
#Redirect France
#REDIRECT France
The French Republic or France (: ''République française'' or ''France'') is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. France is a democracy organised as a unitary state semi-presidential system republic. It is a developed nation with the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2003. Its main values are expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. France is one of the founding members of the European Union, and has the largest land area of all members.. France is also a founding member of the United Nations. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council wielding veto power, and it is also one of only seven acknowledged nuclear powers in existence. == Geography == ''Main article: Geography of France'' While the main territory of France (metropolitan France; French: ''la Métropole'', or ''France métropolitaine'') is located in Western Europe, France is also constituted from territories in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the western and southern Indian Ocean, the northern and southern Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica (sovereignty claims in Antarctica are not recognised by most countries, see Antarctic Treaty). Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the North Sea, and from the Rhine River to the Atlantic Ocean; it is bordered by the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. The French Republic also shares land borders overseas with Brazil, Suriname, and the Netherlands. France possesses a large variety of landscapes, ranging from coastal plains in the north and west, where France borders the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, to the mountain ranges in the south (the Pyrenees) and the south-east (the Alps), the latter containing the highest point in western Europe, Mont Blanc at 4810 m. In between are found other elevated regions such as the Massif Central or the Vosges mountains and extensive river basins such as those of the Loire River, the Rhone River, the Garonne and Seine. *Related links:National parks (France) ===Maritime territory (EEZ)=== Due to its numerous overseas departments and territories scattered on all oceans of the planet, France possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 1 E13 m² km² (4,260,000 sq. miles), just behind the EEZ of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq. miles), but ahead of the EEZ of Australia (8,232,000 km² / 3,178,000 sq. miles). According to a different calculation cited by the ''Pew Research Center'', the EEZ of France would be 1 E13 m² km² (3,893,532 sq. miles), behind the United States (12,174,629 km² / 4,700,651 sq. miles), but ahead of Australia (8,980,568 km² / 3,467,416 sq. miles) and Russia (7,566,673 km² / 2,921,508 sq. miles). The EEZ of France covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world, whereas the land area of the French Republic is only 0.45% of the total land area of the Earth. == History == ''Main article: History of France'' The borders of modern France closely align with those of the ancient territory of Gaul, inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Gaul was conquered by the Romans in the first century BC, and the Gauls eventually adopted Romance languages speech and culture. Christianity also took root in the second and third centuries AD. Gaul's eastern frontiers along the Rhine were overrun by Germanic tribes in the fourth century AD, principally the Franks, from which the ancient name of "Francie" derived. The modern name "France" derives from the name of the feudal domain of the Capetian Kings of France around Paris. Existence as a separate entity begins with the division, in 843, of Charlemagne's Franks empire into eastern, central and western parts. The eastern part (which would soon unite with the central portion as the Holy Roman Empire) can be regarded the beginnings of what is now Germany, the western part that of France. Charlemagne's descendants ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of France. His descendants (which formed the Capetian, Valois and House of Bourbon dynasties) ruled France until 1792, when the French Revolution established a Republic, in a period of increasingly radical change that began in 1789. Napoleon I of France seized control of the republic in 1799, making himself First Consul. His armies engaged in several wars across Europe, conquered many countries and established new kingdoms with Napoleon's family members at the helm. Following his defeat in 1815, the French monarchy was re-established, which was then legislatively abolished and followed by a French Second Republic in 1848. The Second Republic ended when the late Emperor's nephew, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was elected President and proclaimed a Second French Empire in 1852. Less ambitious than his uncle, the second Napoleon was also ultimately unseated, and republican rule returned for a third time in the Third Republic (1870). Although ultimately a victor in World Wars World War I and World War II, France - much like Britain - suffered extensive losses in its empire, comparative economic status, working population, and status as a dominant nation-state. After World War II, the French Fourth Republic was established. In 1958, it devised a semi-presidential democracy (known as the Fifth Republic) that has not succumbed to the instabilities experienced in earlier, more parliamentary regimes. In recent decades, France's reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the political and economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of the Euro in January 1999. France has been at the forefront of European states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European political, defence and security apparatus. However its population voted against ratification of the European Constitution in May 2005. It is also one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and holds France and weapons of mass destruction. == Politics == ''Main articles: Government of France (about government structures) and Politics of France (about political groups and tendencies)'' The constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by public referendum on September 28 1958. It greatly strengthened the authority of the executive in relation to Parliament. Under the constitution, the president is elected directly for a 5-year (originally 7-year) term. Presidential arbitration assures regular functioning of the public powers and the continuity of the state. The president names the prime minister, presides over the cabinet, commands the armed forces, and concludes treaties. The French National Assembly (''Assemblée Nationale'') is the principal legislative body. Its deputies are directly elected to 5-year terms, and all seats are voted on in each election. The Assembly has the power to dismiss the cabinet, and thus the majority in the Assembly determines the choice of government. Senators are chosen by an electoral college for 6-year terms, and one half of the Senate is renewed every 3 years ([http://www.senat.fr/role/senate.html starting 2007]). The Senate's legislative powers are limited; the National Assembly has the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses, except for constitutional laws (amendments to the constitution & "lois organiques"). The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament. French politics, for the past 30 years, have been characterised by the opposition of two political groups: one left-wing, centred around the French Socialist Party, and one right-wing, centred around the Rally for the Republic, then its successor the Union for a Popular Movement. The ''National Front (France)'' nationalist / hard right party, seizing on voters' growing concerns of their country's perceived decline, as well as 'national dissolution' brought about by immigration and globalisation, and advocating tougher law-and-order and immigration policies, has made inroads since the early 1980s, but has lately remained stable at around 16% of the votes. See also: * Constitution of France * President of France * List of Prime Ministers of France * List of Foreign Ministers of France * Foreign relations of France ===Foreign relations=== ''Main article: Foreign relations of France'' France's founding membership in the European Union has largely defined France's foreign policy. On May 29, 2005 the French rejected the French referendum on the European Constitution to decide whether their country should ratify the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe with approximately 55% voting no. The outcome of the vote was widely regarded as crucial for the future development of the EU, as well as for France's ability to retain its position of leadership in Europe. The French Republic is furthermore a member of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and of the Indian Ocean Commission (COI), and an associate member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). France is also a leading member of the La Francophonie (OIF) which gathers 51 fully or partly French-speaking countries. France hosts the headquarters of the OECD and UNESCO, as well as those of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures in charge of the international SI, and Interpol. == Administrative divisions == ''Main article: Administrative divisions of France'' France has 26 ''Région in France'': 21 of these are in the continental part of metropolitan France, one is Corse on the island of Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a "territorial collectivity", not a ''région'', but is referred to as a ''région'' in common speech), 4 are overseas. The ''région'' are further subdivided into 100 ''départements''. The departments are numbered (mainly alphabetically) and this number is used, for instance, in postal codes and vehicle number plates. French arrondissements''. The overseas departments are former colonies outside ''metropolitan'' France that now enjoy a status similar to European or ''metropolitan'' France. They are considered to be a part of France (and the EU) rather than dependent territories, and each of them is a ''région'' at the same time. The overseas territories and countries form part of the French Republic, but do not form part of the Republic's European territory or the EU fiscal area. They continue to use the French Pacific Franc as their currency, which was not replaced by the euro like the French franc was in 2002. The French Pacific Franc's value is, however, now tied to that of the euro. The departmental and territorial collectivities have an intermediate status between overseas department and overseas territory. France also maintains control over a number of other small islands in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, including Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, Tromelin Island. See Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans. == Economy == ''Main article: Economy of France'' France's economy combines extensive private enterprise (nearly 2.5 million companies registered) with substantial (though declining) government intervention (see dirigisme). The government retains considerable influence over key segments of infrastructure sectors, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunication firms. It has been gradually relaxing its control over these sectors since the early 1990s. The government is slowly