefully tended vineyards in many regions. This humanization of the landscape has
sometimes gone against nature, resulting in deforestation, bleak mining areas, and
high levels of air and water pollution. At the beginning of the 21st century, however,
France became increasingly committed to protecting and restoring both its natural
environment and its cultural heritage.
Reference is often made in this article to the historical provinces of France, which
include such well-known names as Brittany (Bretagne), Burgundy (Bourgogne),
Normandy, Provence, and Champagne. The map shows the locations of these
provinces.
France is one of Europe's largest countries, ranking third in size behind Russia and
Ukraine. Its area of more than 210,000 square miles (543,000 square kilometers)
includes the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea. France faces the major seas
of Europethe North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean. It lies across
the English Channel from England and shares boundaries with Belgium, Luxembourg,
Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Andorra, and Spain.
Topographic Features
France is composed of a number of distinctive natural regions, many of which have a
complicated geologic history and form a pattern of great diversity. The country's
landscape varies from flat, almost featureless plains and lush, fertile valleys to Mont
Blanc, which rises to 15,771 feet (4,807 meters) and spreads across the border of
France and Italy in the French Alps.
Northern France, particularly the rgion of le-de-France and its margins, is
dominated by the Paris Basin. This vast surface, which appears very flat in many
places, has been compared to a series of saucers of decreasing size stacked one inside
the other. There are gently sloping surfaces toward the interior and steep slopes on the
outer edges. Paris is in the center of the basin, and the outward-facing ridges,
Rivers
Most of France is drained by five major river systems. Perhaps the most famous
French river is the Seine, which rises in Burgundy, flows through Paris, and empties
into the English Channel at Le Havre. With its major tributaries, especially the Marne,
Oise, and Eure rivers, it drains most of the Paris Basin and upper Normandy and is an
important waterway to and from Paris.
The Loire River, which has the largest drainage basin of any river entirely in France,
rises in the Massif Central. Tributaries such as the Cher, Vienne, and Sarthe rivers
enter the Loire before it flows into the Atlantic below Nantes.
The Rhine River, which rises in the Swiss Alps and enters the North Sea in The
Netherlands, forms the boundary between France and Germany. Most of Alsace and
Lorraine is drained by the Rhine or its major tributaries, the Moselle and Meuse.
The Rhne, another stream with its headwaters in Switzerland, is the major river of
southeastern France. Joined by tributaries such as the Sane and Isre rivers, the
Rhne drains southern Burgundy, the French Jura, and much of the French Alps
before entering the Mediterranean through a delta just west of Marseilles.
The fifth major French river, the Garonne, drains the southwestern regions. Rising in
the Pyrenees and flowing northward, it receives tributaries from both the Massif
Centralthe Lot and Dordogne riversand the Pyreneesthe Arige River. The
Garonne drains much of the Aquitaine Basin before entering the Atlantic north of
Bordeaux through a wide estuary known as the Gironde.
Climate
France has three major climates: oceanic, Mediterranean, and continental. These
climates are as varied as the country's size and physical diversity would suggest. In
general, however, the French climate is moderate, with few areas having extremes of
heat or cold, unusual drought, or violent weather.
The dominant climate found in most of France is oceanic, or maritime temperate. This
type of climate is usually restricted to the west coasts of continents in the latitudes of
westerly airflow. In France, however, the absence of mountains along the western and
northern borders permits this climate to influence weather in much of the country,
though its effect is strongest in the northwest, especially Brittany. Winters are mild,
with monthly temperatures averaging above freezing. With relatively cool summers,
the annual temperature range is quite small. For instance, Brest, a town on the coast of
Brittany, has a January average of 43 F (6 C) and a July average of 61 F (16 C).
The northwest receives moderate rainfall, averaging 35 inches (90 centimeters) per
year.
The Mediterranean climate predominates along the southern coast of France,
particularly in the shadow of the Alps. This type of climate brings warm to hot, dry
summers and cool to mild, wet winters. The warm Mediterranean Basin produces an
average January temperature of 47 F (8 C) at Nice. This famous resort city, like
other areas in southeastern France, receives heavy rainfall during the spring and
autumn but almost no rain in summer.
The continental climate prevails farther to the east, away from the sea, and especially
at higher elevations. There, temperatures become lower during winter and snow
remains on the ground for several weeks, though the weather is often sunny. Winter
storms and their moisture can move easily across France, and so snow often tends to
be heavy in the Jura and Alps, but excessively cold temperatures are rare except on
the highest peaks.
marmots, and several species of mink and marten are also abundant, as are hares and
voles. Beavers are rare and protected by law.
Birdlife is widespread in the Mediterranean region and includes rollers, bee eaters,
and blue rock thrushes. Many ducks, geese, hawks, rooks, starlings, thrushes, and
robins migrate from northern and eastern Europe to France for the winter. The
Camargue is the only region in western Europe where flamingos, egrets, and herons
nest. White storks inhabit Alsace and often build nests on roofs and chimneys.
Ethnic Groups
Though the French take great pride in belonging to a single nation, they hardly
constitute a unified ethnic group. For centuries before Europeans learned of the
Americas in the late 15th century, France was thought to be near the edge of the
known world. Generations of different migrants traveling by way of the
Mediterranean from the Middle East and Africa and through Europe from central Asia
and northern Europe settled permanently in France.
These migrations have all contributed to the ethnic composition of France. Perhaps
the oldest reflection of the migrations is the Basque people, who live in an isolated
area west of the Pyrenees in both Spain and France. They speak a language unrelated
to other European languages and whose origin remains unclear. The Celtic tribes,
known to the Romans as Gauls, spread from central Europe in the period 500 BCAD
500. They provided France with a major component of its population, especially in
the center and west. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic (Teutonic) peoples
spread through France, especially in the north and east. Vikings brought further
Germanic influence. In addition to these many migrations, France was, over the
centuries, the field of numerous battles and of prolonged occupations. Immigration in
the 19th and especially in the 20th century also contributed to the ethnic mix.
