For other uses, see France (disambiguation).

"La France" redirects here. For other uses, see Lafrance.

"French Republic" redirects here. For previous republics, see French Republics.

Coordinates: 47°N 2°E

French Republic
République française (French)

Flag

[I]
Emblem

Motto: "Liberté, égalité, fraternité"

("Liberty, Equality, Fraternity")

Anthem: "La Marseillaise"

1:20

Great Seal
 France on the globe centred on Europe
Metropolitan France (European part of France) in Europe
France and its overseas territories in the world
Show all
Location of France (red or dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)

Capital Paris
and largest city 48°51′N 2°21′E

Official language French

[II]

and national language

Nationality (2021) ● 92.3% French

[3]
● 7.7% Others

[4] ● 51.1% Christianity

Religion (2016)
● 39.6% No religion
● 5.6% Islam
● 0.8% Judaism
● 2.5% Others

Demonym(s) French

Government Unitary semi-presidential republic

• President Emmanuel Macron

 • Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne

Legislature Parliament

• Upper house Senate

• Lower house National Assembly

Establishment

• Kingdom of the West 10 August 843

Franks - Treaty of
Verdun

• Kingdom of France - 3 July 987

Capetian rulers of
France

• French Republic - 22 September 1792

French First Republic

• Founded the EEC

[III] 1 January 1958

• Current constitution - 4 October 1958

French Fifth Republic

Area

• Total 2 [5]
643,801 km (248,573 sq mi) (42nd)

• Water (%) [6]

0.86 (2015)

• Metropolitan France 2 [IV]

551,695 km (213,011 sq mi) (50th)
(IGN)

• Metropolitan France 2
543,940.9 km (210,016.8 sq mi)
[V][7]
(Cadastre)
(50th)

Population

• January 2023 estimate 68,042,591

[8]
(20th)

• Density 2
105.4627/km (106th)
 • Metropolitan France, 65,834,837
[9]
(23rd)
estimate as of January
2023

• Density 2
121/km (313.4/sq mi) (89th)

GDP (PPP) 2022 estimate

• Total $3.667 trillion

[10]
(10th)

• Per capita $56,036

[10]
(24th)

GDP (nominal) 2022 estimate

• Total $2.936 trillion

[10]
(7th)

• Per capita $44,747

[10]
(28th)

Gini (2020) [11]

29.3

low

HDI (2021) 0.903

[12]

very high · 28th

Currency ● Euro (€) (EUR)

[VI]

[VII]
● CFP franc (XPF)

Time zone UTC+1 (Central European Time)

• Summer (DST) UTC+2 (Central European Summer

[IX]
Time )

Note: Various other time zones are

[VIII]
observed in overseas France.

Although France is in the UTC (Z)

(Western European Time) zone,
UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
was enforced as the standard time
since 25 February 1940, upon German
occupation in WW2, with a +0:50:39
 offset (and +1:50:39 during DST) from
[13]
Paris LMT (UTC+0:09:21).

Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

Driving side right

Calling code [X]

+33

ISO 3166 code FR

Internet TLD .fr

[XI]

2
Source gives area of metropolitan France as 551,500 km (212,900 sq
mi) and lists overseas regions separately, whose areas sum to 89,179
2
km (34,432 sq mi). Adding these give the total shown here for the
2
entire French Republic. The CIA reports the total as 643,801 km
(248,573 sq mi).

France (French: [fʁɑ̃s] ), officially the French Republic (French: République française
[14]
[ʁepyblik frɑ̃sɛz]), is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes
overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans,
[XII]
giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its
metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean
Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas 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. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are
2
overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of
[5][8]
over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its
capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other
major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.
Inhabited since the Palaeolithic era, the territory of Metropolitan France was settled by Celtic
tribes known as Gauls during the Iron Age. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a
distinct Gallo-Roman culture that laid the foundation of the French language. The Germanic
Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian
Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia becoming the
Kingdom of France in 987. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but highly
decentralised feudal kingdom. Philip II successfully strengthened royal power and defeated
his rivals to double the size of the crown lands; by the end of his reign, France had emerged
as the most powerful state in Europe. From the mid-14th to the mid-15th century, France was
plunged into a series of dynastic conflicts involving England, collectively known as the
Hundred Years' War, and a distinct French identity emerged as a result. The French
Renaissance saw art and culture flourish, conflict with the House of Habsburg, and the
establishment of a global colonial empire, which by the 20th century would become the
 [15]
second-largest in the world. The second half of the 16th century was dominated by
religious civil wars between Catholics and Huguenots that severely weakened the country.
France again emerged as Europe's dominant power in the 17th century under Louis XIV
[16]
following the Thirty Years' War. Inadequate economic policies, inequitable taxes and
frequent wars (notably a defeat in the Seven Years' War and costly involvement in the
American War of Independence) left the kingdom in a precarious economic situation by the
end of the 18th century. This precipitated the French Revolution of 1789, which overthrew the
Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the
nation's ideals to this day.
France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under Napoleon
Bonaparte, subjugating much of continental Europe and establishing the First French
Empire. The French