Western Europe, bordering the Atlantic Ocean ( Bay Of Biscay ) and English Channel , between Belgium and Spain , southeast of the UK ; bordering the Mediterranean Sea , between Italy and Spain . Mainland France's roughly Hexagonal shape has lent itself to a popular French Nickname : ''l'hexagone''.
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:
total: 674,843 km&2
note: whole territory of the French Republic, including all the overseas departments and territories, but excluding the French territory of Terre Adélie in Antarctica where sovereignty is suspended since the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959
Metropolitan France : 551,695 km&2
note: metropolitan (i.e. European) France only, French National Geographic Institute data
metropolitan France: 543,965 km&2
note: metropolitan (i.e. European) France only, French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km&2 as well as the Estuaries of rivers
Land boundaries:
total: 2,889 km (metropolitan), 1,183 km (French Guiana), 10.2 km (Guadeloupe)
border countries:
Andorra 56.6 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km, Switzerland 573 km, Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km, Netherlands Antilles 10.2km
Coastline: 3,427 km (metropolitan), 378 km (French Guiana), 306 km (Guadeloupe), ??? km (other DOM s/ TOM s)
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles (44 km)
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km) does not apply to the Mediterranean
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22 km)
''Main article: Subdivisions Of France ''
Metropolitan (i.e. European) France is divided into 22 '' Régions '' (although strictly speaking Corsica is in fact a territorial collectivity, not a ''région'', but is referred to as a region in common speech), which are subdivided into 96 '' Département s'', which are further divided into 329 Arrondissements , which are further divided into 3,879 Cantons , which are further divided into 36,568 Communes (as of 1.1.2004).
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The French Republic is further made up of the following overseas divisions:
- 4 overseas regions (, French Guiana , Martinique , and Réunion , which have the same status as metropolitan regions (as much as Hawaii has the same status as a continental US state), each of these overseas regions also being an overseas département ( Département D'outre-mer , or DOM), with the same status as a ''département'' of metropolitan France. This double structure (''région''/''département'') is new, due to the recent extension of the regional scheme to the overseas départements, and may soon transform into a single structure, with the merger of the regional and departmental assemblies, unless new ''départements'' are created such as in the case of Réunion , where it has been proposed to create a second ''département'' in the south of the island, with the ''région'' of Réunion above these two ''départements''.
- 3 overseas collectivities (, Wallis And Futuna , and Mayotte (although strictly speaking Mayotte is in fact a "departmental collectivity", not an overseas collectivity, with the possibility to become a full-status French ''département'' in 2010, but for the sake of clarity it is most often classified as overseas collectivity)
- 1 sui generis collectivity (, whose status is unique in the French Republic
- 1 overseas "country" (
- 1 overseas territory (
- 5 islands in the Indian Ocean with no permanent population and known as , Europa , Juan De Nova , Glorioso , and Tromelin
- 1 uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico which is administered by the high-commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia: Clipperton
The Climate is generally one of cool winters and mild summers, with mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean. There is a lot of regional variation, however, and in the southwest of France, for example, summers are generally hot inland south of the Dordogne river.
Mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east.
Coal , Iron ore, Bauxite , Fish , Timber , Zinc , Potash
arable land: 33%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 20%
forests and woodland: 27%
other: 18% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land:
16,300 km&2 (1995 est.)
Flood ing; Avalanche s
Environment - current issues:
some forest damage from Acid Rain (major forest damage occurred as a result of severe December 1999 windstorm); air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff
Environment - international agreements:
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note:
largest West European nation; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as Mistral in the Rhone Valley or the Tramontane in the Languedoc/Rousillon regions west of the Gulf de Lion
Cities and major towns or those of historical significance include:
Abbeville , Ajaccio , Albertville , Albi , Amiens , Angers , Angouleme , Aurillac , Bastia , Besançon , Bordeaux , Belfort , Brest , Brive , Caen , Cahors , Calais , Cannes , Carcassonne , Chamonix , Charleville-Mezieres , Chatellerault , Chinon , Clermont-Ferrand , Colmar , Deauville , Dieppe, France , Digne-les-Bains , Dijon , Dole , Domremy , Dreux , Dunkerque , Evreux , Grenoble , La Baule , La Rochelle , Le Havre , Lille , Lyon , Marseille , Mende , Metz , Mont-de-Marsan , Montauban , Montpellier , Nantes , Nice , Nimes , Orléans , Paris , Pau , Perigueux , Perpignan , Poitiers , Quimper , Reims , Rennes , Rodez , Roubaix , Rouen , Saint-Gaudens , Saint-Etienne , Saint-Nazaire , Saint-Tropez , Saumur , Sete , Soissons , Strasbourg , Tarbes , Toulon , Toulouse ,
Tours , Tourcoing , Valence , Vichy
This image of metropolitan France was generated with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). For this broad view the resolution of the data was reduced, resampled to a Mercator projection and the French border outlined. The variety of landforms comprising the country is readily apparent.
The upper central part of this scene is dominated by the Paris Basin, which consists of a layered sequence of sedimentary rocks. Fertile soils over much of the area make good agricultural land. The Normandie coast to the upper left is characterized by high, chalk cliffs, while the Brittany coast (the peninsula to the left) is highly indented where deep valleys were drowned by the sea, and the Biscay coast to the southwest is marked by flat, sandy beaches.
To the south, the Pyrenees form a natural border between France and Spain, and the south-central part of the country is dominated by the ancient Massif Central . Subject to volcanism that has only subsided in the last 10,000 years, these central mountains are separated from the Alps by the north-south trending Rhone River Basin.
Two visualization methods were combined to produce the image: shading and color coding of topographic height. The shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the northwest-southeast direction, so that northwest slopes appear bright and southeast slopes appear dark. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow and tan, to white at the highest elevations.
Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on Feb. 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar- C / X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect 3-D measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter (approximately 200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices.
- Location: 42 to 51.5 ° North, 5.5 West to 8 ° East.
- Orientation: North toward the top, Mercator projection.
- Image Data: shaded and colored SRTM elevation model.
- Original Data Resolution: 1 arcsecond (~30 meters).
- Date Acquired: February 2000.
- Image Courtesy SRTM Team NASA/JPL/NIMA
This is a list of the , the points that are farther North , South , East or West than any other location. Note that '' Collectivités Territoriales '' and '' Pays Et Territoires D'outre-mer '' are not included in this list.
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