Languages
French is one of the world's most widely spoken languages. In addition to its general
use in France, it is the native tongue in seven cantons, or states, of Switzerland as well
as in Luxembourg, Monaco, and the southern half of Belgium. Outside of Europe the
language continues to be widely used wherever the French colonial influence was
once prevalentfor example, in the Canadian province of Quebec and in Haiti.
French is also commonly heard in North and West Africa, the Middle East, and
Southeast Asia. It is one of the official languages of the United Nations and is used at
many international conferences as well as in numerous scientific and cultural
publications. No other language except English is so widely studied as a second
language. The wide use of French and English is out of all proportion to the number
of people who speak those languages as their native language.
As a country formed from a patchwork of individual cultures, France has many
linguistic minorities representing various backgrounds. In Brittany, Breton is
commonly used. The only living Celtic language outside of Great Britain, it was
originally brought to France by Celts fleeing Anglo-Saxon pressure in southern
England during the 5th and 7th centuries. In northeastern France, German-speaking
people live in the French portion of the region called the Saar, and a more distinctive
tongue is spoken in Alsace, where German language roots are combined with French
additions. Italian is spoken in places along the French-Italian border, and numerous
remnants of Latin-based languages from Roman times are heard along the
Mediterranean. These include Occitan, also called Langue d'Oc, and Provenal, which
is spoken in southern France. The Corsican dialect, used on the island of Corsica, also
evolved from Latin during the Middle Ages. In the western Pyrenees, the Basque
language is spoken. Recent immigration has introduced various non-European
languages, notably Arabic.
Religions
Religious observance plays an important part in the lives of many French people, but
the importance of religion in national life has diminished through the years, as it has
in most European countries. Roman Catholicism has long been the predominant
religion in France. The powers of church and state were closely related under the
monarchy, with powerful cardinals, such as Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, serving
as the king's principal ministers. Except for a period of tolerance under the Edict of
Nantes, which was issued in 1598 and revoked in 1685, France was bitterly hostile to
Protestants. Indeed, many of the bloodiest periods of French history involved the wars
of religion that ravaged Europe for over a century. (See also Reformation.)
In the decade following the climax of the French Revolution in 1789, measures were
taken to reduce the power of the church and to separate religious and civil authority.
Religious freedom was granted in 1795. Roman Catholicism remains the major
religion in France, but most Protestant denominations are active in the country. They
are especially strong in Alsace, the northern Jura, the southern Massif Central, and the
central Atlantic region. The historic depth of religious feeling in France is perhaps
best reflected by the country's magnificent cathedrals.
Of the non-Christian religions, Islam has the largest following. Reflecting the
presence of immigrants from North Africa, France has more than 4 million Muslims.
The Jewish community in France, though relatively small, has had a strong influence
on the economic and cultural life of the country. France has the largest Jewish
population in Europe and one of the largest outside the United States and Israel. Most
French Jews and Muslims live in Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles. Many of the French,
especially among the working classes and the young, profess no religious belief.
Culture
French culture has evolved primarily from the influences of three ancient
civilizationsCeltic, Greco-Roman, and Germanic. Far from being static, however,
French culture continues to develop, incorporating new ideas and movements while
maintaining a respect for history and a love of tradition. Monuments are found
everywhere, many from as long ago as the Roman occupation.
The rich culture that developed during the Middle Ages was fostered by monks and
scholars and encouraged by the wealthy patrons of the aristocracy. The development
of the middle class, or bourgeoisie, at the beginning of the 18th century extended the
reaches of culture to a wider audience. This was the time of the Enlightenment, an
intellectual movement that provoked inquiry and discussion on topics ranging from
philosophy to science and art. The spread of free and compulsory primary education
by the late 19th century and free secondary education by the end of World War II
raised literacy levels and made culture more accessible than ever before.
French culture has historically been centered in Paris, though smaller cities and towns
have contributed much, particularly in the realm of cuisine. The regions of Bordeaux,
Burgundy, and Champagne have produced world-famous wines for centuries. In
general, regional cultures are strong and often fiercely defended. In Brittany, parts of
the south, and Alsace, for example, much time and money is spent in support of local
culture.
The Arts
The French people as a whole highly value artistic creativity, As the arts have
flourished, they have spread the influence of French culture throughout the world. The
French have made invaluable contributions to literature, painting, music, ballet,
sculpture, motion pictures, and photography, among other arts.
Voltaire.
Victor Hugo.
French literature has a tradition that extends back through the Middle Ages.
Eighteenth-century author-philosophers such as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
were instrumental in shaping the ideas of modern France, and the works of Jean
Racine, Molire, and other neoclassical playwrights are still widely performed. Victor
Hugo, Honor de Balzac, and Marcel Proust were among the literary giants of the
19th century. French authors have won more than a dozen Nobel prizes for literature,
more than those of any other country.
Claude Monet.
Painting has long been a vital art form in France. Artists often enjoyed the patronage
of the nobility, producing works of quality and variety. During the 19th century the
impressionist movement was largely the inspiration of French artists such as Edgar
Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet, and many art trends of the 20th
century also originated in France.
Maurice Ravel.
Darius Milhaud.
French music gained a wide international following in the 19th and early 20th
centuries. Such composers as Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Sans, Maurice Ravel,
Claude Debussy, and the Polish-born Frdric Chopin created a distinctively French
style. Later French composers included Pierre Boulez, Darius Milhaud, and Erik
Satie. In the late 20th century France became known for supporting experimentation
in electronic music and acoustics. France is also famous for developing ballet,
particularly in the 17th-century court of Louis XIV.
