Portal:France

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France, officially the French Republic, 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, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north, Germany to the north east, Switzerland to the east, Italy and Monaco to the south east, Andorra and Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the north west. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its 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 overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and have a total population of 68.4 million . 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, Strasbourg, Nantes and Nice.

Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture. In the Early Middle Ages, 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 evolving into the Kingdom of France. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but decentralized feudal kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with England known as the Hundred Years' War. In the 16th century, the French Renaissance saw culture flourish and a French colonial empire rise. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots. France was successful in the Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of Louis XIV.

The French Revolution of 1789 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 part of continental Europe and establishing the First French Empire. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars significantly shaped the course of European history. The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured a tumultuous succession of governments until the founding of the French Third Republic during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Subsequent decades saw a period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as the Belle Époque. France was one of the major participants of World War I, from which it emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among the Allied powers of World War II, but it surrendered and was occupied by the Axis in 1940. Following its liberation in 1944, the short-lived Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the defeat in the Algerian War. The current Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle. Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining close economic and military ties with France.

France retains its centuries-long status as a global centre of art, science, and philosophy. It hosts the third-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the world's leading tourist destination, receiving over 89 million foreign visitors in 2018. France is a developed country with a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world. It is a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an official nuclear-weapon state. France is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the eurozone, as well as a key member of the Group of Seven, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Francophonie. (Full article...)

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This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..
Into the Jaws of Death: Troops from the U.S. 1st Infantry Division landing on Omaha, as photographed by Robert F. Sargent

Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" refers to an 8-kilometer (5 mi) section of the coast of Normandy, France, facing the English Channel, from east of Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to west of Vierville-sur-Mer on the right bank of the Douve river estuary. Landings here were necessary to link the British landings to the east at Gold with the American landing to the west at Utah, thus providing a continuous lodgement on the Normandy coast of the Baie de Seine (Bay of the Seine river). Taking Omaha was to be the responsibility of United States Army troops, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided predominantly by the United States Navy and Coast Guard, with contributions from the British, Canadian and Free French navies. (Full article...)
Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (French: La Pucelle d'Orléans), is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII of France. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon for charges of "insubordination and heterodoxy", and was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old.

Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is – along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX, and St. Theresa of Lisieux – one of the patron saints of France. Joan said that she had visions from God that instructed her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims.

To the present day, Joan of Arc has remained a significant figure in Western civilization.

Selected fare or cuisine –

Haute cuisine (French: [ot kɥizin]; lit. 'high cooking') or grande cuisine is a style of cooking characterised by meticulous preparation, elaborate presentation, and the use of high quality ingredients. Typically prepared by highly skilled gourmet chefs, haute cuisine dishes are renowned for their high quality and are often offered at premium prices. (Full article...)
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Renault Agriculture S.A.S. (French pronunciation: [ʁəno aɡʁikyltyʁ(ə)]) was the agricultural machinery division of the French car manufacturer Renault established in 1918 from its armored military vehicles division. While in operation, Renault Agriculture had various partnerships with major manufacturers and focussed production on tractors. The company was sold between 2003 and 2008 to German rival Claas. Renault Agriculture was dissolved in 2008 and its facilities became part of Claas' tractor division. Claas' tractor division and Renault's Auto Châssis International are Renault Agriculture successors. (Full article...)
List of Good articles
  • Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son
    Painting: Claude Monet
    Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son is an oil-on-canvas painting by Claude Monet from 1875. The Impressionist work depicts his wife Camille and their son Jean during a stroll on a windy summer's day in Argenteuil. It has been held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since 1983.
  • Coin: Monnaie de Paris, Republic of France; Image: National Numismatic Collection, National Museum of American History
    The French franc is a former currency of France and Monaco and, alongside the Spanish peseta, a former de facto currency in Andorra. The first franc was a gold coin introduced in 1360, which showed King John II of France on a richly decorated horse, earning it the name franc à cheval. A later coin, showing Charles VII on foot, under a canopy, was named the franc à pied. The decimal franc was established by the French Revolutionary Convention in 1795 as a decimal unit, and became the official currency of France in 1799. France joined the euro in 1999, and the franc was replaced by euro notes and coins in 2002.

    This picture shows a 40-franc coin, dated 1807. The obverse shows an image of Napoleon.

