INTRODUCTION

France, and in particular Paris has played an

important role as a center of high culture and
of decorative arts since the seventeenth century

France has also played an important role in cinema,

fashion and cuisine.

The importance of French culture has waxed and

waned over the centuries, depending on its
economic, political and military importance.
 LANGUAGE
France counts many regional
languages, some of them being
very different from standard French
such as Breton and Alsatian.

 Some regional languages are Roman, like French.

English is taught in schools as a second language.

 RELIGION
France is a secular country where freedom of
thought and of religion is preserved, by virtue of
the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of
the Citizen.

The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité,

that is of freedom of religion enforced by the Jules
Ferry laws and the 1905 law on the separation of
the State and the Church.
 EDUCATION
The French educational system is highly
centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided
into three different stages:

Primary education; secondary education and

higher education

Primary and secondary education is predominantly

public while higher education has both public and
private elements.
 MINISTER OF CULTURE
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France,
the cabinet member in charge of national museums and
monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in
France and abroad; and managing the national archives
and regional “Maison de culture”

 The Ministry of Culture is located on the Palais

Royal in Paris.
 ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE
 The Académie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-
eminent French learned body on matters about the French
language.
  The Académie consists of forty members, known as immortels.
 New members are elected by the members of the Académie
itself.
 Academicians hold office for life but may be removed for
misconduct.
 The body has the task of acting as an official authority on the
language; it is charged with publishing an official dictionary of
the language.
 LABOUR
In France the first labour laws were Waldeck
Rousseau's laws passed in 1884. Between 1936 and
1938 the Popular Front enacted a law mandating 12
days each year of paid vacation for worker.
 Five years later, conservative prime
minister Dominique de Villepin enacted the New
Employment Contract (CNE)
In 2006 he then attempted to pass the First
Employment Contract (CPE) through a vote by
emergency procedure
 SOCIAL WELFARE
The French are profoundly committed to the public
healthcare system and to their "pay-as-you-go"
social welfare system.

In 1998, 75% of health payments in France were paid

through the public healthcare system. Since 27 July
1999, France has a universal medical coverage for
permanent residents in France.
 FOOD
 Traditional French culture places a high priority on
the enjoyment of food.
Ingredients and dishes vary by region .
 There are many significant regional dishes that have
become both national and regional.
Many dishes that were once regional, however, have
proliferated in different variations across the country
in the present day. 
Cheese and  wine are also a major part of the cuisine,
playing different roles both regionally and nationally
with their many variations
 SPORTS
The French "national" sport is  football.
The most-watched sports in France.
are football, rugby, cycling, tennis, handball,
 basketball. 
France is notable for holding the football World Cup in
1998, for holding the annual cycling race Tour de
France, and the tennis Grand Slam tournament Roland
Garros, or the French Open.
 ART
 The first paintings of France are those that are
from prehistoric times, painted
in the caves.
 The Louvre in Paris is one of the most famous
and the largest art museums in the world,
created by the new revolutionary regime in
1793 in the former royal palace.
 EXAMPLES- the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da
Vinci, and classical Greek Venus de Milo.
 MUSIC
France boasts a wide variety of indigenous folk music,
as well as styles played by immigrants
from Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
 In the field of classical music, France has produced a
number of legendary composers, like Gabriel Faure,
while modern pop music has seen the rise of
popular French hip-hop, French rock, techno,
and turntablists.
The Fête de la Musique was created in France, as a
music festival, which has since become worldwide.
MERCI