selling off holdings in France Télécom, Air France, as well as the insurance, banking, and defence industries. A member of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries, it ranked as the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2003, behind the United States, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. France joined 10 other EU members to launch the Euro on January 1 1999, with euro coins and euro banknotes completely replacing the French Franc#French franc in early 2002. According to the OECD, in 2004 France was the world's fifth-largest exporter of manufactured goods, behind the United States, Germany, Japan, and China, (but ahead of the United Kingdom). It was also the fourth-largest importer of manufactured goods (behind the United States, Germany, and China, but ahead of the United Kingdom and Japan). Yet according to the OECD, in 2003 France was the OECD country that received the most foreign direct investment (Luxembourg excepted, where foreign direct investment was mostly monetary transfers to banks located in that country). With 47 billion USD of foreign direct investments, France ranked above the United States (39.9 billion USD of FDI received), the United Kingdom (14.6 billion USD of FDI received), Germany (12.9 billion USD of FDI received), or Japan (6.3 billion USD of FDI received). At the same time, French companies invested 57.3 billion USD outside of France, ranking France as the second most important outward direct investor in the OECD, behind the United States (173.8 billion USD of outward FDI), but ahead of the United Kingdom (55.3 billion USD of outward FDI), Japan (28.8 billion USD of outward FDI), or Germany (2.6 billion USD of outward FDI). France is also the second most productive country in the OECD (excluding Norway and Luxembourg where productivity data are inflated by oil revenues in Norway, and by investments in off-shore banks in Luxembourg). In 2003, the GDP per hour worked in France was 47.2 USD, ranking France behind Belgium (48 USD per hour worked), but above the United States (43.5 USD per hour worked), Germany (40.6 USD per hour worked), the United Kingdom (37.7 USD per hour worked), or Japan (30.9 USD per hour worked). Despite a higher productivity than in the US, France's GDP per capita is significantly lower than the US GDP per capita, being in fact comparable to the GDP per capita of the other European countries, which is on average 30% below US level. The reason for this is because a much smaller percentage of the French population is working compared to the US, which sinks the GDP per capita of France, despite its high productivity. In fact, France has one of the lowest percentage of its population at work among the OECD countries. In 2003, 41.5% of the French population was working, compared to 50.7% in the US, and 47.3% in the UK. This phenomenon is the result of almost thirty years of massive unemployment in France, which has led to three consequences reducing the size of the working population: about 10% of the active population is without a job; students delay as long as possible their entry into labour market; and finally the French government gives various incentives to workers to retire in their early 50s. As many economists have stressed repeatedly over the years, the main issue with the French economy is not an issue of productivity. It is an issue of structural reforms, in order to increase the size of the working population in the overall population. Liberal and Keynesian economists have different answers to that issue. With over 75 million tourists in 2003, France is World Tourism Rankings as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of Spain (52.5 million) and the United States (40.4 million). It features cities of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). France has an important aerospace industry led by Airbus S.A.S. and is the only European power to have its own national spaceport (''Centre Spatial Guyanais''). France is also the most energy independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and EU subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War the government made efforts to integrate more and more with Germany, both economically and politically. Today the two countries form what is often referred to as the "core" countries in favour of greater integration of the European Union. See also: List of French companies ==Demographics== ''Main article: Demographics of France'' ===Population=== Starting with the 19th century, the historical evolution of the population in France has been extremely atypical in the Western World. Unlike the rest of Europe, France did not experience a strong population growth in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. On the other hand, it experienced a much stronger growth in the second half of the 20th century than the rest of Europe or indeed its own growth in the previous centuries. After 1974, France's population growth stalled, and reached its nadir in the 1990s with only 0.39% annual growth, being now more in tune with the rest of Europe, which has entered demographic decline. However, first results from the 2004 French census have greatly surprised demographers. The census revealed that population growth rebounded significantly after the 1999 census, something nobody had anticipated. Between 1999-2003, annual population growth was 0.58%. In 2004, population growth was 0.68%, almost reaching North American levels. 2004 was the year with the highest increase in French population since 1974. France is now well ahead of all other European countries (except for the Republic of Ireland). In 2003, France's natural population growth (excluding immigration) was responsible for almost all the natural growth in European population: the population of the European Union increased by 216,000 inhabitants (without immigration), of which 211,000 was the increase in France's population alone, and 5,000 was the increase in all the other countries of the EU combined. In 2004 the natural increase in France's population reached 256,000, but figures for other European countries are not available yet. These unexpected results bear great consequences for the future. At the moment, France is the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and Germany. By 2050, demographers initially thought the population of metropolitan France would be 64 million inhabitants, but they now agree that their estimates were too conservative, being based on the 1990s growth rate of population. Demographers now estimate that by 2050 metropolitan France's population will be 75 million, at which time it will be the most populated country of the European Union, above Germany (71 million), the United Kingdom (59 million), and Italy (43 million). If these estimates become reality, it may fundamentally alter the balance of power in Brussels. It would be the first time since the 1860s that France is the largest Nation of Europe (Russia excluded). In mid-2004 the EU had 460 million inhabitants, 13.6% of whom were living in France (including overseas ''départements''). By 2050 it is estimated that the population of the European Union (of the current 25 members) will have declined to 445 million inhabitants, of whom 17.5% will be living in France. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of people seeking refugee in France rose by around 3 per cent between 2003 and 2004, while in the same period, the number of asylum applications submitted in the United States fell by about 29 per cent. France thereby replaced the United States as the world's top destination for asylum-seekers in 2004. ===Languages=== The official language is French. Several Languages of France (including Alsatian, Basque language, Breton language, Creole#Caribbean creole, Catalan language, Corsican language, Dutch language (Flemish), Franco-Provençal dialects, Gascon, West Central German dialect, Occitan language, and some Oïl languages dialects) are also occasionally understood and spoken, mostly by elderly people, but the French government and public school system discouraged the use of any of them until recently. The regional languages are now taught at some schools, though French remains the only official language in use by the government, local or national. Some languages spoken by immigrants are also frequently heard, especially in large cities: Portuguese language, Maghreb Arabic, several Berber languages, several languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkish language, several Chinese dialects (most notably Wu (linguistics) dialects, Cantonese (linguistics), Min Nan, and Mandarin (linguistics)), Vietnamese language, and Khmer language are the most frequently heard. ====Statistics==== At the 1999 census, INSEE sampled 380,000 adult people all across Metropolitan France, and asked them questions about their family situation. One of the questions was about the languages that their parents spoke with them before the age of 5. This is the first time serious statistics were computed about the proportion of mother tongues in France. The results were published in ''Enquête familiale, Insee, 1999''. Here is a list of the nine most prominent mother tongues in France based on ''Enquête familiale''. Before trying to use these data, or analyze them, readers should peruse the Languages of France#Important notes to understand the table. Given the complex nature of the subject, misunderstandings and confusions are likely if these notes are not read. {| style="text-align:right;" |- style="text-align:center;" !Rank !Language !Mother tongue of
(in thousands of adults) !Percentage of adult population |- | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | French language | align="center" | 39,360 | align="center" | 86%
(the real figure for the whole population
is closer to 90%, see notes) |- | align="center" | 2 | align="center" | German language and High German
(Alsatian language, West Central German, etc.) | align="center" | 970
(of whom Alsatian: 660;
standard German: 210;
Lorraine German: 100) | align="center" | 2.12%
(of whom Alsatian: 1.44%;
standard German: 0.46%;
Lorraine German: 0.22%) |- | align="center" | 3 | align="center" | Arabic language
(essentially Maghreb Arabic) | align="center" | 940 | align="center" | 2.05% |- | align="center" | 4 | align="center" | Occitan
(Languedocien language, Gascon, Provençal, etc.) | align="center" | 610
(another 1,060 had some exposure) | align="center" | 1.33%
(another 2.32% had some exposure, see notes) |- | align="center" | 5 | align="center" | Portuguese language | align="center" | 580 | align="center" | 1.27% |- | align="center" | 6 | align="center" | Oïl languages
(Picard language, Gallo language, Poitevin-Saintongeais, etc.) | align="center" | 570
(another 850 had some exposure) | align="center" | 1.25%
(another 1.86% had some exposure, see notes) |- | align="center" | 7 | align="center" | Italian language (and dialects) | align="center" | 540 | align="center" | 1.19% |- | align="center" | 8 | align="center" | Spanish language | align="center" | 485 | align="center" | 1.06% |- | align="center" | 9 | align="center" | Breton language | align="center" | 280
(another 405 had some exposure) | align="center" | 0.61%
(another 0.87% had some exposure, see notes) |- | align="center" | 10 | align="center" | About 400 other languages
(Polish language, Berber languages, East Asian language, Catalan language, Franco-Provençal, Corsican language, Basque, etc.)