The atmosphere of free inquiry and artistic integrity that is characteristic of France
has attracted many artists and writers from other countries. Leonardo da Vinci, from
Italy, spent his later years in France, and Spanish-born Pablo Picasso spent most of his
artistic life in France. Many American writers, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest
Hemingway, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Gertrude Stein, lived in Paris during the
1920s and 1930s.
Architecture
Through the centuries architecture has been the visible, enduring record of the peoples
who have inhabited France, of their cultural influences, and often of the historic
currents that have swept across Europe. Prehistoric stone monuments are abundant,
particularly in Brittany, where the famous alignments at Carnac may have had
astronomical, as well as religious and cultural, significance. Arenas, theaters,
triumphal arches, and other evidence of Roman colonization are widely found, and
many of them have been restored.
Reims Cathedral was the site of 25 coronations of the kings of France, from
Louis VIII in 1223 to
During medieval times preoccupation with defense and nation building led to the
construction of strong fortresses. Although most of them suffered during the centuries
of warfare that followed, some survived or have been restored, including La Cit, the
vast walled city at Carcassonne. Religious fervor found expression in architecture
during this period, and most of the famous churches and cathedrals of France were
built then. Many examples of the earlier Romanesque style remain, but the soaring
beauty of such Gothic cathedrals as those in Paris, Reims, Amiens, Chartres, and
Beauvais place them among the most treasured French buildings. The majority of
these cathedrals were begun in the 13th century, though the building of the massive
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris started in the mid-12th century.
The chteau of Villandry, built in 1532, and its formal gardens in the Loire
valley just
During the Renaissance, France's unity, power, and wealth were expressed in the
impressive, often extravagant creations of the monarchy. Near Paris, palaces such as
those at Versailles, Vincennes, and Fontainebleau still rank among the leading
architectural masterpieces. The valleys of the Loire River and its tributaries are dotted
with sumptuous ornamental chteaux, or castles, such as those at Chambord,
Chenonceaux, and Blois.
During the 18th and 19th centuries the zenith of French military and colonial power
gave rise to grandiose architecture, much of it in Paris. The Arc de Triomphe (Arch of
Triumph) celebrates the victories of Napoleon I, and urban renovation of the mid-19th
century provided buildings such as the Opra and broad streets such as the Champslyses. The Eiffel Tower, which has come to symbolize Paris and even all of France,
was built as a supposedly temporary exhibit for the World's Fair of 1889.
French architecture has continued to be vital and imaginative. Le Corbusier was one
of the most famous of all modern architects. Subsidies from the French government
have sustained architecture into the 21st century. Two major achievements of the late
20th century, both located in Paris, were the controversial but successful Pompidou
Center, designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, and the pyramid entrance to
the Louvre Museum, designed by I.M. Pei.
Education
Schooling, both to instill appropriate citizenship values into the country's youth and to
prepare them for useful roles in a changing national economy, has been a special
concern of the government since the French Revolution. Until that time, education
was largely controlled by the Roman Catholic church. Today, there is a wide range of
educational opportunities for children, ranging from the excellent public school
system to church, private, and alternative schooling. Despite the official separation of
church and state, many parents choose a parochial education for their children.
Public education in France is characterized by its highly centralized structure. The
country is divided into educational districts called acadmies, each headed by a rector
who is responsible directly to the minister of education. The French system ensures
uniformity throughout the country, but it limits flexibility and allows little local input.
A typical French student begins preschool as early as the age of 2 and enters
elementary school at 6. After five years of primary school, the student attends a
secondary school called a collge for an additional four years. At age 15 students
continue on to another type of secondary school called a lyce, where they may
choose either a three-year program leading to the baccalaurat examination or two or
three years of technical and vocational courses.
Lyce graduates who pass the baccalaurat examination may be admitted to a
university. The University of Parisoften called the Sorbonne, which is actually the
name of one of its major unitsonce dominated higher education in France to an
unusual extent. Meanwhile, well-known universities in provincial centers such as
Montpellier, Rennes, Lille, Grenoble, and Aix-en-Provence remained comparatively
small. In the 1960s, however, student protests about the unavailability of university
places, together with concern for the country's growing educational needs, led to a
restructuring of the university system and a great increase in financial resources. The
University of Paris was divided into 13 distinct university units, and provincial
universities expanded rapidly in number and size.
Unique to the French system is a parallel educational network of grandes coles,
schools that compete with and partly reduce the importance of the universities. These
elite institutions, founded by Napoleon, were designed to provide France with a
steady stream of superbly qualified civil servants and administrators, a function they
still perform. Among the best known grandes coles are the cole Nationale
d'Administration (National School of Administration), established in 1945, from
which most high public officials have graduated and the cole Polytechnique
(Polytechnic School). Founded in 1794 to recruit and train technicians for the army, it
is now the most important engineering technical school in both the public and private
sectors.
Louis Pasteur.
Medical research in France has kept pace with the other sciences. Well-known figures
such as Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard highlight the history of French medicine,
and eight 20th-century French researchers were honored by Nobel prizes in
physiology or medicine. In the late 20th century French researchers were pivotal in
isolating the cause of AIDS.
Economy
France is one of the world's major economic powers. During the second half of the
20th century the structure of its economy changed significantly. Industry and
agriculture dominated the economy in the 1950s, but since then services have become
the leading source of jobs and income. Though most industries are privately owned,
the government has a history of involvement in the economy. Today state ownership
is concentrated mainly in transportation, defense, and broadcasting.
Crops
The chief agricultural region of France is the Paris Basin, where productive districts
such as the Beauce, Picardy, and le-de-France form the country's traditional
breadbasket. Wheat, grown on comparatively large farms, has always been the leading
crop in the Paris Basin, though it is also grown throughout the lowlands.
Corn is the other leading grain crop. Traditional types of corn have been grown in
Aquitaine and the Pyrenees in southwestern France, and in the Rhne-Sane Valley,
since the 16th century. More recently, hybrid varieties from the United States have
been introduced. Other grains grown by French farmers include oats, rye, and barley,
which is especially important to the brewing industry. These crops tend to be raised in
poorer soils or in areas where the climate is less well suited for wheat.
On the northern edge of the Paris Basin, where the flatlands of the North Sea plain
lead into Picardy and Flanders, sugar beets and potatoes have been important crops
since the early 19th century. The cool, moist regions of Normandy and Brittany are
noted for dairy products; early spring vegetables, which are highly prized in the Paris
markets; and apples.
In addition to the Paris Basin, the principal French agricultural regions are in the
south and southwest, particularly Aquitaine and Languedoc, and the Rhne Valley.
The generally good soils and warm, dry summers of these regions make them ideal
for cultivating grapes, and they are the country's major wine producers. France as a
whole accounts for about one fifth of world wine production. Other fruits, such as
peaches, plums, and apricots, are also widely grown in these regions. These fruits are
sold fresh in city markets and form the basis of canning and processing industries.
Better-quality wines, many with famous names and high prices, provide agricultural
prosperity to regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace, Champagne, and the Loire
Valley. Wines, together with wheat and other crops, have created a balanced rural
economy in these regions. However, in the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Massif
Central, where the soils and climate are less suited to agriculture, many lowproducing farms have been abandoned.
Livestock
The raising of animals accounts for more than one third of the total value of France's
agricultural production. Cattle are raised in most parts of the country, especially in the
more humid regions of the west. The raising of pigs and poultry is concentrated in the
northwestern rgions of Brittany and Pays de la Loire. Some sheep raising takes place
in southern France on the western and southern fringes of the Massif Central, in the
western Pyrenees, and in the southern Alps.
Fishing
With its lengthy coastline on the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and English
Channel, France has historically supported a flourishing fishing industry. It provided
an important food resource as well as employment for thousands of people living
along the coast. Though the fishing industry has long been in decline, it still provides
fresh seafood to all parts of the country. The leading fishing ports are in northern
France at Boulogne, and in Brittany at Concarneau, Lorient, and Le Guilvinic. The
catch includes pollock, sardines, tuna, herring, and mackerel. Shellfish, such as
oysters, clams, and mussels, are raised along the Atlantic coast from Brittany to
Bordeaux.
Forestry
France has one of the largest forested areas in western Europe, but the vast forest
resources are generally underexploited. Economically important forests thrive in
remote regions that are difficult to reach, notably the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Jura, and
the Vosges mountains. In addition, much of the forestland is owned privately by
people who are uninterested in the commercial development of their estates.
Production does not meet national demands for wood pulp, paper, lumber, and other
forest products.
Industry
Industry was the powerhouse of France's economic recovery after World War II.
Though industrial production and employment declined beginning in the mid-1970s,
the sector is still very important to the French economy and is the chief source of
export income. Industry employs almost one fifth of the workforce and accounts for
more than one fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Manufacturing
Under the reigns of the Bourbon monarchs, especially Louis XIV and his financial
minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the French developed a policy of manufacturing and
trade aimed at making France preeminent among the countries of the world. France
based its economic policy on producing enough to meet nearly all its own needs and
selling surplus products for gold. For example, Colbert established the silk-weaving
industry at Lyon so that France would not have to import this highly prized material.
Ever since this period, France has been a major producer and exporter of luxury
goods.
The Industrial Revolution, spreading from its origins in the United Kingdom, had a
powerful influence on French manufacturing. The iron and steel industry, vital to any
country that sought economic power during the 19th century, became concentrated in
the coalfields, particularly in northern France. There, cities such as Lens and
Valenciennes grew into centers of heavy industry, and Lille, noted for textiles, was for
a time the second largest city in France. Steelmaking also developed in the iron ore
fields of Lorraine, where Thionville, Metz, and other centers grew rapidly.
Shipbuilding flourished at several coastal sites, notably St-Nazaire, and the
availability of waterpower encouraged the growth of small industrial towns in the
Alps, Jura, Vosges, and Massif Central. Many specialized in textiles, gloves, shoes,
and other consumer goods. Agricultural processing, still one of France's most
important industries, developed in hundreds of widely scattered towns and villages.
In the 20th century new industries developed in France while others declined or
relocated. In general, the once-dominant industrial regions of northern France saw
their traditional manufacturing base decline. Conversely, new manufacturing
industries, particularly in advanced technology, developed in areas of western and
southern France that were once sparsely industrialized. Nevertheless, the broad arc of
regions stretching through northern and eastern France, from Haute-Normandie to
Rhne-Alpes, remains the most heavily industrialized part of the country. In the early
21st century the most important manufacturing industries included automobiles,
aircraft, steel, chemicals (including perfumes), electronics, food and beverages, and
textiles.
Services
Services account for about two thirds of employment and three quarters of the GDP.
The sector covers a diverse range of activities, including government, health care,
education, retailing, banking, computing, and data handling. Two of the more
important service industries in France are trade and tourism.
Trade
Trade is vital to France, which is one of the world's leading exporters. Major export
earnings come from agricultural products, including grains and wine; automobiles and
their parts, aircraft and spacecraft; chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and
perfumes; electronics; and metals. France is also a major importer, especially of
machinery, chemicals and chemical products, oil, automobiles, and tropical
agricultural products. France's most important trading partners are members of the
European UnionGermany, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, and The
Netherlandsand the United States.
Tourism
Tourism is one of France's leading industries. The variety of its landscapes and
climates, together with an abundance of historical and cultural sites, artistic and
architectural treasures, recreational facilities, and famous foods and wines, have made
France a favorite of tourists from North America and other parts of Europe. Recently,
increasing numbers of travelers have come from Asia, Latin America, and the Middle
East. In the early 2000s France was the most visited country in the world, receiving
more than 70 million foreign tourists annually.
