Portal:France

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Welcome to the France Portal!
Bienvenue sur le Portail France !

Map of France in the world and position of its largest single land territory in continental Europe

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and 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, 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 northeast, Switzerland to the east, Italy and Monaco to the southeast, Andorra and Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. 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 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 as of January 2024. France is a semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre.

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 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 collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the Bourbon Restoration until the founding of the French Second Republic which was succeeded by the Second French Empire upon Napoleon III's takeover. His empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of the Third French Republic, and 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 Allies of World War II, but it surrendered and was occupied 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 fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the world's leading tourist destination, receiving 100 million foreign visitors in 2023. 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, 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 member of the Group of Seven, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Francophonie. (Full article...)

Featured article –

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..

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A roughly triangular track, with Le Mans at the western corner, La Ferté-Bernard at the north-east corner and Saint-Calais at the south-east corner. The track begins on the north-west side, and travels anti-clockwise.

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The 1906 Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, commonly known as the 1906 French Grand Prix, was a motor race held on 26 and 27 June 1906, on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans. The Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) at the prompting of the French automobile industry as an alternative to the Gordon Bennett races, which limited each competing country's number of entries regardless of the size of its industry. France had the largest automobile industry in Europe at the time, and in an attempt to better reflect this the Grand Prix had no limit to the number of entries by any particular country. The ACF chose a 103.18-kilometre (64.11 mi) circuit, composed primarily of dust roads sealed with tar, which would be lapped six times on both days by each competitor, a combined race distance of 1,238.16 kilometres (769.36 mi). Lasting for more than 12 hours overall, the race was won by Ferenc Szisz driving for the Renault team. FIAT driver Felice Nazzaro finished second, and Albert Clément was third in a Clément-Bayard.

Paul Baras of Brasier set the fastest lap of the race on his first lap. He held on to the lead until the third lap, when Szisz took over first position, defending it to the finish. Hot conditions melted the road tar, which the cars kicked up into the faces of the drivers, blinding them and making the racing treacherous. Punctures were common; tyre manufacturer Michelin introduced a detachable rim with a tyre already affixed, which could be quickly swapped onto a car after a puncture, saving a significant amount of time over manually replacing the tyre. This helped Nazzaro pass Clément on the second day, as the FIAT—unlike the Clément-Bayard—made use of the rims. (Full article...)

Featured biography –

Pierre Benjamin Monteux (4 April 1875 – 1 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1907. He came to prominence when, for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company between 1911 and 1914, he conducted the world premieres of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and other prominent works including Petrushka, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, and Debussy's Jeux. Thereafter he directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century.

From 1917 to 1919 Monteux was the principal conductor of the French repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He led the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1919–24), Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (1924–34), Orchestre Symphonique de Paris (1929–38) and San Francisco Symphony (1936–52). In 1961, aged eighty-six, he accepted the chief conductorship of the London Symphony Orchestra, a post which he held until his death three years later. Although known for his performances of the French repertoire, his chief love was the music of German composers, above all Brahms.

In 1932 he began a conducting class in Paris, which he developed into a summer school that was later moved to his summer home in Les Baux in the south of France. After moving permanently to the US in 1942, and taking American citizenship, he founded a school for conductors and orchestral musicians in Hancock, Maine.

Selected fare or cuisine –

A portion of a French mille-feuille

A mille-feuille (French: [mil fœj]; lit. 'thousand-sheets'), also known by the names Napoleon in North America, vanilla slice in the United Kingdom, and custard slice, is a French dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by Marie-Antoine Carême.

Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry (pâte feuilletée), alternating with two layers of pastry cream (crème pâtissière). The top pastry layer is finished in various ways: sometimes it is topped with whipped cream, or it may be dusted with icing sugar, cocoa, pastry crumbs, or sliced almonds. It may also be glazed with icing or fondant alone, or in alternating white (icing) and brown (chocolate) or other colored icing stripes, and combed to create a marbled effect. (Full article...)

Good article –

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

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An Auxois horse at the Salon International de l'Agriculture 2013 in Paris

The Auxois is a horse breed from eastern France. It is a large breed, with some individuals weighing over 910 kilograms (2,010 lb), bred for horse meat, agricultural work and leisure pursuits. Overall, members of the breed are solid and muscular in appearance. They are usually bay or bay roan in color, although some other colors are accepted by the breed registry, and are known for their power and docility.