as well as no answers | align="center" | 2,350
(of whom English: 115) | align="center" | 5.12%
(of whom English: 0.25% of total adult population) |- | align="center" | | align="center" | Total | align="center" | 45,762
(46,680 including those with two mother tongues who were counted twice) | align="center" | 102%
(2% of people have both French and another language as their mother tongue, thus, they are counted twice) |} If we add up people with mother tongue and people with some exposure to the language before the age of 5, then the five most important languages in metropolitan France are (note that the percentages add up to more than 100, because many people are now counted twice): * French: 42,100,000 (92%) * Oc languages: 1,670,000 (3.65%) * German and German dialects: 1,440,000 (3.15%) * Oïl languages: 1,420,000 (3.10%) * Arabic: 1,170,000 (2.55%) ===Cities=== [[Image:France cities.png|thumb|right|300px|Metropolitan France's urban areas of more than 100,000 inhabitants]] The principal cities by population include: :Aix-en-Provence, Ajaccio, Albi, Amiens, Angers, Angouleme, Bastia, Belfort, Besançon, Bordeaux, Brest, France, Caen, Calais, Cannes, Carcassonne, Charleville-Mézières, Clermont-Ferrand, Colmar, Dijon, Dunkerque, Evreux, Grenoble, La Rochelle, Le Havre, Le Mans, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Nîmes, Orléans, Paris, Perpignan, Poitiers, Quimper, Reims, Rennes, Roubaix, Rouen, Saint-Étienne, Saint-Nazaire, Strasbourg, Tarbes, Toulon, Toulouse, Tourcoing, Tours and Valence, Drôme. See also aire urbaine and List of towns in France. == Culture == ''Main article: Culture of France'' *Académie française *French literature *Famous French People *Cuisine of France *Cinema of France *Music of France *Holidays in France ===Religion=== Traditionally a predominantly Roman Catholic country, with anticlerical leanings, France is since the 1970s a very secular country. Freedom of religion is a constitutional right, as reflected by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The dominant concept of the relationships between the public sphere and religions is that of ''laïcité'', which implies that the government does not intervene in religious dogma, and that religions should refrain from intervening in policy-making. Tensions occasionally erupt about the alleged or real behaviour of some part of the Muslim minority, or about alleged or real discrimination against that community; see Islam in France. The government does not maintain statistics as to the religion of its inhabitants. Statistics from an unspecified source and date given in the CIA World Factbook gives the following number: Roman Catholic 83-88%, Islam 5-10%, Protestant 2%, Judaism 1%. However, a [http://a1692.g.akamai.net/f/1692/2042/1h/medias.lemonde.fr/medias/pdf_obj/sondage030416.pdf 2003 poll] 41% said that the existence of God was "excluded" or "unlikely". 33% declared that "atheist" described them rather or very well, and 51% for "Christian". When questioned about their religion, 62% answered Roman Catholic, 6% Muslim, 2% Protestantism, 1% Jewish, 2% "other religions" (except for Eastern Orthodoxy or Buddhism, which were negligible), 26% "no religion" and 1% declined to answer. A Gallup poll established that 15% of the French population attend places of worship. ==Military== ''Main article: Military of France'' The French armed forces are divided into four branches: * French Army (Armée de Terre) * Marine nationale (Marine Nationale) * French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) * French Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale), a military police force which serves for the most part as a rural and general purpose police force. In France, military age lies at 17. Since the Algerian War of Independence, conscription has been steadily reduced and was abolished by the government of Jacques Chirac in 1996. Among the larger European economies, France and United Kingdom are the only significant spenders on defence: France with 2.6% of GDP, and Britain, at 2.4%, according to 2003 figures from NATO. Those two countries account for 40% of EU defence spending. In most other EU countries, defence spending is less than 1.5% of GDP. ==Terminology== ===Origin of the country's name=== The name France comes from Medieval Latin ''Francia'', which literally means "land of the Franks, Frankland". Originally it applied to the whole Frankish Empire, extending from southern France to eastern Germany. At the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Frankish Empire was divided in three parts, and eventually only two: ''Francia Occidentalis'' (i.e. "Western Frankland") and ''Francia Orientalis'' (i.e. "Eastern Frankland"). The rulers of ''Francia Orientalis'', who soon claimed the imperial title and wanted to reunify the Frankish Empire, dropped the name ''Francia Orientalis'' and called their realm the Holy Roman Empire (see History of Germany). The kings of ''Francia Occidentalis'' successfully opposed this claim, and managed to preserve ''Francia Occidentalis'' as an independent kingdom, distinct from the Holy Roman Empire. The Battle of Bouvines in 1214 definitely marked the end of the efforts by the Holy Roman Empire to reunify the old Frankish Empire by conquering France. Since the name ''Francia Orientalis'' had disappeared, there arose the habit to refer to ''Francia Occidentalis'' as ''Francia'' only, from which the word France is derived. The French state has been in continuous existence since 843 (except for a brief interruption in 885-887), with an unbroken line of heads of states since the first king of ''Francia Occidentalis'' (Charles the Bald) to the current president of the French Republic (Jacques Chirac). Noticeably, in German language, France is still called ''Frankreich'', which literally means "''Reich'' (realm) of the Franks". In order to distinguish from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called ''Frankreich'', while the Frankish Empire is called ''Frankenreich''. The name of the Franks itself is said to come from the Proto-Germanic language word *''frankon'' which means "javelin, lance". Another proposed etymology is that Frank means "the free men", based on the fact that the word ''frank'' meant "free" in the ancient Germanic languages. However, rather than the ethnic name of the Franks coming from the word ''frank'' ("free"), it is more probable that the word ''frank'' ("free") comes from the ethnic name of the Franks, the connection being that only the Franks, as the conquering class, had the status of freemen. Contrary to what many people believe, the name of the former French currency, the franc, does not come from the name of the country. Instead, the name of the currency comes from Old French ''franc'', a word which meant "free", directly borrowed from the Germanic word ''frank'' ("free"). In modern French, ''franc'' means "frank, sincere". The meaning "free" was lost, except in a few set phrases, such as ''port franc'' (i.e. "free port") or ''franc-maçon'' (i.e. "freemason"). During the Hundred Years' War, King John II of France was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers (1356). The English asked for a ransom to liberate the king, which amounted to twice the yearly income of France. In order to raise the money to pay the ransom, a new coinage had to be minted. These new coins were called ''francs'', because they were minted to "free" the king. Before the arrival of the Franks, France was called Gaul (Latin: ''Gallia''; French language: ''Gaule''). This name continued to be used for a very long time after the Franks arrived in what is now France. In fact, for as long as the cultural elites of Europe used Latin predominantly (until the 18th century), the name ''Gallia'' continued to be used alongside the name France. Today, in modern French language, the word ''Gaule'' has completely disappeared, and is only used in a historical context. The only current use of the word is in the title of the leader of the French bishops, the archbishop of Lyon, whose official title is Primate (religion) of the Gauls (''Primat des Gaules''). Gaul is in the plural in the title, reflecting the three Gallic entities identified by the Romans (''Gaul'', ''Gallia Belgica'', and ''Gascony#History''). The adjective ''gaulois'' (Gallic) is still sometimes used when a Frenchman wants to stress some idiosyncrasies of the French people entrenched in history, such as ''notre vieux fond gaulois querelleur'' ("the love of quarrels of our old Gallic stock"), a phrase used when denouncing French propensity for strikes or controversies. During the French Third Republic, the authorities often referred to ''notre vieille Nation gauloise'' ("our old Gallic Nation"), a case in which the adjective ''gaulois'' is used with a positive connotation. In English the word Gaul is never used in a modern context. The adjective Gallic is sometimes used to refer to French people, especially in a derisive and critical way, such as "Gallic pride" or "Gallic hygiene". Note that the family name of General de Gaulle (with two "l") has nothing to do with the name Gaul (French: ''Gaule'', with one "l"). It seems that "Gaulle" comes from an old Germanic word meaning "wall", where w- evolved into g- under the influence of French (cf. William and Guillaume). Nonetheless, contemporary Frenchmen could not help noticing the striking similarity between the two names, and it added to the aura surrounding de Gaulle. In almost all the languages of the world, France is known by the word "France" or any of its derivatives. In a few languages (essentially Greek language and Breton), France is known as "Gaul". ===Meanings of the name France=== The name "France" (and its adjective "French") can have four different meanings which it is important to distinguish in order to avoid ambiguities. In a first meaning, "France" refers to the whole French Republic. In a second meaning, it refers to metropolitan France only. This is the most common meaning. In a third meaning, "France" refers specifically to the provinces of France of Île-de-France (province) (with Paris at its centre) which historically was the heart of the royal demesne. This meaning is found in some geographic names, such as French Brie (''Brie française'') and French Vexin (''Vexin français''). French Brie, the area where the famous Brie cheese is produced, is the part of Brie that was annexed to the royal demesne, as opposed to Champagne Brie (''Brie champenoise'') which was annexed by Champagne (province). Likewise, French Vexin was the part of Vexin inside Île-de-France, as opposed to Normandy Vexin (''Vexin normand'') which was inside Normandy. This meaning is also found in the name of the French language (''langue française''), whose literal meaning is "language of Île-de-France". It is not until the 19th and 20th centuries that the language of Île-de-France indeed became the language of the whole country France. In modern French, the French language is called ''le français'', while the old language of Île-de-France is called ''le francien''. In a fourth meaning, "France" refers only to the ''Pays de France'', one of the many ''pays'' (Latin: ''pagi'', singular ''pagus'') of Île-de-France. French provinces are traditionally made up of several ''pays'', which are the direct continuation of the ''pagi'' set up by the Roman administration during Antiquity. The province of Île-de-France is thus made up of several ''pays'': ''Pays de France'', Parisis, Hurepoix, French Vexin, and so on. ''Pays de France'' is the extremely fertile plain located immediately north of Paris which supported one of the most productive agriculture during the Middle Ages and was responsible for the tremendous wealth of the kingdom of France before the Hundred Years' War, making possible the emergence of Gothic architecture art and architecture which spread all over western Europe. ''Pays de France'' is also called ''Plaine de France'' (i.e. "Plain of France"). Its historic main town is Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, where the first gothic cathedral in the world was built in the 12th century, and inside which the kings of France are buried. ''Pays de France'' is now almost entirely built up, being but the northern extension of the Paris suburbs. This fourth meaning is found in many place names, such as the town of Roissy-en-France, on whose territory is located Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The name of the town literally means "Roissy in the ''Pays de France''", and not "Roissy in the country France", as many people wrongly believe. Another example of the use of France in this meaning is the new ''Stade de France'', which was built near Saint-Denis for the Football World Cup 1998. It was decided to call the stadium after the ''Pays de France'', to give it a local touch. In particular, the mayor of Saint-Denis made it very clear that he wanted the new stadium to be a stadium of the northern suburbs of Paris, and not just a national stadium which happens to be located in the northern suburbs. The name reflected this. However, most people, both inside and outside France, are not aware of this, and assume that the stadium was chauvinistically called after the country France. == Miscellaneous topics == ''Description of the flag:'' three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red (blue and red being the colours of Paris and white the colour of the Bourbon royal family); became the flag during the French Revolution and made popular by Marquis de Lafayette; known as the ''drapeau tricolore'' (Tricolour Flag); the design and colours inspired a number of other flags, including those of Belgium, Chad, Ireland, Italy, Côte d'Ivoire, and Luxembourg. The design and colours of the French flag may have been influenced by the Netherlands flag. The foundation of France is traditionally dated 496 (baptism of Clovis I). In reality, however, the legal founding of France is 843, date of the Treaty of Verdun, which divided the Frankish Empire and created the kingdom of Francia Occidentalis (“Western Frankland”), from which France is descended. The French state has been in continuous existence since 843, being probably the oldest state in existence in the world (other countries, such as China, may claim a longer history, but they had periods of foreign domination when their statehood was interrupted). France's motto "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" was first used as the rebels' motto during the French Revolution. The national holiday of France since 1880 is the ''Fête Nationale'' (National Holiday), colloquially known as ''le 14 juillet'', celebrating the ''Fête de la Fédération'' (July 14, 1790) and ''not'' the storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) as is often mistakenly believed, even by a majority of French people, and is the reason why the holiday is referred to as Bastille Day in English language. On the occasion of the ''Fête de la Fédération'', celebrated exactly one year after the storming of the Bastille, all the representatives of the provinces of France gathered on the Champ de Mars in Paris in presence of the king Louis XVI and proclaimed the national unity of France. They vowed to remain faithful to "the Nation, the Law, the King". This day is considered by French Republicans as the real birth of France: France is no more a country made up of provinces conquered by kings, but a country of provinces and men who freely agree to form a common Nation. This concept of a Nation agreed upon is opposed to the German concept of a Nation based on ethnicity and race, and it was responsible for much of the conflicts between France and Germany in the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. Germany considered that Alsace was a German land that had been annexed by the conquest of the French kings, while France considered that although Alsace had indeed been a conquered province in the first place, it had legitimately and freely become a part of France by the oath of July 14, 1790. It is thus no surprise that the 14th of July was proclaimed the National Holiday of France in 1880, 9 years after Germany had detached Alsace-Lorraine from France. Despite being associated with the ''Fête de la Fédération'', the 14th of July irked many French monarchists, to whom it recalled the bloody memory of the storming of the Bastille. French monarchists used to wear a black armband each 14th of July, in defiance of the National Holiday. The capital and most populous city, Paris, is considered by many to be one of the most famous and beautiful cities in the world. Paris is also home to numerous historical buildings and monuments. The Mont-Saint-Michel is the most visited touristic site in France. Other very popular and well-known touristic sites include: Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versailles, Disneyland Resort Paris, the Chateau of the Loire Valley, the ski resorts of the French Alps, Tahiti and the lagoons of French Polynesia, etc. == International rankings == *Total Gross domestic product, 2003: 5th (out of 185) *Total value of foreign trade (imports and exports), 2002: 4th (out of 185) *Human Development Index, 2004: 16th (out of 177) *Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: Rank 19 out of 167 countries *[http://www.transparency.org/pressreleases_archive/2004/2004.10.20.cpi.en.html Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2004] - 22nd of 145 countries == External links == ===Directories=== *[http://www.service-public.fr/etranger/english.html Official site of the French public service] - Contains many links to various administrations and institutions *[http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi?lang=en Yellow Pages] - Business Phonenumbers from France Telecom *[http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pb.cgi?lang=en White Pages] - Residential Phonenumbers from France Telecom (does not include other operators) *[http://www.mediatico.com/en/newspapers/europe/france French Newspapers] ===Maps and travel guides=== * *[http://www.map-of-france.co.uk Map of France] - Maps of France and its ''régions'' *[http://www.justfrance.org France travel guide] *[http://www.willgoto.com/categories.aspx?Destination=271&Langue=1 Willgoto France] - Travel guide and directory *[http://www.pictures-europe.com/holidays-france.htm France Pictures] Geographic guide: France *[http://www.travel-images.com/france.html Images of France] - image gallery *[http://about-france.com/ About France] - Information about France *[http://www.eng.cityvox.com Cityvox] France Francophonie Republics European Union member states ang:Francland als:Frankreich ga:An Fhrainc gd:A' Fhraing ht:Frans hi:फ्रांस kn:ಪ್ರಾಂಸ್ ks:फ्रांस kw:Pow Frynk la:Francia lv:Francija li:Frankriek mg:Frantsa ms:Perancis zh-min-nan:Hoat-kok mn:Франц улс na:France nds:Frankriek rm:Frantscha scn:Francia simple:France th:ประเทศฝรั่งเศส vi:Pháp tpi:Pranis
== Opening sentence == From User:LaurelBush 16:41, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC): I suggest the article's opening sentence should read: :"The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a sovereign power centred on Paris in western Europe, and a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents." The expression 'sovereign power' places the power on a map in relation to other soverign powers, such as the UK (centred on London or Westminster), Ireland (Dublin) and the US (Washington DC). Perhaps 'UN-recognised sovereign power' is more precise. :The common usage is to say "country". --User:David.Monniaux 17:04, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC) == Area of France == There is still a problem with the correct area of France. The article currently says its ranked 47th in the list of countries by area. However, it is ranked 42th at the moment (the list also refers to ''Metropolitan France'' and the ''French Republic'' separately) and the areas given in both places are different. If this article is right then France would even be higher up in the ranking. Any authorative source on this issue (maybe some french governmental website etc.)