The French travel widely within their own country as well. The introduction of paid
vacations for industrial workers, beginning in the late 1930s, led to a boom in family
tourism. Most French workers now receive five weeks of paid vacation annually, and
regions such as Brittany and Languedoc profit from low-budget family tourism. Many
wealthier city residents have second homes, either in places from which their families
once migrated or in desirable vacation districts.
Paris is the country's greatest tourist draw. Its artistic and cultural attractions, its
famous shops and restaurants, the color and animation of its many districts, and
world-famous symbols such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Cathedral of Notre
Dame, the Latin Quarter, Montmartre, and the Pompidou Center make Paris one of
the most visited places in the world.
The Mediterranean coast, especially the Provence-Cte d'Azur section, which
includes part of the French Riviera, is also popular. Sheltered by the Alps, the Riviera
first became popular in the 1860s as a winter resort for wealthy visitors, mainly
tourists from England. Its fame grew steadily, and today it is known especially as a
summer resort area.
Transportation
Transport systems have long been vital to France, uniting the country in an
administrative sense while promoting the growth of regional economies and linking
the country to the rest of Europe and to the world. Paris has always been the hub of
French transportation.
The Industrial Revolution brought innovations in transportation to France. For
example, a complex system of canals was built, connecting many navigable rivers and
providing low-cost water transport for products from the mines and factories.
The railroad age began while the canal-building era was at its height. The first French
line began operating in 1827, between St.-tienne and Andrzieux, and steel rails
soon linked most parts of the country. By 1934 France had more than 33,000 miles
(53,000 kilometers) of railways. Most of the main lines were built in a radial pattern,
with Paris at the center, thus reinforcing the importance of the capital. Paris continued
to grow and prosper at a remarkable rate because people had difficulty traveling
between any two points in France without passing through the capital. Also, rail lines
made it easier for people in rural areas displaced by the Industrial Revolution to
migrate to Paris than to any other city.
The appearance of the automobile in the late 19th century and the airplane in the early
20th century added new modes of transportation. Highways, duplicating the earlier
railway patterns, radiated in all directions from Paris, and the distance to any point in
France was calculated from the front steps of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Air
transportation to and from the airfield at Le Bourget, near Paris, began in 1919.
As the road network expanded, rail traffic declined. The introduction of the highspeed TGV train in 1983, however, led to the opening of some new rail lines. The
TGV travels between Paris and Lyon in only two hours, compared with four hours for
conventional service. There is also international service to Switzerland, Belgium,
Germany, and the United Kingdom. The Channel Tunnel, which opened in 1994, runs
beneath the English Channel to link France with England. It is used for passenger and
freight trains. By the end of the 20th century Eurostar passenger trains linked Paris to
London in three hours.
In an effort to reduce road congestion and related pollution, France has invested in
underground rail and tram systems. In Paris, trains on the Mtro subway system are
fast and frequent. Paris also boasts a regional high-speed express subway system.
Provincial cities such as Lyon, Marseilles, Lille, and Toulouse also have metro
networks, while Nantes, Strasbourg, Grenoble and other cities are served by
tramways.
Air travel has increased enormously. Paris has two major airports: Orly, south of the
city, and Charles de Gaulle, to the northeast, in Roissy. The city has the second largest
airport complex in western Europe (after London), handling roughly two thirds of all
French passenger traffic. Bordeaux, Marseilles, Nice, Lyon, Toulouse, and Strasbourg
also serve international destinations.
With its long coastline and emphasis on trade, France is served by a number of
seaports. Marseilles, located on the Mediterranean coast, and Le Havre, on the
English Channel are the leading ports. Dunkirk, Calais, NantesSt-Nazaire, and
Rouen are also important.
Communications
About 100 daily newspapers are published in France. The most informed and
influential of modern French newspapers is the Paris-based Le Monde, founded in
1944. Other influential and widely circulating Paris dailies include Le Figaro,
Libration, and France-Soir. By the late 20th century some regional daily papers
rivaled or even surpassed the Paris dailies in circulation.
France has five state-controlled television channels and more than 100 private ones.
One of the public television channels broadcasts educational and cultural programs,
another features entertainment and sports, and the others offer films and other
Government
France is governed under the constitution of the Fifth Republic, which went into
effect on Oct. 4, 1958. It established a form of government that combines elements of
parliamentary and presidential systems. The French system is notable for the powerful
position given to the executive branch in relation to the legislative branch, or
parliament.
National Government
The executive branch is led by the president, who is elected by the people to a fiveyear term and can be reelected an unlimited number of times. The president appoints
the prime minister and, on the recommendation of the prime minister, the Council of
Ministers, or cabinet. The president has the authority to submit questions directly to
the people as referenda and even to dissolve parliament. The president also appoints
high civil servants and judges, negotiates and ratifies treaties, and is commander in
chief of the armed forces. Through the years, however, French presidents have passed
more responsibility for day-to-day policy to the prime minister, allowing that office to
gain in stature.
The president wields greater authority when his party controls the National Assembly,
or the lower house of parliament. In such cases, he is generally free to appoint anyone
from his party as prime minister. When the opposition controls the National
Assembly, however, the president must appoint a prime minister from an opposing
party. This power-sharing arrangement is known as cohabitation.
Parliament consists of two houses: the National Assembly and the Senate. The
National Assembly, also called the Chamber of Deputies, is the more important of the
two houses. Its members are elected directly by the public for five-year terms.
Members of the Senate are indirectly elected by an electoral college to six-year terms.
Both houses include representatives from overseas dependencies.
Political Parties
Political life in France is as colorful and varied as most other aspects of the national
culture. Political parties range across the political spectrum from Communist to
Fascist, parties change their names and often their directions, and new ideas often
generate new parties.