The Auxois is a direct descendant of the Bourguignon of the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, blood was added from other French draft breeds before the creation of a stud book in 1912. After the creation of the stud book, only purebred Auxois or Ardennais and Trait du Nord crosses could be registered. World War I interrupted efforts to set the breed standard, but testing resumed in 1920, and between then and World War II the Auxois was the pride of regional farmers. The breed reached its peak in the 1930s, but by the 1960s began to decline with the advent of mechanization. (Full article...)

Featured pictures

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  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.
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  Joséphine Fodor

  Lithograph credit: Jean-Baptiste Singry; restored by Adam Cuerden

  Joséphine Fodor (13 October 1789 or in 1793 – 10 August 1870) was a French lyrical artist (soprano) with Hungarian and Dutch ancestors. Her family moved to Saint Petersburg when she was an infant, probably because of the French Revolution. After marrying in 1812, Fodor and her husband moved back to France when Saint Petersburg came under attack during the French invasion of Russia. She performed roles for the Opéra-Comique in Paris, later being engaged by the Comédie-Italienne, and also appeared in London, Venice, Naples and Vienna. Experiencing problems with her voice, she gradually ended her operatic career and withdrew from the stage. This lithograph depicts her in 1815.
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  French franc

  Coin credit: Monnaie de Paris; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection

  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 100-franc gold coin, dated 1889, with a "winged genius" designed by Augustin Dupré on the obverse. Only a hundred proof coins of this design were minted.
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  Marie Leszczyńska

  Painting credit: Charles-André van Loo

  Marie Leszczyńska (23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768) was a Polish noblewoman and French queen consort. The daughter of King Stanisław I Leszczyński of Poland and Catherine Opalińska, she married King Louis XV of France in 1725 and became queen consort of France, serving in that role for 42 years until her death, the longest of any French queen. Marie was popular due to her generosity and piety. She was the grandmother of future French kings Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X.
  
  This picture is an oil-on-canvas portrait of Marie by French painter Charles-André van Loo, commissioned by Louis XV in 1747. She is depicted wearing the Sancy diamond, part of the French Crown Jewels. The painting now hangs in the Palace of Versailles.
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  Honoré Fragonard

  Photo: Jebulon

  An écorché (flayed figure) of a horseman and his horse, prepared by anatomist Honoré Fragonard and on display at the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort in Paris. Fragonard was the first professor of anatomy at the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (National Veterinary School of Alfort) and prepared thousands of anatomical pieces. In 1771, after six years of teaching, he was dismissed from his post for being a "madman".
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  French franc

  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
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  Au Clair de la Lune

  Image: Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel
  Audio: Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

  "Au Clair de la Lune", a traditional French folk song, from a 1910s children's book. It is commonly taught to beginner students of various instruments.
  
  Listen to: An 1860 recording of the song, which is believed to be the oldest recognizable sound recording of a human voice in existence.
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  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.
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  Brest

  Map: Unknown; Restoration: S. Déniel

  A map of the the French city of Brest, dated to around 1700. Located in the Finistère department of Brittany, Brest lies in a sheltered bay close to the western extremity of metropolitan France. Originally named Bresta, possibly derived from a Celtic word meaning hill, the city came under the rule of the duke of Brittany in 1240. From 1342 to 1397 the city was under English rule, and became part of France in 1491 when a marriage unified Brittany with the French crown. Cardinal Richelieu designated the city a major naval base in 1631, a status it retains today. The city centre was mostly rebuilt after heavy Allied bombing during World War II.
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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.
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  Les Invalides

  Photograph: DXR

  Les Invalides is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine. It is also home to the Dôme des Invalides, a large church where some of France's war heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte, are buried.
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  Graziella

  Painting credit: Jules Joseph Lefebvre

  Graziella is an 1852 novel by the French author Alphonse de Lamartine. It tells of a young French man who falls in love with the eponymous character, a fisherman's granddaughter, during a trip to Naples, Italy; they are separated when he must return to France, and Graziella dies soon afterwards. The novel received popular acclaim; an operatic adaptation had been completed by the end of the year, and the work influenced paintings, poems, novels, and films. This 1878 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Jules Joseph Lefebvre shows Graziella sitting on a rock, fishing net in hand, gazing over her shoulder at a smoking Mount Vesuvius in the distance. The painting is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
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  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.
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  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.
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  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.

