France

Country, northwestern Europe. It includes the island of Corsica. Area: 210,026 sq mi (543,965 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 60,733,000. Capital: Paris. The people are mainly French. Language: French (official). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant); also Islam, Judaism. Currency: euro. France has extensive plains, rivers, and a number of mountain ranges, including the Pyrenees and the Alps. The climate is generally moderate. More than half of the land is suitable for agriculture, and forests, largely unexploited, cover about one-fourth of the area. France has a developed mixed economy with a preponderance of small firms. Its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. The legislature consists of two houses. France is one of the major economic powers of the world and was a founding member of the European Community (see European Union). Culturally, France has enjoyed a significant role in the world from the early Middle Ages. Archaeological excavations in France indicate continuous settlement from Paleolithic times. By the 5th century BC the Gauls migrated south from the Rhine River valley to the Mediterranean coast of modern France, and in 600 BC Ionian Greeks established several settlements, including one at Marseille. Julius Caesar completed the Roman conquest of Gaul in 50 BC. During the 6th century AD the Salian Franks ruled; by the 8th century power had passed to the Carolingians, so named for the influential reign of Charlemagne. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) resulted in the return to France of land that had been held by England; by the end of the 15th century, France approximated its modern boundaries. The 16th century was marked by the Wars of Religion between Protestants (Huguenots) and Roman Catholics. Henry IV's Edict of Nantes (1598) granted substantial religious toleration, but this was revoked in 1685 by Louis XIV, who helped to raise monarchical absolutism to new heights. In 1789 the French Revolution proclaimed the rights of the individual and destroyed the ancien régime. Under the rule of Napoleon (1799–1814/15), France fought to expand its dominion. It then became a monarchy again until the founding of the Second Republic (1848–52), after which Napoleon III ruled as emperor before the creation of the Third Republic in 1871. World War I (1914–18) ravaged the northern part of France. After Nazi Germany's invasion of France during World War II, the collaborationist Vichy regime governed. Liberated by Allied and Free French forces in 1944, France restored parliamentary democracy under the Fourth Republic. A costly war in Indochina (see Indochina wars) and rising nationalism in French colonies during the 1950s overwhelmed the Fourth Republic. The Fifth Republic officially began in January 1959 under Charles de Gaulle, who presided over the dissolution of most of France's overseas colonies (see Algerian War; French Equatorial Africa; French West Africa). In 1981 France elected its first socialist president, François Mitterrand. At various times from 1986 through the beginning of the 21st century, France balanced a form of divided government known as “cohabitation,” with a president and prime minister of different political parties.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica