France

FRANCE

The French Republic is a west european democratic, secular and centralist government (until 1870). It borders on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The country is bordering Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Monaco, Spain and Andorra. France has overseas territories in the Caribbean, South America, Indian Ocean and in Oceania and partly in Antarctica. The capital of France is Paris. The second largest city is Marseille. After them are coming to the series Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes and Strasbourg. In the year 2007 there were just over 64 million inhabitants counted.

One of the most famous events in world history is the French Revolution (1789). Fifty years later, Napoleon III declared the slogan liberty, equality and fraternity (in French: Libert , galit , Fraternit ) slogan of the French Revolution.

In multicultural France, in addition to the official language French, different languages are spoken. These include: Basque, Breton, German, Flemish, Italian, Yiddish, Catalan and Occitan (in alphabetical order). With the increase of immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Arab countries are coming increasingly new languages. France defends cultural diversity, protects the languages by law and promotes their own culture and language through quotas (for film, music, etc.). Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rochefoucauld, Fontaine, Moli re, Madame de Lafayette, Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Marquis de Sade, Stendhal, Alphonse de Lamartine, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Jules Verne, mile Zola, Andr Gide, Marcel Proust, Jean Cocteau, Louis Aragon, Jean Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, Georges Perec, Cyrano de Bergerac, Dumas, Françoise Sagan, Edith Piaf are just some of poets, writers, musicians and some of the most important people in the history of France. The list could continue indefinitely.

The landscape of France is full of largely plains and rolling hills to the north and west. In the south, it is mountainous: Pyrenees, Central Massif and Alps. The highest mountain in the country is the Mont Blanc (4,808 meters). Mont Blanc is also the highest mountain in the Alps. Of rivers France is very rich. The longest rivers in France are: Rhine (1325 km), Loire (1012 km), Maas (950 km), Rhone (812 km), His (776 km), Garonne (575 km), Mosel (550 km), Marne ( 525 km), Dordogne (490 km) and Lot (481 km). France has 30 national parks and numerous museums and palaces. For example only Paris has 7 palaces. The lys e Palace, the Louvre and the Palais Royal are only three of them.

France is one of the founding members of the EU and has also adopted the euro. The largest three companies (excluding banks) of France are: Total, Carrefour, PSA Peugeot Citro n. Approximately 80% of the electricity in France are produced with nuclear power plants. With about 20 nuclear power stations, France has one of the highest percentages in the world. Moreover, France has a major economy. Most will be exported to Germany. That makes 1/6 of the export volume. Carried out are: cars, planes, pharmaceutical products, electronics and wine. France s Tourism contributes a lot to that.

The quality Bordeaux wine, the varieties such as Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and others, are manufactured in France and exported worldwide. Other areas such as Burgundy and Champagne are also well known. The fame of the wine owes the good soil and the right weather. France is the second largest wine producer in the world.