Overview of France
Geography
France is located east of Spain and west of Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg (see above). France is the 40th largest country in the world, with a land area of 674,843 km2.
The terrain consists of mostly flat plains or rolling hills. The lowest point is the Rhone River delta at 2 m and the highest point is Mt. Blanc at 4,808 m.
The natural resources of France are coal, iron ore, fish and zinc. The natural hazards are flooding, avalanches, forest fires, and earthquakes. There are 97 threatened and endangered animal species and 2 threatened and endangered plant species. Only 39% of France remains natural habitat.
Language
The main language of France is French, but there are other foreign languages. These include: English (34%), Spanish (13%), and German (8%). There are also many recognized regional languages, namely: Catalan, Corsican, Breton, Gallo, Occitan, Tahitian, and some languages of New Caledonia.
Politics
France is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the government, Senate and National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. (Wikipedia, 2010), (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
France is located east of Spain and west of Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg (see above). France is the 40th largest country in the world, with a land area of 674,843 km2.
The terrain consists of mostly flat plains or rolling hills. The lowest point is the Rhone River delta at 2 m and the highest point is Mt. Blanc at 4,808 m.
The natural resources of France are coal, iron ore, fish and zinc. The natural hazards are flooding, avalanches, forest fires, and earthquakes. There are 97 threatened and endangered animal species and 2 threatened and endangered plant species. Only 39% of France remains natural habitat.
Language
The main language of France is French, but there are other foreign languages. These include: English (34%), Spanish (13%), and German (8%). There are also many recognized regional languages, namely: Catalan, Corsican, Breton, Gallo, Occitan, Tahitian, and some languages of New Caledonia.
Politics
France is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the government, Senate and National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. (Wikipedia, 2010), (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