France's leading parties include the Union for a Popular Movement, a conservative
party created in 2002. It is rooted in the ideas of World War II hero and former
president Charles de Gaulle. The left is dominated by the Socialist party. The
Socialists have generally been allied with the more radical French Communist party,
which has support among industrial workers. More recently, the left alliance has also
included a small ecology party, Les Verts (the Greens). The National Front, a far-right
party that opposes immigration, has also shown strength in elections, though all of the
main parties have refused to ally with it.
International Relations
In keeping with its long tradition of international involvement, France plays a leading
role in world affairs. France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security
Council and is one of only five countries with veto power over decisions of that body.
France is also a member of nearly all other United Nations agencies, as well as of
numerous other international bodies. In 1952 France was one of the founding
members (with Belgium, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands) of
the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the European Union, and
it has been active in promoting European integration.
On the other hand, France has always been concerned with maintaining an
independent role in the world and pursuing its own interests regardless of the
positions of allies and friends. For example, in 1966 France withdrew from the
military affairs of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which it helped
found, because it was unwilling to subject French defense decisions to international
control (it rejoined in 1995). France also refused to sign the nuclear test ban treaty. In
the 1990s, despite worldwide protests, France conducted a series of underground
nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific.
France's foreign policy is dominated by three major goals. It tries to promote peace
and stability in Europe while ensuring its prominent role throughout the continent.
France also works to ensure stability in the Middle East, the source of much of its oil,
and to serve as an alternative to the United States and other leading powers in military
and economic aid to this and other sensitive regions. In addition, France seeks to
consolidate its influence in its former colonial possessions, especially in North and
West Africa, again on a basis of mutual advantage. French efforts in pursuit of these
goals are enhanced by the international stature of their language, their long reputation
as skilled diplomats, and their independent stance in world affairs.
History
Artifacts discovered by archaeologists show that people have lived in what is now
France since the retreat of the Ice Age glaciers. In ancient times the land was known
as Gaul. Roman armies led by Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and its people, the Celts,
in 5850 BC. During five centuries of Roman rule the Celts of Gaul became fully
Romanized. In the cities of the south they dressed like the Romans, spoke the Latin
language, and learned to respect Roman law. Gauls became Roman citizens, held
government office, served in Roman legions, and returned home over Roman roads to
teach the new ways. Christianity spread from Rome to Gaul and was widely adopted
as early as the 4th century.
The greatest of the Carolingians was Charlemagne, who created an empire that
included much of western Europe. He was a great warrior who spread Christianity to
the lands he conquered. He also built schools to educate the young boys of his empire
and invited the most learned men of Europe to join his court. On Christmas Day in
800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the pope in Rome.
Charlemagne's empire faced numerous problems after his death in 814. His successor,
Louis the Pious, struggled against rebellions by his sons. He and the empire survived,
but his sons divided the empire into three parts in 843. The western section would
become the kingdom of France.
In the late 9th and 10th centuries the kingdom suffered repeated invasions by the
Vikings. The Carolingian kings were unable to stop the invaders and lost power to
regional leadersdukes and countswho offered protection to local settlements. The
dukes and counts built castles to bolster their authority, and some were as powerful as
the king. To keep their support the kings gave them land and rights. By the end of the
10th century the Carolingian king was one of many leaders in France, and his
authority was limited to the area around Paris. One powerful duke became a king
himself. In 1066 William II, duke of the northwestern region of Normandy,
vanquished England and took its crown. He is remembered as William the Conqueror.
In 987 the Carolingian dynasty was replaced by a new ruling family, the Capetian
dynasty. This line of kings would rule France until 1328 and would restore royal
authority throughout the kingdom. In the 11th century Capetian kings gradually built
up power and extended their authority outside of Paris. In the 12th and 13th centuries
they strengthened the monarchy through war and marriage alliances. Philip Augustus,
or Philip II (ruled 11801223), took control of Normandy from the English king John.
Louis IX (122670) improved the administration of the kingdom and established a
reputation as a great Christian ruler. Philip IV (12851314) further expanded royal
power throughout the kingdom and waged a successful struggle against the pope for
control over the church in France. French kings, including Louis VII and Louis IX,
led the Crusades, and French knights made up the majority of the warriors who went
on the First Crusade.
France, especially Paris, was a center of art and culture during the Middle Ages.
Architecture advanced as nobles built their great fortress-castles and growing towns
erected beautiful churches. Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals are the glory of France
today, and the Capetian kings were early supporters of the Gothic style. Artists and
craftsmen brought the stories of the Bible to life in the sculpture and stained glass of
the churches.
The University of Paris attracted scholars from all over Europe to study theology,
philosophy, and the liberal arts. The scholars wrote their treatises in Latin and offered
their services to both church and state. The greatest medieval scholar, Thomas
Aquinas, taught in Paris in the 13th century and wrote important works of theology.
Minstrels recited the adventures of the knights and crusaders in chansons de geste
(verse chronicles), and troubadours chanted verses of courtly love in the developing
French tongue. (See also French Literature.)
The outbreak of the Reformation and the spread of Protestantism led to wars of
religion throughout Europe. In France Roman Catholics and French Protestants, called
Huguenots, fought bitterly in the 16th century. Henry IV (15891610) restored order
when he converted to Roman Catholicism and became the first Bourbon king. He
signed the Edict of Nantes (1598), granting Protestantism partial toleration, but his
assassination in 1610 showed that religious hatreds had not died.
Peasants storm the Bastille prison in Paris on July 14, 1789. This was the
opening event of the
Matters came to a crisis when financial problems forced the king to yield to protest
and convene the Estates-General in 1789. His granting of freedom of the press led to
the flooding of France with publications calling for reform and reconstruction. After
several months of conflict between the Third Estate (representing the people) and the
nobility and clergy, rumors spread that the aristocrats were looking to overthrow the
Third Estate. Panic set in among the peasants, who eventually stormed the Bastille, a
symbol of royal tyranny, on July 14. The revolution overthrew the monarchy and
proclaimed a new French republic. But the country still faced years of terror and war.