? The list says it refers to the CIA Factbook, but I did not check whether this is true. --User:Markus Krötzsch 15:36, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC) :INSEE says [http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/intfrcbref.pdf] that the total surface of France is around 549,000 km² (543965 in Metropolitan France, the rest in oversea possessions). --User:David.Monniaux 10:09, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Check the table at the beginning of the article about France. I put there the exact area of France, with footnote to what it refers to exactly. --User:Hardouin 00:30, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC) =="strict France"== To whoever added : '*If only strict France is considered this number lows to some 40 million', the least you could do is explain to the rest of us what on earth you mean by 'strict France.' The first time I read it I thought you meant the Metropole, but then I saw the entry for Spain and realize that you're removing some groups (Basques? Catalans? Occitans?). --MichaelTinkler ==German and Dutch languages== I wonder why someone has added, among the languages spoken in France, German and Dutch. These are not spoken in France, except by tourists. --GP : There really is a very small minority of Dutch speakers in France, located in the northeast corner, at the Belgian border. I don't known whether these people speak it as a first language, however. It is also claimed that the possibility to meet a Dutchman in the summer is higher in France than in Amsterdam, so there are lot of people speaking Dutch ;-) :: Maybe this could be understood in the way that there is a lot of foreigners tourists in amsterdam? and there is a lot of dutch tourists in france during summer, some even owns a house in the countryside, but they still are tourists. --User:Izwalito :: Well, though the Flemish (rather than Dutch) traditions may still be present around Lille, I have never met any Flemish-speaking person coming from French Flanders. Maybe among people over 70 years ? ::: While Flemish is really just a dialect of Dutch (although many speakers of both languages will deny that), I really don't know who speak it, it is just mentioned in most reputable language reports of France. --User:Jheijmans ::::I could image some people in the Alsace/Elzas speaking German, but I don't really know. --User:Jheijmans ::::: You may be right, but actually they probably wouldn't agree ; the dialect(s) spoken in Alsace is (are) germanic, but Alsatians are reluctant to call it German. Of course, this is subject to debate. ::::::I have replaced "Dutch" and "German" by "Flemish" and "Alsatien" respectively. These are the actual names of these dialects, and they both link to articles, which in turn link to "Dutch" and "German". --User:Olivier I've replaced Alsatien by Alsacien. First because it's the way we write it. Then, because by judging the number of hits on google (35 instead of 28 200 for Alsacien), most being personal pages or wikipedia page, it's obviously not the english way to write it. Mispelling probably. --user:anthere :I'm the one who originally added Dutch and German to the list of languages spoken in France. As has been pointed out, both are indeed used in France, though mostly in their local dialect form (Flemish and Alsatian), with the standard language serving as the language used in education and, generally, writing. Even though only French is an offical language in France, and Flemish has a positively tiny number of speakers, they still deserve a mention. I've further put "German" back in, partly because Alsatian is strictly speaking just a (Alemannic) dialect of German, partly because "Alsatian" doesn't entirely cover the German spoken in Lorraine (which AFAIK is Franconian in origin). --User:Scipius ::People in Alsace will probably object to "Alsacien" being considered only as a "dialect of German". I originally come from Alsace and linguists in the area consider Alsacien to only share a common origin with modern German. I.e, they are both Alemannic languages. I'm not sure I understand the distinction between the "German spoken in Lorraine" and Alsacien; there are numerous variants (different words, not only different prononciation) of Alsacien. People in the south of Alsace can have major difficulties understanding the northern version, and vice-versa. AFAIK, the "German spoken in Lorraine" is a variant of "Alsacien" the locals object having called "Alsacien" for mainly territorial reasons. :::Almost every french ''region'' has its own dialect or ''patois'', telling an alsacien person that alsacien is german is very offensive and can lead you into trouble ::::A rose by any other name is still a rose.--User:68.80.223.233 19:05, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::::My 2 cents: I have been to Alsace many times and never had a problem speaking German with the locals, even though I also speak French. Never got into trouble for that! Alsatian is one of the many dialects of German and closely related to the German dialects on the other side of the Rhine. People from both sides of the Rhine can converse with each other in their respective German dialect and have no trouble understanding each other. Trust me, I know this, since my grandmother is Alsatian and I (even though I speak another South German dialect - Schwäbisch -) also do understand Alsatian. There is of course a difference between the Alemannic German dialects spoken in Alsace, the German Southwest, Switzerland and the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg and Standard German (Hochdeutsch), which is the national standard in Germany. The difference between the German dialects spoken in Alsace and Lorraine has to with the fact, that the dialect of Lorraine belongs to another German Dialect group - Franconian - and has more in common with the dialects spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate, the Saarland etc. Also, there are differences between the various forms of Alsatian, which is typical for German dialects or for that matter, dialects in general. Last, but not least, the author of the remark regarding the dialects or "patois" or French regions is confusing 2 different things. There are of course different dialects of French, especially in the Southern part of France, that differ tremendously from the national standard. However, that got nothing to do with non French languages spoken within France, such as Alsatian, Breton, Corsican, Basque etc. ::::Having said that - I would like to add that I love France, the culture, the cuisine, the language and that some of my best friends are French. So don t even think about getting into an argument with me about German-French conflicts.... :-) Those days are over and we are all GOOD Europeans now! ::::Greetings from Pacific Grove, CA --Luke :::::The learning of foreign languages in France tends to be heavily influenced by geographical and historical factors. Understandably, people close to Italy more often learn Italian; and people close to German naturally tend to learn German as a foreign languages. Thus, people able to speak German in Alsace may not actually be that much related to dialects. :::::''There are of course different dialects of French, especially in the Southern part of France, that differ tremendously from the national standard.'' :::::I do not see what you mean. I'm a native French speaker; I've been a number of times to various places in the South, I've got family there. Except for the use of a few local words (which would apply in most French regions), the only noticeable difference is a difference of accent — but this certainly does not constitute a ''dialect'' (though I can understand that it can be hard for non-native speakers). --User:David.Monniaux 07:59, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::::I wouldn't call them dialects, although they are mostly Romance languages, they are significantly different from French. Many of these were still widely in use in the early 20th century (although the French government discouraged their use until recently). From my personal experiences, I have found that a significant portion of older French people, especially in the southern regions, can speak or at least understand some of these different languages. Some examples include Occitan language, and Languedocien language. It is interesting to note that "Languedocien is used primarily by rural people over age 50", so it will likely die out within a few generations. --user:Nezbie :::::::These are indeed generally referred to as different ''languages'', not ''dialects'' (but I'm not an expert on the topic). A dialect is a variant of the same language; thus American English is a dialect of English, and Quebec French is a dialect of French. In the south, there exists Occitan, Provençal etc. but these are romance languages related to French but significantly different. (I know some elderly people who speak provençal.) :::::::What I meant above is that though there are obviously some regional ''languages'' (fast dying out, as you point out) there aren't real regional ''dialects'' (i.e. established variants of the same language, mutually intelligible, with minor differences in grammar and vocabulary). User:David.Monniaux 15:42, 3 May 2005 (UTC) ==Number of regions== The article list of regions in France says there are 22 regions, whereas this one says 23: what is the actual number? Why is there this difference? --User:Oliver :23 is the real number. There are 22 on the main territory (régions métropolitaine), and 1 more including the overseas departments --ant ::Has the 23rd region the exact same status as the other ones? "with conseil regional"? Where is the capital/seat of the conseil regional of this region? --User:Olivier :::22 régions métropolitaine + 4 overseas = 26 regions :::However, I'm not sure Corsica is a region, I think it's a 'colectivite territorialle', ie a special status entity. The overseas regions are a bit different as there is only 1 departement in the region; so region and departement have the same 'conseil'. (There is a similar stuff for Paris, which is a Departement and a city.) --User:Ann O'nyme :::*[http://www.insee.fr/fr/region/accueil_region.htm Insee] settles it once and for all, they list 26 regions. ::::Corsica is NOT an overseas collectivity. It is a metropolitan region made with two departements (haute corse et corse du sud). --anonymous ==Important cities== I'd like to know what defines an "important" city. Honestly, I have never heard of Doue-la-Fontaine, and other cities listed here seems not to be major cities to me at all. If the definition of an important city is its size and maybe something very particular about its activity, I'd like the size and maybe the specific activity to be clearly defined. It seems to me some cities added here are not much more than big villages, and it does not look "serious" at all. It sounds as if some are the big villages where the editor is living. I totally agree these cities could have a room in wikipedia, but not listed as major cities. We could link them directly from their department rather, or from a tourism page. I'll do it if nobody objects. * Doué la fontaine * Barcelonnette * Montrichard * Noyon * Rochefort * Bayonne (maybe) * Firmini * Foix * Saint Girons (and not Saint Giron) * Saint Raphaël * Tavaux --user:anthere :Something has to be done about that mess... May be creating 3 sections, e.g. Major cities/Historic cities/Touristic cities. --User:Ann O'nyme ::There does seem to be a problem regarding what a "grande ville" really is for the French. They will speak of "les grandes villes de Dijon, Besancon, etc.", which are rather small, while the French media often describe our (much) larger American urban areas as small: "la petite ville de Oklahoma City, de Wichita", etc. (Yet these two U.S. cities, if they were French, would be in the Top Five of France!) Would a kind Frenchman care to comment? ==Freedom Land== I believe it is imperative that this be moved to Freedom Land. --User:Susan Mason :Is that an unnecessary jab at the