In the news

Read and edit Wikinews

25 September 2024 – Crime in France, Immigration to France

The center-right Macron-appointed Barnier government expresses a willingness to work with the far-right National Rally's proposals to strengthen French immigration and crime laws following the murder of a 19-year-old woman in Paris last week. The suspect, who was arrested in Geneva, Switzerland, is a Moroccan convicted rapist who was released from prison this month and was meant to be deported. (Reuters)

23 September 2024 – Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

Climate researchers report that since 1985, deforestation in the Amazon has caused the loss of an area of rainforest equal to the combined area of France and Germany. (France 24)

23 September 2024 – 2024 social unrest in Martinique

The Government of France sends the Companies for Republican Security riot police unit to Martinique, following resistance from cost of living and social inequality protesters against French-issued bans on demonstrations. (AP)

21 September 2024 – 2024 French political crisis

Newly appointed Prime Minister of France Michel Barnier announces a centre-right coalition government, and adds ten conservative Republican members to his cabinet. (Reuters)

France category at Wikinews

Did you know –

• ...that Abel-François Poisson, marquis de Marigny (pictured) became directeur général of the Bâtiments du Roi in 1751 at only 24 years of age as a result of the influence of his older sister, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour, on King Louis XV of France?
• ...that Justin Godart was one of only 80 French parliamentarians who voted against dissolving the French Third Republic and establishing Vichy France in July 1940?
• ...that "La Vie en Rose" is the signature song of French singer Édith Piaf?

Topics

Major articles. Linked categories are listed in bold typeface.

Main Category - France, List of basic France topics
History of France - History of France
• Historic Periods - Prehistoric France - Celtic Gaul - Roman Gaul - Frankish Empire - Medieval France - Early Modern France - Nineteenth century France - Twentieth century France
• Major Events - Hundred Years' War - French Renaissance - Wars of Religion - French Revolution - Franco-Prussian War - Dreyfus Affair - World War I - World War II - Vichy France - Algerian War - Military history
• Dynasties and Regimes - Merovingians - Carolingians - Capetian Dynasty - Valois Dynasty - Bourbon Dynasty - Ancien Régime in France - First Empire - Second Empire - Third Republic - Fourth Republic - Fifth Republic
• Monarchs of France - List of French monarchs - Charlemagne - Louis I the Pious - Charles II the Bald - Louis II the Stammerer - Louis III - Carloman - Charles III the Fat - Eudes (Odo) - Charles III the Simple - Robert I - Raoul (Rudolph) of Burgundy - Louis IV d'outremer - Lothair - Louis V the Indolent - Hugh Capet - Robert II the Pious - Henri I - Philippe I - Louis VI the Fat - Louis VII the Young - Philippe II Augustus - Louis VIII the Lion - Louis IX Saint Louis - Philippe III the Bold - Philippe IV the Fair - Louis X the Quarreller - Jean I the Posthumous - Philippe V the Tall - Charles IV the Fair - Philip VI of Valois - Jean II the Good - Charles V - Charles VI - Charles VII - Louis XI - Charles VIII - Louis XII - François I - Henri II - François II - Charles IX - Henri III - Henri IV - Louis XIII - Louis XIV - Louis XV - Louis XVI - Napoleon I - Napoleon II - Louis XVIII - Charles X - Louis-Philippe - Napoleon III
• Other Major Historical Figures - Catherine de Medicis - Cardinal Richelieu - Mazarin - Jean-Baptiste Colbert - Jacques Necker - Jean Jaurès

Culture and People - Culture of France - Culture of France - Museums in France - French people - Health in France - Education in France - Education in France - Religion in France - Languages of France - Languages of France - French language - French cuisine - French cuisine - French wine - Archaeology of France - Basque culture - Culture of Brittany