In the late 1790s the French military, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, won great victories
on the battlefield. With France suffering from political instability, the government
turned to Napoleon, who became first consul in 1799. As emperor (180414)
Napoleon attempted to make France the supreme power in Europe. In conquest after
conquest, he built up a great empire in Europe before his battle-weary troops
eventually met defeat, particularly in the disastrous Russian campaign of 1812 and in
the battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Congress of Vienna (181415) reduced France to
its former limits.
The Napoleonic wars left France devastated, and the country was slow in accustoming
itself to the new order. The Revolution of 1830 (July 2729) overthrew the Bourbons,
who had been restored to the throne in 1814. Louis-Philippe, a member of the Orlans
family, was declared a constitutional monarch. He was considered a liberal who was
also sympathetic to the upper classes. Nevertheless, he wanted to be a king who both
governed and reigned, and he participated actively in decision making. Eventually he
fell in the Revolution of 1848 (February 2224). After a stormy experiment with a
Second Republic, the Second Empire brought Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (a nephew
of Napoleon I) to the throne in 1852.
Napoleon III ruled with an iron hand in the 1850s, limiting the rights of citizens, but
in 1859 he began implementing reforms to liberalize the empire. He gave amnesty to
political exiles and relaxed controls on the press. Napoleon and his Second Empire
fell as a result of the ruinous Franco-Prussian War (187071), launched by France
against Germany. When Paris surrendered after a long siege, a provisional
government made peace. France lost its provinces of Alsace and Lorraine and the
valuable iron mines and heavy industry there. Parisian workers rebelled and
established a government called the Commune, which was ruthlessly put down.
The Third Republic was founded in 1875. Under its constitution France had universal
male suffrage and an elected parliament of two houses. The republic had a president,
but real executive power lay with the body of ministers, or cabinet. Under the
parliamentary system, when the government was defeated on a major bill, the cabinet
was obliged to resign.
The public was so divided that it was difficult for any party or coalition to achieve a
stable majority in parliament. The numerous political parties ranged from monarchist
on the far right to Socialist, and later Communist, on the far left. Ministries tended to
be made up of coalitions of leaders of various parties without a safe majority. In the
Third Republic's 65-year history more than 90 governments were formed, most
lasting less than a year.
Economic Expansion
Despite political conflict and instability during the 19th and early 20th centuries,
France enjoyed economic progress. Agricultural production increased greatly after the
revolution broke up the great estates and put small holdings into the hands of
industrious farm families. Food was abundant. Wool, flax, and silk fibers supplied the
growing textile industry. After the monarchy's arbitrary regulations on manufacturing
and trade were swept away, enterprising French manufacturers began to compete
favorably with England's factories. French companies stressed quality and elegance in
their wares and found a market for them abroad.
The government aided commerce by building transportation lines. Abroad, it won
colonies in Indochina and Africa to replace its 18th-century losses, and in the mid19th century foreign trade benefited by the building of the Suez Canal by Ferdinand
de Lesseps.
masters of modern French schools of painting, especially Henri Matisse (leader of the
Fauvist movement); impressionists such as douard Manet, Claude Monet, and Edgar
Degas; and postimpressionists such as Paul Czanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul
Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Georges Seurat.
Claude Debussy.
After Germany's defeat, the treaty signed at Versailles provided benefits for France. It
regained Alsace-Lorraine and took over many of Germany's colonies. As payment for
damage, France was given a 15-year lease on the Saar coal mines, and Germany
agreed to make huge reparations. The Saar and Lorraine provided coal, iron, and
potash to aid the postwar development of heavy industry.
The French statesman Aristide Briand signs the Kellogg-Briand Pact in1928.
France assisted in the founding of the League of Nations. Its diplomats were active in
the conferences of the 1920s and 1930s aimed at maintaining world peace. Aristide
Briand, who served as prime minister of France 11 times between 1906 and 1932, was
pivotal in achieving the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), in which 60 countries renounced
war as an instrument of national policy. Yet the scars of World War I left France
feeling insecure. In the 1930s it built the Maginot Line, an elaborate defensive barrier
along the German border, and it maintained the largest standing army in Europe.
Heavy defense costs forced the government to raise taxes, to float extensive loans,
and, in 1926, to devalue the franc by about 80 percent. France also ran into continual
difficulty trying to collect reparation payments from Germany.
Nevertheless, by the end of the 1920s France had apparently recovered its prewar
prosperity and self-confidence. For a time it even seemed immune to the economic
crisis that spread through Europe beginning in 1929, but by 1931 France began to feel
the effects of the worldwide economic depression.
Part of the French army had escaped to England. This force was organized by Gen.
Charles de Gaulle into the Free French, later called the Fighting French. At home
hundreds of thousands of people joined an underground organization called Le
Maquis (meaning Underbrush), or the Resistance. This group harassed the
occupying forces and aided the Allied liberation troops after they landed in Normandy
on June 6, 1944. By August, Free French forces captured Paris.
government, but they disagreed over the form of the new republic. In January 1946
De Gaulle resigned apparently because he was irritated with the political parties
forming the government. A new constitution creating the Fourth Republic was
approved in October. France's wartime unity crumbled as numerous parties battled for
power. When coalition governments took office, their policies often failed to get
support in the National Assembly. Like governments in the Third Republic,
governments in the Fourth Republic were often short-lived: in its 12 years the Fourth
Republic had 26 governments.
divisions within NATO. France and the United Kingdom failed to get support from
their allies in 1956 when they invaded Egypt in an attempt to free the Suez Canal
from blockade.
thus could offer favorable prices on its goods in foreign trade. De Gaulle also put into
effect an austerity budget. Private investment increased, and France prospered along
with other member countries of the Common Market.
