Facts & Statistics
France, officially known as the French Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Europe. The Republic also spans several territories overseas. The European area of France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain and Andorra. France is often referred to as l’Hexagon (The Hexagon) due to its shape.
- Capital City: Paris
- Other Cities: Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse and Nice
- Population: 66.7 million
- Size: 643,801 km2
- Official Language: French
- Climate: Generally oceanic, however the South of France is typically warmer year round whilst the French Alps and other mountainous regions have an alpine climate.
- Life Expectancy: 79 years (male), 85 years (female)
- Dialling Code: +33
- Emergency Number: 112
ISO 4217 Code: EUR
Central Bank: European Central Bank
Currency Sub-Units: Cent = 1/100 of 1 Euro.
Denominations: €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500.
Coins: 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, €1, €2.
French is a Romance language, descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. It is an official language in 29 countries. A 2015 estimate indicates that there are 77 – 110 million native speakers, with approximately 270 million people able to speak the language worldwide. French is an official language of many international organisations including the United Nations, the European Union (it is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue of the EU), NATO, the WTO (World Trade Organisation), the International Olympic Committee, and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). In 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language in the context of business, behind only English and Mandarin Chinese. Whilst French is the main spoken language, other languages are used as second languages in certain regions, though these languages are given no legal recognition. Such languages include German dialects, predominantly in Eastern provinces, Flemish in the north-east and Breton, which is mainly spoken in the north-west.
The French language is based on the same 26 letter Latin alphabet that is used in the English language, however there are an additional five diacritics and two ligatures. The letters “w” and “k” are not used particularly often, except in loanwords or regional words. The earliest recorded example of written French is in the Oaths of Strasbourg from 842- this is written in an early form of French called Romance or Gallo-Romance. In 1989, then French Prime Minister Michel Rocard appointed the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (Superior Council of the French Language) to introduce the most recent round of reforms to the written French language. An example of these reforms include joining written numbers with hyphens (huit-cent-mille-cinq-cent-et-un = 800,501), These reforms are commonly known as “rectifications orthographiques” and were published on 6 December 1990.
Culture, Etiquette & Customs
The culture of France is rich and varied, which is a point of national pride. The term “le métissage culturel” refers to the cultural blending present in France, which can be compared to the US concept of the “melting-pot”.
Mainland France is devised of thirteen separate administrative regions (known as département in French), and each possesses its own unique culture. However, since the Renaissance, a centralization of culture has been promoted, centering around Paris and, to a lesser extent, other major urban areas. This has coincided with a movement of the French people from the countryside to urban areas.
There is a noticeable difference between the rural and urban areas of France. La France Profonde (“Deep France”) is a term used to describe the aspects of French culture in rural France that are not present in urban areas such as Paris. Terroir is an expression applied to regional produce, originally wine and coffee. The unique environmental contexts and farming practices are said to give particular products, including, but not limited to, chocolate, tobacco and hops, a certain character that is unique to the region of production. France holds a r