Politics and Government - Government of France - Government of France - French National Assembly - French Senate - Law of France - French politics - Politics of France - Military of France - Foreign relations of France - Flags of France
• Heads of State of France since 1871 - President of the French Republic
  • Third Republic: Adolphe Thiers • Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta • Jules Grévy • Marie François Sadi Carnot • Jean Casimir-Perier • Félix Faure • Émile Loubet • Armand Fallières • Raymond Poincaré • Paul Deschanel • Alexandre Millerand • Gaston Doumergue • Paul Doumer • Albert Lebrun
  • Vichy France: Philippe Pétain
  • Free France: Charles de Gaulle
  • Provisional Government: Charles de Gaulle • Félix Gouin • Georges Bidault • Léon Blum
  • Fourth Republic: Vincent Auriol • René Coty
  • Fifth Republic: Charles de Gaulle • Georges Pompidou • Valéry Giscard d'Estaing • François Mitterrand • Jacques Chirac • Nicolas Sarkozy • François Hollande • Emmanuel Macron
• Heads of Government of France since 1871 - Prime Minister of France
  • Third Republic: Dufaure • de Broglie • de Cissey • Buffet • Dufaure • Simon • de Broglie • de Rochebouët • Dufaure • Waddington • de Freycinet • Ferry • Gambetta • de Freycinet • Duclerc • Fallières • Ferry • Brisson • de Freycinet • Goblet • Rouvier • Tirard • Floquet • Tirard • de Freycinet • Loubet • Ribot • Dupuy • Casimir-Perier • Dupuy • Ribot • Bourgeois • Méline • Brisson • Dupuy • Waldeck-Rousseau • Combes • Rouvier • Sarrien • Clemenceau • Briand • Monis • Caillaux • Poincaré • Briand • Barthou • Doumergue • Ribot • Viviani • Briand • Ribot • Painlevé • Clemenceau • Millerand • Leygues • Briand • Poincaré • François-Marsal • Herriot • Painlevé • Briand • Herriot • Poincaré • Briand • Tardieu • Chautemps • Tardieu • Steeg • Laval • Tardieu • Herriot • Paul-Boncour • Daladier • Sarraut • Chautemps • Daladier • Doumergue • Flandin • Bouisson • Laval • Sarraut • Blum • Chautemps • Blum • Daladier • Reynaud • Pétain
    
  • Vichy France: Pétain • Laval
    
  • Provisional Government: de Gaulle • Gouin • Bidault • Blum
    
  • Fourth Republic: Ramadier • Schuman • Marie • Schuman • Queuille • Bidault • Queuille • Pleven • Queuille • Pleven • Faure • Pinay • Mayer • Laniel • Mendès-France • Faure • Mollet • Bourgès-Maunoury • Gaillard • Pflimlin • de Gaulle
    
  • Fifth Republic: Debré • Pompidou • Couve de Murville • Chaban-Delmas • Messmer • Chirac • Barre • Mauroy • Fabius • Chirac • Rocard • Cresson • Bérégovoy • Balladur • Juppé • Jospin • Raffarin • de Villepin • Fillon • Ayrault • Valls • Cazeneuve • Philippe • Castex

Economy, Industry and Media - Economy of France - Economy of France - Economic history of France - French businesspeople - Companies of France - French trade unions - Communications in France - Mass media in France - French space program - French airlines

Visual and Plastic Arts - French art - French artists - French architecture - French art
• Historic periods: French Renaissance - French Baroque and Classicism - French Rococo and Neoclassicism - French art of the 19th century - French art of the 20th century
• Artistic Schools: Impressionism - Cubism - Surrealism
• Art museums and galleries: Louvre - Palace of Versailles - Musée d'Orsay - Centre Georges Pompidou - Musée Picasso - Musée Rodin

Literature - French literature - French writers - French literature - French poetry
• Historic periods: Medieval French literature - French Renaissance literature - French literature of the 17th century - French literature of the 18th century - French literature of the 19th century - French literature of the 20th century

Music - French music - French composers - French musicians - Music of France - French folk music - French rock - French hip hop and rap

Cinema - Cinema of France - Cinema of France - French actors - French film directors - French film producers - César Award winners - Cannes Film Festival

Theater - French theatre - French dramatists and playwrights - Theatres in France - Avignon Festival - Comédie française

Sports- Sport in France - French sportspeople - France at the Olympics -
• Football (Soccer): French football clubs - French footballers - Football in France
• Rugby (union): Clubs in France - French rugbymen - Rugby union in France
• Tennis: French Open
• Cycling: Tour de France
• Motorsport: 24 Hours of Le Mans - French Grand Prix
• Ski resorts: Chamonix - Tignes - Val Thorens - Les Trois Vallées - La Plagne - Les Arcs - Courchevel - Méribel - Val d'Isère - Les Deux Alpes - Megève

Geographic topics

Major articles. Linked categories are listed in bold typeface.

