France is the largest European country for land area after Russia and Ukraine.
Nearly 20% of the territory of France lies outside Europe and known as "DOM-TOM" (overseas departments and territories), where over 2.5 million French citizens live.
20% of the French people live in the Parisian region.
According to a 2004 IFOP survey, 44% of French people are Atheists (up by 24% since 1947).
French people have the highest female and third highest male life expectancy in the European Union.
There are between 5 and 6 million of more or less seriously handicaped people in France. This includes physical, sensorial and mental handicaps.
Although French language is a direct descent of Latin, French people have some of the most diversified genetic make-up Europe, with genes inherited from the Celts (or Gauls), the Basques, the Romans, the Franks (originally from the Benelux) and the Normands (originally from Denmark), which explains the wide physical diversity in French facial traits, as well as hair and eyes colour. Germanic/Nordic blood is more present in the North and East of the country, Celtic blood in Little Brittany, Basque blood in the South-West, while the rest of the country is mostly made up of people of "Gallo-Roman" (i.e. Celtic and Italic) ancestors. [=> see map of ethnicities in Europe]
André Gide, French writer and Nobel Prize of Literature, said "French people are Italian people in bad mood".
The tides in the region of Brittany and Normandy are the strongest in Europe, with a difference in level of up to 15 meters between high and low tide.
According to the WHO (2002 stats), French men have the lowest incidence of obesity in the EU (women come 2nd after Denmark).
The 45th parallel north, which marks the theoretical halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole, is said to be the limit between Northern France, where the Oïl dialects are spoken, and Southern France, where the Occitan dialects prevail. It is also the boundary between the butter and olive oil cuisines.
Immigration
4.9 million foreign-born immigrants currently live France (8.1% of the country's population), including 1.2 million of other Latins (Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese), 1.5 million of Maghrebans (Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians), and 570,000 from sub-Saharan Africa.
Recent immigrants and their offspring make up over 10% of the population of France, including 8.7% of Muslims.
40% of all immigrants live in the region of Paris. 60% of sub-Saharan African immigrants live in the region of Paris.
Language
French used to be the language of the nobility and diplomacy all across Europe and in the Ottoman Empire, then the world's first real international language until English replaced it in the mid-20th century.
Metropolitan France counts several native regional languages : Alsatian and Lorraine German (both High German dialects), Occitan (incl. Gascon and Provençal), Oïl dialects (such as Picard and Poitevin-Saintongeais), Basque, Breton, Catalan, Corsican and Franco-Provençal.
In spite of foreign stereotypes, many French people can speak at least one foreign language (45% are able to participate in a conversation in a foreign language according to Eurobarometer in 2005), and English is the most widely spoken (34%).
Only 86% of French people are native French speakers if this is defined by the language their parents spoke with them before the age of 5. Oc languages account for 3.65%, Oïl languages for 3.10%, German and German dialects for 3.15%, and Arabic for 2.55%.
French was the official language of England for 300 years. It is still the official language of 30 countries worldwide.
French language is spoken by 270 million people worldwide (almost as much as the population of the USA), of which 120 million are native or fluent. There are less than 60 million of White Caucasian native speakers of standard French worldwide.
The variety of French spoken in Quebec, Canada, is a distant dialect from the French spoken in Europe, and sometimes hard to understand for French people.
History
The name "France" comes from "Frank", a Germanic tribe that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 6th century and founded the first independent kingdom covering most of today's France.
The French state is one of the oldest in Europe; it was founded in 843, splitting from the Carolingian Empire based in Aachen (Belgo-German border).
The region of Paris was settled since around 4200 BCE. The city itself was founded by the Parisii, a Celtic tribe, around 250 BCE. The Roman renamed it Luteca from 52 BCE, and it only became known as "Paris" after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.
Foie gras may be part and parcel of French cuisine, but its origins go back to 4,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt, from where it spread to Greece (500 B.C.E.), then to the Romans, ancestors of the modern French.
Gothic art has its origins in the middle of the 12th century in the North of France. The world's first Gothic building is said to be the Abbey of St. Denis, just north of Paris, which is the burial place of many Frankish kings since Clovis, as well as most Kings of France. Gothic architecture then spread to Picardy, notably with the cathedrals of Noyon, Laon and Senlis, followed by the Île-de-France. The term "Gothic" was only used from the 16th century Renaissance as a pejorative term to describe complicated and "barbaric" art, as opposed to the simplicity of the Greco-Roman revival. Nowadays more people may value more highly Gothic than Renaissance architecture.
"La Marseillaise", France's national anthem, was composed in Strasbourg in 1792, not in Marseilles as its name might induce to think.
The first true department store is Le Bon Marché founded by Aristide Boucicaut in Paris in 1838.
At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 km² (4,767,000 sq. miles) of land, or 8.6% of the world's land area. This is over 22 times the size of modern Metropolitan France.
France has hosted five times the Summer Olympic Games (2nd most after the USA), three times the Winter Olympic Games (2nd most after the USA), and twice the FIFA World Cup (most with Italy and Germany).
France has won the 4th most Summer Olympic medals (including gold) in history after the USA, USSR and UK.
France has won the most Nobel Prizes for Literature of any country (13 so far) and the second highest number of Field Medals (mathematics) after the USA.
