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France, [X] officially the French Republic, [XI] is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world.
The name of the town literally means "Roissy in the Pays de France", and not "Roissy in the country France". Another example of the use of France in this meaning is the new Stade de France, which was built near Saint-Denis for the 1998 Football World Cup. It was decided to call the stadium after the Pays de France, to give it a local touch. In ...
It is the precursor of modern France. It was divided into the following great fiefs: Aquitaine, Brittany, Burgundy, Catalonia, Flanders, Gascony, Gothia, Paris & Blois, and Toulouse. After 1180 and Phillip II, the kingdom came to be known as France, because the new ruling dynasty (the Capetians) were originally Counts of Paris.
The first written records for the history of France appeared in the Iron Age.. What is now France made up the bulk of the region known to the Romans as Gaul.Greek writers noted the presence of three main ethno-linguistic groups in the area: the Gauls, Aquitani and Belgae.
France also became "in the 19th and especially in the 20th century, the prime recipient of foreign immigration into Europe. . . ." [70] It is said by some [who?] that France adheres to the ideal of a single, homogeneous national culture, supported by the absence of hyphenated identities and by avoidance of the very term "ethnicity" in French ...
France was touched by the Reformation during the 16th century; some 30% of the population converted to Protestantism and became known as French Huguenots. Some princes joined the reform movement. But the national monarchy felt threatened by people who wanted to leave the established state religion.
The cockade of France is the national ornament of France, obtained by circularly pleating a blue, white and red ribbon. It is composed of the three colors of the French flag with blue in the center, white immediately outside and red on the edge.
TVG stands for train à grande vitesse, which is French for "train of great speed"), and is the name of France's high-speed rail service. France is the most visited country in the world, receiving over 79 million foreign tourists annually (including business visitors, but excluding people staying less than 24 hours in France). [4] Economic rank