French? --User:Ugen64 23:02, Oct 8, 2003 (UTC) It seems to be more of a jab at French bashing than at France. ==Overseas territories== Do the overseas collectives and the other small islands claimed by France belong to the EU? --User:AxelBoldt 10:39, 24 Sep 2003 (UTC) :The oversea départements do, the oversea territories (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, TAAF) don't, and I don't know about the other ones. --User:David.Monniaux 20:03, 26 May 2004 (UTC) ==British English== Is it okay for me to make the article use British English? Since France is in Europe, I feel that British English is more relevant for the article. --User:WhisperToMe 06:00, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC) :Apology, but I am not entirely convinced. Is the language right now entirely american, or partly only ? Could you point out at some examples ? Thanks. User:Anthere :It's considered bad form to change from English to American spelling or vice versa, unless the article is specifically about those languages or places. --User:RickK 06:34, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC) ::I see that Color is in U.S. English form (after Tricolore), but that may be the only example. --User:WhisperToMe 05:40, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC) :::As Rick said, there is a habit to keep a text in the spelling it was written, WisperToMe. :::And it is not because England is nearer that we are only influenced by british english and not american english. Granted, children at school tend to learn more british english because of the exchanges between the countries (though actually exchanges are very frequent with Ireland as well) but adults practice much more american one. It is not bothering us that color is in american english WisperToMe. :::I am not sure why you think british english is more relevant. :::(and color fits very well with tricolore). --User:Anthere 06:38, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC) ::::Re British English: As an American, I'm not bothered by British English in an article about a European country. British usage makes total sense. However, you should use American English in articles about American people, places, and things. We like our U.S. spellings, vocabulary, and syntax just as much as the British like theirs, so "Brit-speak" in an article about us would be jarring and inappropriate. --Mason :::::This is Wikipedia's policy: UK-specific articles should be in British English, US-specific articles in American English. But, here, we're discussing France. --User:David.Monniaux 08:02, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::::::Right, David, but many Europeans (especially the French--I lived in France for 3 years) follow British usage much more than American. Thus, most readers won't be miffed if an article on France is written in British English, the common language of Europe. --Mason :::::::''British English, the common language of Europe''. You must be kidding. User:David.Monniaux 08:01, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::::::Not at all. British English has become the ''lingua franca'' of Europe. The usage, vocabulary, and accent taught in your schools (often as a required subject from age 10) are overwhelmingly British. --M. :::::::::Sure. (I note that English is not a required subject from age 10 in France; foreign languages are, and English is either taken as a 1st or 2nd foreign language.) British spelling is naturally favored in schools, and is the official spelling used in European Union documents. ::::::::::However, engineers, scientists, businesspeople etc. often, and I would even say "generally", work with American spelling, even though this is not what's taught in secondary schools. This reflects the large importance of the US for such professions compared to that of the UK. I myself generally use American spellings unless writing specifically for a British audience. --User:David.Monniaux 05:54, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) When I lived in France in the '70s, the English I heard was totally British. Britons were almost always preferred as ''lecteurs'' or ''lectrices d'anglais'' in your universities. (They hired few Americans in those days.) I guess times must change—and that's good. --M. "British" English is also used in Australia, South Africa and India. : I believe it's more accurate to say that indian english is used in India. --User:Izwalito : Canadians also use British English (with a few exceptions), The United States of America is about the only place that does not use British english. ::As long as they are part of France, and as long as France is part of European union, the overseas departments are part of the european union. As a result, when you are in Guyane, in the middle of amazonean rainforest, you are in the European union. :::That's exact in the case of Guyane, but inexact in the case of the French Pacific possessions, which are not considered to be within the EU. --User:David.Monniaux 08:53, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC) ==Currency of France== It's not correct to state in the table that the currency of France is both the Euro and French euro coins respectively. One have to distinguish between a currency and legal tender. The currency of France is just the Euro. French euro coins, along with all other "national" euro coins are legal tender (in France and in the rest of euroland). Thus, if the table wants to give information about coins and banknotes having the status of legal tender, it is uncomplete (since in this case all other "national" coins have to be stated as well). If the table refers to the currency, it is just correct to mention ''Euro''. --User:Gugganij 15:32, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC) ==Grammar== It's OK in terms of content. But the grammar in the article needs ''a lot of work''. Not anything to change the sense or even the tone of the article - Bog forbid - it just needs tiny little adjustments so it reads as if whoever wrote it speaks English competently as their first language. Little details like "it's vs. its" and unnecessary plurals drive me crazy. I care about France very much, (my daughter goes to a French school!) and I want the article to read more easily and represent the country better that way. Facts I leave to the natives, but I can help with the English. When I have some extra time, I'll go through and fix these minor things a little bit here and there as I can. My best to all. --User:Hwarwick 16.40 PST, 30 June 04 == Frogs == does anyone know anything about the Frog association with France? User:Xmnemonic 23:49, 2004 Jul 3 (UTC) : Supposedly, the French eat frogs/frogs legs, at this, being "gross", appals many in Anglophone countries. In reality, frog legs are a rare delicacy, which many French probably have never eaten in their life. They actually seem more common in Chinese than in French restaurants. --User:David.Monniaux 08:11, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC) :: you can also check this [http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frenchfrogs.html webpage] from more supposed origins of this nickname == About Anglophone tastes == I don't think we should care of what the Anglophones things which is good or not to eat... I never thought that many Anglophones are interesting under that point of view... :-) With all respect! PS: the Argot word to call an english is "Crustacée" because they are rigids, walking on the wrong sense and eating shit and corpses ! :-) so... ;-) Someones Bitter "Eating shit and corpses !"- What? The British Royal Navy is no longer a haven for cannibalism. We have that problem relatively under control. == Currencies == Wouldn't it be better to add a footnote which specifies where the CFA- and the CFP-Francs are used? Otherwise one might get the impression, that those are currencies which are also used in the mainland. --User:Gugganij 14:47, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC) :CFA Franc is used nowhere in France. CFA Franc is the currency of a number of countries in Western and Central Africa (and is pegged to the Euro). CFP Franc is the currency of the French Pacific territories. --User:David.Monniaux 18:16, 13 Jul 2004 (UTC) ::Thats's the problem I wanted to point at. --User:Gugganij 14:50, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC) == Intro == The sentence ''It holds nuclear weapons'' does not belong in the introduction. Was it francophobic vandalism? --User:Liberlogos 14:12, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC) :No, it was not intended as French bashing. I added the string because it is featured (or was...) in the French version of Wikipedia, because I though it might be revelant (since nuclear capability somehow seems to be a common trait of permanent Security Council members), and that it certainly is an important feature of the nation (think of the energy that de Gaulle or Chirac have put into this...). And also because I felt slightly depressed with the state of the world at the time, I must admit ! :p ::It's not a problem about featuring this information, but about featuring it in the early introduction, as if it were one of the most essential characteristics of France. It's as if you had added "He once took illegal drugs" in the first sentence on a page describing some politician – while mentioning it in the text, for instance when discussing drug policies, can make sense, mentioning it at the beginning is just plain accusatory. ::Nuclear weapons are not an essential trait of France. They are one of the main traits of its defense policies, which themselves are parts of France's policies, which are one aspect of France. --User:David.Monniaux 16:05, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::That's interesting that you seem to consider possessing nuclear weapons a negative trait ("Was it francophobic vandalism?" and "It's as if you had added "He once took illegal drugs" "); it is often seen as a token of high technology, and proof of power and "untouchability" of the country. Not that I disagree with the fact that nuclear weapon do have a negative aspect as well (understatement-fest, yeah ! :) ). ::: Besides, I'm agreed with David, and anyway, the "Security Council" thing is mathematically equivalent, without the militaristic connotations, so, so much the better ! ::::Well, I think that it's simply a matter of proportion and focus. In the introductory paragraph of most articles, the main characteristics of a person, country etc... are summarized. Focusing on characteristics such as weaponry has the undertones of an accusation of bellicism. It may be justified, of course, if the said country frequently threatens the usage of these weapons; but France does