    See also: 1803 20-franc coin
  • Painting: Gustave Caillebotte
    Homme au bain ("Man at His Bath") is an oil painting completed by the French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte in 1884. The canvas measures 145 by 114 centimetres (57 in × 45 in). The painting was held in private collections from the artist's death until June 2011, when it was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Interpretations of the painting and its male nude have contrasted the figure's masculinity with his vulnerability.
  • Artist: Unknown; Restoration: Lise Broer
    A schematic depiction of the first successful frameless parachute, invented by André-Jacques Garnerin (1769–1823). On October 22, 1797, Garnerin rode in a basket hanging from the parachute, which was attached to the bottom of a hot air balloon (centre). At a height of approximately 3,000 feet (910 m), he severed the rope that connected his parachute to the balloon. The basket swung during descent, then bumped and scraped when it landed, but Garnerin emerged uninjured.
  • Paris Street; Rainy Day
    Painting: Gustave Caillebotte
    Paris Street; Rainy Day (1877) is the best known painting by the French artist Gustave Caillebotte. This large oil painting shows a number of figures walking through the Carrefour de Moscou, a road intersection to the east of the Gare Saint-Lazare in north Paris. It was first shown at the Third Impressionist Exhibition of 1877, and is currently owned by the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • Serge Gainsbourg
    Photograph credit: Claude Truong-Ngoc
    Serge Gainsbourg (1928–1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop music, he was renowned for often provocative and scandalous releases which caused uproar in France, dividing its public opinion, as well as his diverse artistic output, which ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. He is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones. Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France, and he has become one of the country's best-loved public figures. He has also gained a cult following all over the world with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively. This photo of Gainsbourg was taken in 1981.
  • Palais Galliera
    Photograph credit: Joe deSousa
    The Palais Galliera, formally known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, is a museum of fashion and fashion history located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Following the death of her husband in 1876, the Duchess of Galliera gave land and funds for the erection of a museum to house his collection of paintings and fine art that she proposed to give to the state. The building was completed in 1894, but the collections were in fact donated to Genoa, Italy, where they are now displayed at the Palazzo Rosso and the Palazzo Bianco.
  • Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake
    Painting: Paul Gauguin
    Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake is an 1889 oil on wood painting by French artist Paul Gauguin, which represents his late Brittany period in the fishing village of Le Pouldu in northwestern France. It shows Gauguin against a red background with a halo above his head and apples hanging beside him as he holds a snake in his hand while plants or flowers appear in the foreground. The religious symbolism and the stylistic influence of Japanese wood-block prints and cloisonnism are apparent. The work is one of more than 40 self-portraits he completed. It is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
  • St. Joan of Arc Chapel
    Photograph credit: Leroy Skalstad
    The 15th-century St. Joan of Arc Chapel was initially built in the village of Chasse-sur-Rhône, France. Originally called the Chapelle de St. Martin de Seyssuel, it is said to have been the place at which Joan of Arc prayed in 1429 after she had met King Charles VII of France. The present name was given to the chapel when Gertrude Hill Gavin, the daughter of an American railroad magnate, had the derelict building dismantled, transported to America and rebuilt beside her French Renaissance–style château in Brookville, New York, in 1927. The chapel was undamaged when the château burned down in 1962, and was later given to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, once more being transported stone by stone.
  • Photograph: Jebulon
    A Lantern of the Dead in Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France. Such small stone towers are found chiefly in the centre and west of France. They are often thought to have indicated cemeteries through lights exhibited at the top of the structures.
  • Stade Français
    Photograph: Georges Scott; Restoration: Adam Cuerden
    An illustration showing the Stade Français rugby union team, wearing dark blue jerseys, playing against Racing Club (now known as Racing 92) in 1906. On 20 March 1892, the two teams played in the first ever French rugby championship in a one-off game.
  • Saint George Palace
    Photo: Julie Anne Workman
    Saint George Palace is an historic building in the city of Rennes, France. Built in 1670, it was used as an abbey residence, replacing a much older abbey building that stood on the same site. During the French Revolution the abbey was closed and the property was seized by the government. Since 1930 the building has been listed as a monument historique of France. It now houses the fire services for the city and other civil administrative offices.
  • Turgot map of Paris
    Map credit: Louis Bretez and Claude Lucas
    The Turgot map of Paris is a highly accurate and detailed map of the city of Paris, France, as it existed in the 1730s. It was published in 1739 as an atlas of twenty non-overlapping sectional bird's-eye-view maps, each approximately 50 cm × 80 cm (20 in × 31 in), in isometric perspective toward the southeast, as well as one simplified overview map with a four-by-five grid showing the layout of the twenty sectional maps. It has been described as "the first all-comprising graphical inventory of the capital, down to the last orchard and tree, detailing every house and naming even the most modest cul-de-sac". The complete map is shown here in its assembled form.


    Other sheets:
    '"`UNIQ--templatestyles-00000018-QINU`"'

    * Complete map
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  • Marie-Gabrielle Capet
    Painting credit: Marie-Gabrielle Capet
    Marie-Gabrielle Capet (6 September 1761 – 1 November 1818) was a French Neoclassical painter. Until the French Revolution, the Royal Academy of Art in Paris was responsible for training artists and exhibiting artworks at the Salon, but limited the number of female students to four at a time. Unable to gain a place, she moved to Paris in 1781 to become a student of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, with whom she struck up a lifelong friendship. She specialised in painting portraits, her works including oil paintings, watercolours and miniatures. This oil-on-canvas self-portrait of Capet, dating from around 1783, is in the collection of the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.
  • Écu
    Coin design credit: Kingdom of France; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection
    The écu was a gold and silver coinage system introduced in France in 1266 by Louis IX, so called because the coins featured the French coat of arms. The silver coin proved popular but the gold did not, because of the unrealistic ratio of 1:10 used, which did not properly reflect the metals' exchange rate. The écu remained in use for 500 years. Depicted here are two écu coins, the first made of gold and minted in 1641, in the reign of Louis XIII, and the second made of silver and minted in 1784, in the reign of Louis XVI. Between these two dates, exchange rates were unstable, new coins were issued, and existing ones revalued periodically.

In the news

18 April 2024 – Palestine and the United Nations, Enlargement of the United Nations
The United States vetoes a UN Security Council resolution supporting the State of Palestine joining the United Nations. The vote was 12 in favor, the United States opposed and two abstentions, from the United Kingdom and Switzerland. France, Japan, Ecuador and South Korea supported the resolution. (AP)
17 April 2024 – War in Sudan
Taqaddum leader and former Prime Minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, France. (Dabanga Sudan)
12 April 2024 – Iran–Israel proxy conflict
France advises its citizens against traveling to Iran, Lebanon, Israel Palestine due to the risk of military escalation. (CNN)
31 March 2024 – 2024 France floods
The town of Montmorillon in Nouvelle-Aquitaine is hit by severe flooding following heavy rains. (Sky News)

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