Main Category - France
Geography - Geography of France - Geography of France - Regions of France - Provinces of France - Subdivisions of France - Subdivisions of France - Overseas France



Map of French cities

• Coastlines: Atlantic Ocean - Bay of Biscay ("Golfe de Gascogne") – Mediterranean Sea (Golfe du Lion) - Côte d'Azur ("French Riviera") – English Channel
• Islands: Belle Île – Corsica – Île d'Oléron – Ouessant – Île de Ré – Île d'Yeu - Réunion - Martinique - Guadeloupe - Saint Barthélemy - Saint Martin - Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• Rivers and streams:
  • Major rivers: Loire – Rhine – Rhône – Seine – Garonne - Gironde estuary - Dordogne – Meuse – Escaut – Saône – Marne – Moselle
  • Other rivers: Adour – Charente - Aulne – Blavet – Erdre – Hérault – Odet – Orb – Orne – Rance – Sèvre Nantaise – Sèvre Niortaise – Var - Aisne – Allier – Ariège – Aube – Cher – Doubs – Durance – Indre – Ill – Isère – Lot – Maine – Mayenne – Meurthe – Oise - Somme - Tarn – Verdon – Vienne – Vire – Yonne
  • Canals: Canal du Midi – Canal de Nantes à Brest – Canal Saint-Martin – Briare Canal – Canal of Burgundy – Grand Canal d'Alsace – Sambre–Oise Canal
• Lakes: Lake Annecy – Lac du Bourget – Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) – Étang de Thau – Étang de Berre
• Mountains:
  • Major Mountain ranges: Alps – French Prealps – Pyrénées – Massif Central – Jura – Vosges
  • Other Mountain ranges: Aravis Range – Bauges – Belledonne – Chartreuse Mountains – Massif des Écrins – Vercors
  • Mountain peaks: Mont Blanc – Aiguille du Midi – Barre des Écrins – Ballon d'Alsace – Crêt de la Neige – Grandes Jorasses – Meije – Mont Aigoual – Mont Ventoux – Pic du Midi - Mont Pelvoux – Puy de Dôme – Puy de Sancy
• Forests: Forest of Fontainebleau – Forest of Compiègne – Paimpont forest – Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
• National parks and natural regions: Cévennes National Park – Écrins National Park – Mercantour National Park – Port-Cros National Park – Pyrénées National Park – Vanoise National Park – Boulonnais – Bresse – Beaujolais – Camargue – Pays de Bray – Sundgau – Vexin
• Major cities: Paris (Paris) – Marseille – Lyon – Lille – Toulouse – Nice – Nantes – Strasbourg – Montpellier – Bordeaux – Rennes – Douai – Le Havre – Reims – Lens – Saint-Étienne – Toulon – Grenoble – Angers – Brest – Le Mans – Dijon – Clermont-Ferrand – Aix-en-Provence – Amiens – Nîmes – Tours – Limoges – Metz – Besançon – Caen – Orléans - Mulhouse – Perpignan - Boulogne-Billancourt – Rouen – Dunkirk – Nancy – Villeneuve-d'Ascq – Saint-Denis, Réunion
• Other: Gardens in France - Cemeteries in France - Transport in France - Tourism in France - Nature conservation in France
• Ski resorts: Chamonix - Tignes - Val Thorens - Les Trois Vallées - La Plagne - Les Arcs - Courchevel - Méribel - Val-d'Isère - Les Deux Alpes - Megève

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Wikipedia:France-related tasks You can help! Vous pouvez aider ! Here are some France related tasks you can do: Requests: Gérard Garouste – Émile Peynot – more... Translation from French:See TRANSWIKI/French for details. fr:Formation territoriale de la France métropolitaine to Territorial formation of France – Loi constitutionnelle du 23 juillet 2008 to French constitutional law of 23 July 2008 – fr:Arbel Fauvet Rail to Arbel Fauvet Rail – fr:Merir to Merir – more... Stubs: Category:France stubs Category sorting: Category:French writers – Category:History of France Verify or Factual Accuracy: Gui de Ceriz – Rennes-le-Château – Simone Weil Update: Bischwiller NPOV : Foreign relations of France (Middle East section) – Torture during the Algerian War – François Mitterrand – Jean-Marie_Le_Pen – John Calvin – Marie Antoinette Wikify: Dida Diafat – French architecture Citations: Vichy France (section) – Falaise pocket – Charles de Gaulle – Vaux-le-Vicomte – Economy of France – Louisiana Purchase Merge: – Bourbon Family Compact Copyedit, Style or Cleanup: Antoine de la Sale – Albert Camus – Breton language – Claude Debussy – French Revolution – French language – Jean-Paul Sartre – Napoleon III of France – Nicolas Sarkozy – Picardy – Rennes – Sarah Bernhardt – Toulouse – Girondist – Louis XIV Expand: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen – Vaux-le-Vicomte – Basque language – Being and Nothingness France-related Wikiprojects: Wikipedia:WikiProject France view • edit • discuss • history • watch

French Wikipedia

There is a French version of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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