not parade its nukes nor does it threaten other countries with them. --User:David.Monniaux 10:45, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::::Personally, I think that the introduction should list key features of the subject treated, so that people that don't have time or patience to read the article can have an idea of the main points. The fact that France is one of the few nuclear powers on Earth is certainly something that stands out, and I think it should be in the introduction. I suggest rephrasing like this: "...a permanent member of the UN Security Council and one of only seven alleged nuclear powers on the planet." I also think that the fact that France's economy is the fifth-largest in the world should be noted in the introduction, such as: "The economy of France is the fifth-largest in the world in 2003." Last but not least, it seems the United Kingdom has been forgotten as a neighbor of France. Are maritime borders not as important as land borders? It should also be specified that these neighbors are for metropolitan France ONLY. The French Republic has many more neighbors, such as Brazil, Surinam, The Netherlands, etc. I let people express comments and suggestions before making any of the 4 proposed changes here. --User:Hardouin 16:28, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::::::I agree. Mentioning nukes as a characteristic among others is ok; what I disagreed with was that it was the only characteristic mentioned. --User:David.Monniaux 17:57, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::::::In 2003, 85,7% of electricity produced in France comes from nuclear energy. Nuclear power as energy source is way more important in France than the nuclear weapons. [http://www.edf.fr/html/etiq_elec/sources.html source] --User:Izwalito == Religion == If you think there's an accuracy or POV problem in the "religion" section, please clearly state what you think is wrong and why on the talk page; merely glueing a "the following paragraph is dubious" label does not contribute much. --User:David.Monniaux 10:07, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) == Francophobic vandalism||jealousy? == I found that the edits made by 213.140.6.103 where reverted by user:Evercat, why? --User:Surcouf 30/08/2004 14:08 CET : About the only thing of value in that edit was the figure of 77 million tourists. I'll add that back if you like. The rest was either POV ("wonderful museums") or gibberish, ie "exceptionalism of his architectural, historical and artistic patrimony." - what the heck does that mean?? --User:Evercat 22:50, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::I removed a fairly long enumeration of "facts" from the intro. --User:David.Monniaux 21:58, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::Please stop franco-phobic stupid vandalism, there is a link with official data of the year 2002 taken from WTO, if you not agreed with that try to justify why and find me other number and sources, if not: shut up, without offences... ;-)
User:Surcouf 20:40 CET 01/09/2004 :::BTW this is not a ''new fact'' as you can see [http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/eco_tou_arr here] France was already ranking 1st for tourism in 1997 with 67,310,000 Tourists ::::Surcouf, can you please provide a reference on a web site supporting these values ? --User:Anthere 20:50, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) :::::Here is a source at the French Government [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/venir/voicilafrance/gb/page05.html] which gives a figure of 71,000,000 --the most in the world--but also makes the distinction that the U.S. has the highest income from tourism in the world (a completely different statistic); France is third in that count. Googling supports that the most visited countries are France, Spain, and the U.S. in that order. Peace everyone, --User:Antandrus 20:55, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::::::Franco-phobic vandalism from User:Marcus2 ::::::I reported on wikipedia about World Tourism Rankings for world tourism rankings, those data was also published on "Capital" n°155 magazine in France and in TV (France2), the ranking reported France first world tourist destination with 77millions tourist a year (FOREIGNER), I'll make links on "economy section" to USA, GB, France, Spain and Italy (impossible: italy is blocked) with no problem (it's an official World Tourism Organization stat!) but a boy with nick User:Marcus2 reverted my edits on france denying the facts (and so the WTO official datas...) claiming that there's no evidence about that... ::::::What I can do? He menace me to block my user... --User 21:22 CET 01/09/2004 :::::::I'd say to first assume good faith from him. Marcus obviously wants the best for the article, and providing references (if there are references) should be enough to convince him. Also, I recommand that you avoid calling his reversions vandalism, if you do not want this to backfire :-) Usually, when name calling starts, it escalate pretty badly :-) Keep it cool guy. --User:Anthere 20:59, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) == intro length == The new text that has been added in the last month or so clutters the top of the page and is contrary to the WikiProject Countries template and intention. --User:Joy 14:22, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC) :I totally agree. I feel a bit responsible actually, since I am the one who started adding a few points into the introduction last month, things I deemed were missing there, but then people started adding into the introduction everything that went thru their head. The point of an introduction is, well, to introduce the subject, and to highlight key points. By cluttering it with a hodgepodge of information I think we really defeat the purpose of an introduction. I have taken out unnecessary information and put it down into the article, so that the introduction is now left with only the essential things (hopefully). --User:Hardouin 11:41, 9 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::There's also way too much text now in the Demographics section, while the Demographics of France page doesn't have anything like it. It should be mass-moved. --User:Joy :::Done that now. --User:Joy 14:37, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC) == International Schools in France == Does anyone know of international schools (K-12) in France (that is, schools that teach in English)? I already know of the two in Paris and one in Toulouse but I am pretty sure there are a few more out there... :Please note that K-12 is an American abbreviation; most Europeans won't understand it. [For those who might help: K-12 means "kindergarten to 12th grade", that is, primary and secondary education.] This is not really the place to ask for such things... ::Actually you're wrong. Many international schools in Europe use the American K-12 system. And I guess you have a point (Even though you didnt really make one) that this is not the forum to make off-topic inquiries. I apologize. :::Before saying that people are wrong, you should read what they write. :-) Most Europeans don't know what K-12 means, even some who might know about Anglophone schools in their vicinity. == Error on main entry == I don't know how to properly fix this, but there's obviously an error on the main page. Someone has added some slanders french history and possibly deleted some stuff. :There are people watching over the page to check for possible vandalism. It just doesn't get fix straight away every time. --User:David.Monniaux 21:43, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::I noticed it too before, I was about to remove the text that was included but someone beat me to it. Not sure whether this is the right place to point that out, but what's with that picture of Spain in the history section. It is not even referenced in the text, I think that ought to be removed. ==Use of definite article== Please don't overuse the definite articles le/la when citing French phrases (a common error of many anglophones). One normally doesn't put le/la in front of an expression like ''France'' or ''République Française'' unless it is inside a sentence of its own. For instance, some official letterhead may start with ''République Française'' but will ''never'' start with ''La République Française''. --User:David.Monniaux 09:27, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC) == This is cool. I can write on the page and no one will care. == How come this page says "This is cool. I can write on the page and no one will care." ??? but I can't find out where it was added. I tend to see such strange things after 'nuclear weapons' is mentioned on wikipedia. : Hi. See Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers. -- User:Infrogmation 03:59, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC) == Religion in France == Where is the article on this? Fascinating subject, complicated interplay. :Now moved to Culture of France. I'll put a summary here. --User:David.Monniaux 08:30, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::uhhh huh --anonymous ==Flag== The previous flag was the old flag and was not did not match with colours that were listed in the french flag article --user:nicksukh == Infobox == I'm sick and tired the infobox being moved around. --User:David.Monniaux 09:00, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC) == Locked ? == What's with this lock? what are the editing disputes related to this lock? --User:Izwalito :The infobox was being moved up and down and up and down. --User:David.Monniaux 18:53, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::I'd like to add to the links to French language websites, but I can't do it while the article is locked.. --User:Zantastik 07:55, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Sign of France == Whoever wrote the article, you forget to mention 'Marianne', which is the symbol of the French Republic. I got you a link with an actual picture... It's french though: http://www.elysee.fr/instit/symb6.htm "Marianne is the symbol of France since the consitution of 1958 made the Blue-White-Red flag official. She is a sign of Liberty" :If you scroll down the page, there's a link to Marianne. We should perhaps make it more proeminent. --User:David.Monniaux 07:52, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::I agree. It's like having an article on the Netherlands without mentioning William of Orange. --User:Gerbrant 16:32, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Military of France == As one of the most important nations in the world (exery nation may have it's beauty and so on, but you know what i mean.), I think France's military should