In September 1959 De Gaulle suggested self-determination for the Algerians. This
enraged the colons, who stirred up riots in Algeria and demonstrations against De
Gaulle in France. There were also several attempts on De Gaulle's life.
The mid-1960s were considered the golden years of De Gaulle's rule. The country
enjoyed economic growth, it had restored its role in international affairs, and it was
taking the lead in uniting Europe economically. Not all of the French people were
happy with De Gaulle's rule, however. In 1968 students and workers led violent
protests that grew into a national crisis. De Gaulle left Paris on May 29, returning the
following day with a promise of armed support from French commanders to put down
the demonstrations. The country rallied around De Gaulle. Nevertheless, in April
1969 De Gaulle resigned after voters rejected a referendum he supported.
Former prime minister Georges Pompidou was elected president in 1969, but he died
in office on April 2, 1974. The following month Valry Giscard d'Estaing, finance
minister in the De Gaulle and Pompidou cabinets, was elected president. Giscard
appointed as his prime minister Jacques Chirac, and he pushed through policies
designed to appeal to younger voters, such as environmental-protection laws,
legalized abortion, and a lower voting age. Chirac and Giscard soon had a falling out,
and Chirac resigned. He formed a new party, the Rally for the Republic, and was
elected mayor of Paris.
Franois Mitterrand.
When Giscard's presidential term ended in May 1981, it seemed as though he would
win a second term. He overcame a strong challenge by Chirac in the first round of
voting and seemed poised to defeat the Socialist Franois Mitterrand in the runoff.
However, Mitterrand narrowly defeated Giscard, becoming the country's first
popularly elected Socialist president. The Socialists, who soon won control of the
National Assembly, raised taxes on businesses and the wealthy and nationalized
several key industries. In 1986, however, the Socialists lost control of the National
Assembly, and for two years Mitterrand had to share power with Chirac as prime
ministeran arrangement known as cohabitation. Chirac reversed many of
Mitterrand's policies, but Chirac's popularity fell as a result of a transport strike and a
wave of terrorist attacks in Paris. In 1988 Mitterrand was reelected for another sevenyear term.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s France, along with Germany, led efforts to further
integrate the countries in the European Community (from 1993, the European Union
[EU]) both politically and economically. Mitterrand strongly supported the Maastricht
Treaty (1991), a blueprint for European federalism and a single currency. When the
treaty faced severe criticism in France, including riots by farmers, Mitterrand called a
referendum to solidify support. His move nearly backfired, and his prestige was
reduced as only 51 percent of voters backed the treaty.
In 1991 Mitterrand appointed Edith Cresson as France's first woman prime minister.
In 1992, however, she was dismissed after the government's defeat in regional
elections. Mitterrand then named Pierre Brgovoy to take her place. In the early
1990s the country was confronted by a wave of strikes, a weak economy that brought
record unemployment, violent police clashes with immigrants, and political
corruption. In 1993 conservative parties won a landslide victory and took control of
80 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. Mitterrand had to face cohabitation
again. He appointed the Gaullist douard Balladur as prime minister.
Conservative Presidencies
Though Chirac had organized Balladur's appointment as prime minister, in 1995 he
ran against Balladur and the Socialist party candidate, Lionel Jospin, for the
presidency. Chirac captured the presidency by beating Balladur in the first round and
narrowly defeating Jospin in the second round. He appointed Alain Jupp, a former
foreign minister, as prime minister.
Chirac made reducing France's budget deficit his top priority. He wanted France to
qualify for participation in a single common European currency, the euro, which
replaced the franc as France's sole currency in 2002. Chirac's measures to cut
government spending included freezing the wages of public-sector employees and
reducing social welfare programs. Chirac continued to pursue his policies despite a
massive general strike in late 1995 and record unemployment levels by 1997.
Hoping to win support for his program, Chirac called for parliamentary elections in
May 1997. He lost the gamble when voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots for the
left. Forced to enter a power-sharing arrangement, Chirac appointed Jospin as prime
minister. Jospin's Socialist government followed a moderate path, attempting to
balance economic growth with social progress. Yet unemployment remained very
high. In an attempt to ease the problem, the National Assembly shortened the national
work week from 39 hours to 35 hours.
In 2002 Chirac won reelection over Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the National Front, a
far-right party with an anti-immigration platform. In a surprisingly strong showing, Le
Pen had defeated Jospin in the first round of voting. His second-place finish rallied
the French political communityboth left and rightin support of Chirac in the
second round.
France took the world spotlight in 2003 when Chirac, along with the leaders of Russia
and Germany, opposed the United States and blocked United Nations authorization of
the use of force against Iraq. Nevertheless, the United States and the United Kingdom,
France's traditional allies, invaded Iraq, touching off an intense diplomatic conflict.
Although the French public largely agreed with Chirac on Iraq, his party suffered
losses in both regional and European Parliament elections in 2004.
French pride in the country's ethnic diversity wavered in 2005 when the accidental
deaths of two immigrant teenagers sparked violence in Paris that spread rapidly to
other parts of the country. Nearly 9,000 cars were torched and nearly 3,000 arrests
made during the riots, which were fueled by high unemployment, discrimination, and
lack of opportunity within the primarily North African immigrant community. In
2006, in another display of dissatisfaction with the government, more than a million
people gathered around the country to protest a law that would have eased the
dismissal of young employees. Chirac, already suffering a sharp decline in popularity,
was forced to suspend the law.
Chirac chose not to run for president again in 2007. Echoing the public's desire for
change, the two main political parties nominated a pair of relative newcomers to
replace him. The Socialist party selected Sgolne Royal, a former adviser to
Mitterrand, while Chirac's rival Nicolas Sarkozy won the nomination of the UMP. In
the second round of voting, Sarkozy won a decisive victory. He promised to reduce
unemployment, cut taxes, and toughen immigration laws.