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France, [IX] officially the French Republic, [X] 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 list includes all countries listed in the List of countries, the French overseas departments, the Spanish and Portuguese overseas regions and inhabited overseas dependencies. See List of extinct countries, empires, etc. and Former countries in Europe after 1815 for articles about countries that are no longer in existence.
French is also the second most geographically widespread language in the world after English, with about 60 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. [1] The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.
The location of Metropolitan France The territory of the French Republic An enlargeable map of Metropolitan France. The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide of France: France – country in Western Europe with several overseas regions and territories.
The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa; while it is an official language in 18 countries, it is not spoken as a first language by the majority, acting mainly as a second one or a lingua franca due to the many indigenous languages spoken in the territories. [64]
The following chart lists countries and dependencies along with their capital cities, in English and non-English official language(s). In bold : internationally recognized sovereign states The 193 member states of the United Nations (UN)
A topographic map of the Republic, excluding all the overseas departments and territories Simplified physical map. The geography of France consists of a terrain that is mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in the north and the west and mountainous in the south (including the Massif Central and the Pyrenees) and the east (the country's highest points being in the Alps).
It states that 14% of the adult people living in France in 1999 were born and raised up to the age of 5 in families that spoke only (or predominantly) some other languages than French. It does not mean that 14% of adult people in France spoke some other languages than French in 1999. Only adults (i.e. 18 years and older) were surveyed.