France

France is a transcontinental country covering Western Europe and overseas regions and territories in the Americas, the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. [XIII] Including all of its territories, France has twelve time zones, more than any other country. Its metropolitan area stretches from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and several islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. With several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France shares borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra and Spain in Europe, and the Netherlands, Suriname and Brazil in the Americas. Its eighteen Inherent Regions (five of which are overseas) cover a total area of ​​643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) with a population of over 67 million (as of May 2021). France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the largest city in the country and the main cultural and commercial center; other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Inhabited since the Paleolithic era, the territory of the French metropolis was inhabited by Celtic tribes known as Gauls during the Iron Age. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture that gave rise to the French language. The Germanic Franks arrived in 476 and formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the center of the Carolingian Empire. Under the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the empire was divided, and in 987, Western France became the Kingdom of France.

In the Middle Ages, France was a powerful but highly decentralized feudal kingdom. The power of the king was hardly felt. King Philip Augustus has made remarkable strides in consolidating royal power and expanding his kingdom by defeating his rivals and doubling its size. By the end of his reign, the kingdom had become the most powerful state in Europe. From the mid-14th to the mid-15th century, France plunged into a series of dynastic conflicts for the French throne, collectively known as the Hundred Years War. A distinct French identity emerged as a result. The French Renaissance has witnessed a flourishing of art and culture, various wars with rival powers and the creation of a global colonial empire that will become the second largest in the world by the 20th century. The second half of the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots, which weakened the country. But France became the dominant cultural, political and military power in Europe again in the 17th century under Louis XIV after the Thirty Years' War. Inadequate economic policies, an unfair taxation system, and endless wars (notably defeat in the Seven Years' War and costly participation in America's War of Independence) left the kingdom in a precarious economic position by the end of the 18th century. This precipitated the French Revolution of 1789, which overthrew the absolute monarchy, replacing the Ancien Régime with one of the first modern republics in history and adopting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which expresses the ideals of the nation to this day.

France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte, subjugating most continental Europe and founding the First French Empire. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars determined the course of European and world history. The collapse of the empire marked the beginning of a period of relative decline. France experienced a violent change of government until the founding of the Third French Republic during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The following decades were a period of optimism, cultural and scientific prosperity. as well as the economic prosperity known as the Belle Époque. France was one of the main participants in the First World War. It emerged victorious at the cost of enormous human and economic losses. During World War II, it was one of the Allied Powers but was soon occupied by the Axis in 1940. After liberation in 1944, the short-lived Fourth Republic was created, which later disintegrated during the Algerian War. The current Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle. Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with most retaining close economic and military ties with France.

France retains its centuries-old status as the world center of art, science and philosophy. It is ranked fifth in terms of the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is a leading tourism destination globally with over 89 million visitors in 2018.