The capital of Malta, Valletta, was built by and named after the French nobleman Jean Parisot de la Valette (1494-1568), Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller and ruler of the island.
On 10 June 2007, a sabre having belonged to Napoleon I was sold at an auction for € 4.8 million - the most expensive weapon ever sold.
Government & Politics
The French 'Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen' of 1789 is the world's first universal declaration of human rights, applying not only to French citizens or "free men" (as opposed to slaves), but to all people in the world.
France has changed its form of government 9 times since 1789, including 5 republics, 2 empires and 2 constitutional monarchies.
France has only had 3 presidents in the last 32 years (since 1974) : Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac.
France ruled over the second largest colonial empire in the world (after Britain) from the late 19th-century to the 1960's, controlling 8.6% of the world's land area..
Legal and fiscal system
In France, in exceptional cases it is possible to marry a deceased person with the authorisation of the President of the Republic.
France has the highest wealth tax of any European country.
France is the only EU country to have all its V.A.T. rates with decimal fractions (19.6%, 5.5% or 2.1%). Only Britain and Ireland also use some rates with decimal fractions.
In the town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape in Provence, a municipal law of 1954 prohibits flying saucers from landing within the borders of the municipality (!)
Culture & Sciences
There are some 40,000 châteaux (castles, manors, palaces...) in France.
Famous French inventions include the adding machine, the hot air balloon, the airship, the parachute, the submarine, the ambulance service, photography, animation and cinema.
France is the country that has won the most Nobel prizes for literature (13 as of 2005, with the last prize going back to 1985).
French people are the second biggest consumers of alcohol per capita in the Western world - after Luxembourg...
A 2007 study revealed that the French were the biggest consumers of medicines in Europe, both in quantity and total money spent per person.
There are over 300 kinds of cheese made in France.
There are 28 categories of sites in France listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including 3 Roman sites (Arles, Orange and Le Gard), 4 cathedrals (Amiens, Bourges, Chartres, Reims), 4 abbeys (Fontenay, Reims, Saint-Savin sur Gartempe and Vezelay), 8 historic city/town centres (Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Avignon, Le Havre, Mont-Saint-Michel, Provins and Carcassone) as well as numerous belfries, castles and palaces.
More tourists visit France each year than any other country in the world, with 67 million annual tourist arrivals (more than the country's population).
The spectacle "Ionesco" has been playing at the Théâtre de La Huchette since 1957, with over 15,000 performances - a world record.
There are about 2 new cooking books published every day in France.
Pop singer Claude François (1939-1978) is still as popular as ever in France 30 years after his accidental death. Two of his songs have remained constantly in the top 10 of music played in night club for the last 20 years. A real cult has developed around him. In many ways, Claude François can be regarded as the French equivalent of Elvis Presley.
About one fourth of French people nowadays choose to be cremated when they die, instead of the traditional Catholic burial.
"Remember, if there are any complaints, in France, the customer is always wrong." (from the film A Good Year)
Food & Drinks
The famous Petit Suisse ("little swiss cheese") of Gervais are not from Switzerland, but from Normandy, in France.
Crêpes, one of the most popular food in Europe, originate from Brittany, in the west of France.
Wine has been made in France since Roman times.
There are 450 different wine appellations in France. There are tens of thousands of small wine-producing domain, but only 15% of all French wines enjoy the marketing benefits of AOC designations.
Bordeaux alone has over 9,000 different châteaux.
72% of the adult French population finds it difficult to understand French wine labels.
In 2004, France produced 56.6 millions hectoliters of wine.
Wines from the North of France (e.g. Alsace) are usually made from a single variety of grape (e.g. Pinot Noir), whereas wines further south are typically blends of varietals (e.g. Carbernet Sauvignon + Merlot), which is why they do not mention them on the label like in Australia, California, Chile or South Africa.
France produces some of the world's most famous liqueurs, such as Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Triple Sec, Mandarine Napoleon, Cognac, Armagnac, Crème de Cassis, Pastis, Chartreuse, etc.
The international market of Rungis, in a southern suburb of Paris, covers 232-hectares (573 acres). With 1.7 million tonnes brought annually, it has the largest turnover of any wholesale markets in the world.
Economy
France is the world's leader in luxury goods, including haute couture, perfumes and cosmetics.
France is the world's first producer of wine and liquors.
France is the first producer of nuclear electricity in Europe and second producer in the world after the United States. France produces as much nuclear electricity as Germany, the UK, Spain and Russia combined !
France has the third highest GDP (PPP) per capita per hour in the world, after Norway and Luxembourg, with an average of US$ 38.16 per hour.
The Millau Viaduct, completed in 2005 in the south of France, is the tallest bridge in the world.
The largest and most advanced passenger cruise ship, the Queen Mary 2, was built in France in 2004.
The France-based Arianespace is the world leader in commercial space launch, with over 50% of the global market for launching satellites.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is based in Paris, while the headquarters of the pan-European aerospace concern Airbus are in Toulouse.
The French TGV is the fastest train in the world, with an average speed of 263.3 km/h from station to station. It reached a record 574.8km/h on a test run in April 2007 (still unbeaten). It also detains the world record of endurance, running from Calais to Marseille (1067.2 km) in 3h29min, in 2001.
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