get an own section in the article. BTW, the main article on it is very messy. --User:Predator capitalism 18:55, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :You are welcome to improve it. --User:David.Monniaux 20:05, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Vandalism== What happened?? We all need to work together as a team to act more quickly a vandal starts messing with wikipedia articles. --User:nicksukh :We had a string of vandalism coming from various educational networks, at some point. --User:David.Monniaux 05:08, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) Il n'y a aucune raison pour protéger cet article. Il faut simplement exclure les idiots qui détruisent la page. C'est ça. -User:Heimdal 15:39, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Cela suppose que nous puissions bannir toutes leurs adresses IP, ce qui n'est pas si simple, vu qu'ils interviennent visiblement depuis de nombreuses adresses à travers le monde (peut-être des machines infectées par un virus et faisant "open proxy"). User:David.Monniaux 16:12, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) Erm...the entire page has just disappeared. ==Insulting the French== ''Note: by the 2nd of May, 2005 part of the conversation had become jumbled up. I used the history to figure out who wrote what when. User:Gerbrant'' Why is it that so many people like to vandalise pages about france or the french? :I think I fixed it. Whoever did this needs to learn a lesson. Anonymous S. African ::Why do so many people like to vandalize pages about the U.S.? I'm disheartened if there's any anti-French sentiment whatsoever in English Wikipedia. Yet, in my experience, anti-Americanism is far more widespread in France than Francophobia will ever be in the United States. User:Mason.Jones 16:56, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::''(continued below — User:Gerbrant)'' :::Really? I'm afraid it doesn't seem to sink to the kind of vulgarity and ignorance that we see here. Is your experience based on living in France? User:David.Monniaux 22:31, 1 May 2005 (UTC) ::Yes, it does sink that low, I'm afraid. My friends from Paris think so, too. User:Mason.Jones 02:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::''(continued from above — User:Gerbrant)'' ::And now I see that a totally awkward, ideologically inspired word – ''états-unien'' – must replace ''américain'' on the French Wiki site.User:Mason.Jones 16:56, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::You're perhaps not aware of this, but southern americans really hate the use of ''american'' or ''américain'' or ''americano'' with a meaning restricted to the United States. Some people thought it appropriate to use a more specific word. User:David.Monniaux 22:31, 1 May 2005 (UTC) ::Spanish-speakers have used ''estadounidense'' or ''norteamericano'' for ages. Yet almost overnight the French Wiki site imposes ''états-unien'', a term very few Francophones use—not ''Le Monde'', not ''Libé'' and not any French person I've ever met. This is an ideologically driven change on the part of French Wikipedians, that's all. User:Mason.Jones 02:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::::I wouldn't like the word "European" to be used specifically for Germans, for sure... but if it's ideologically driven, it must be evil indeed... I don't really see what using a precise word for naming the inhabitants of a country instead of a generic word, applicable for the whole continent, has to do with the vandalising of this page though. On a sidenote I still haven't seen primary anti-americanism here, although people make fun of Americans just like of anybody else (but of course I lived in the civilised world, not Paris or another big city, haha). User:SeeSchloss 07:15, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::::Oh and I'm not sure what you mean with the French wiki, the French USA wiki page says "Américain" everywhere and the search engines find it about 100 times more than "états-unien". And I can't find a decision asking to use either of the words rather than the other on the bistro, or the community portal page (except for one discussion last week, which doesn't have any conclusion). User:SeeSchloss 07:32, 2 May 2005 (UTC) :::Hmmm. So, because of minority of Francophone wikipedians (not necessarily French, and clearly not representative of society in general) declare they prefer to use ''étatsuniens'', you read into their thought and conclude this is motivated not by a desire of precision or of accomodation for South Americans etc., but by anti-American ideology? And then you consider this an example of widespread Americanophobia in France? Interesting. User:David.Monniaux 14:09, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::The entire debate is (or was) in the "Discussion" section for the article "États-
FRance
#Redirect France
FrancE
#REDIRECT France
France
The French Republic or France (: ''République française'' or ''France'') is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. France is a democracy organised as a unitary state semi-presidential system republic. It is a developed nation with the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2003. Its main values are expressed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. France is one of the founding members of the European Union, and has the largest land area of all members.. France is also a founding member of the United Nations. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council wielding veto power, and it is also one of only seven acknowledged nuclear powers in existence. == Geography == ''Main article: Geography of France'' While the main territory of France (metropolitan France; French: ''la Métropole'', or ''France métropolitaine'') is located in Western Europe, France is also constituted from territories in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the western and southern Indian Ocean, the northern and southern Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica (sovereignty claims in Antarctica are not recognised by most countries, see Antarctic Treaty). Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the North Sea, and from the Rhine River to the Atlantic Ocean; it is bordered by the United Kingdom, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. The French Republic also shares land borders overseas with Brazil, Suriname, and the Netherlands. France possesses a large variety of landscapes, ranging from coastal plains in the north and west, where France borders the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, to the mountain ranges in the south (the Pyrenees) and the south-east (the Alps), the latter containing the highest point in western Europe, Mont Blanc at 4810 m. In between are found other elevated regions such as the Massif Central or the Vosges mountains and extensive river basins such as those of the Loire River, the Rhone River, the Garonne and Seine. *Related links:National parks (France) ===Maritime territory (EEZ)=== Due to its numerous overseas departments and territories scattered on all oceans of the planet, France possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 1 E13 m² km² (4,260,000 sq. miles), just behind the EEZ of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq. miles), but ahead of the EEZ of Australia (8,232,000 km² / 3,178,000 sq. miles). According to a different calculation cited by the ''Pew Research Center'', the EEZ of France would be 1 E13 m² km² (3,893,532 sq. miles), behind the United States (12,174,629 km² / 4,700,651 sq. miles), but ahead of Australia (8,980,568 km² / 3,467,416 sq. miles) and Russia (7,566,673 km² / 2,921,508 sq. miles). The EEZ of France covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world, whereas the land area of the French Republic is only 0.45% of the total land area of the Earth. == History == ''Main article: History of France'' The borders of modern France closely align with those of the ancient territory of Gaul, inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Gaul was conquered by the Romans in the first century BC, and the Gauls eventually adopted Romance languages speech and culture. Christianity also took root in the second and third centuries AD. Gaul's eastern frontiers along the Rhine were overrun by Germanic tribes in the fourth century AD, principally the Franks, from which the ancient name of "Francie" derived. The modern name "France" derives from the name of the feudal domain of the Capetian Kings of France around Paris. Existence as a separate entity begins with the division, in 843, of Charlemagne's Franks empire into eastern, central and western parts. The eastern part (which would soon unite with the central portion as the Holy Roman Empire) can be regarded the beginnings of what is now Germany, the western part that of France. Charlemagne's descendants ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of France. His descendants (which formed the Capetian, Valois and House of Bourbon dynasties) ruled France until 1792, when the French Revolution established a Republic, in a period of increasingly radical change that began in 1789. Napoleon I of France seized control of the republic in 1799, making himself First Consul. His armies engaged in several wars across Europe, conquered many countries and established new kingdoms with Napoleon's family members at the helm. Following his defeat in 1815, the French monarchy was re-established, which was then legislatively abolished and followed by a French Second Republic in 1848. The Second Republic ended when the late Emperor's nephew, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was elected President and proclaimed a Second French Empire in 1852. Less ambitious than his uncle, the second Napoleon was also ultimately unseated, and republican rule returned for a third time in the Third Republic (1870). Although ultimately a victor in World Wars World War I and World War II, France - much like Britain - suffered extensive losses in its empire, comparative economic status, working population, and status as a dominant nation-state. After World War II, the French Fourth Republic was established. In 1958, it devised a semi-presidential democracy (known as the Fifth Republic) that has not succumbed to the instabilities experienced in earlier, more parliamentary regimes. In recent decades, France's reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the political and economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of the Euro in January 1999. France has been at the forefront of European states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to advance the creation of a more unified and capable European political, defence and security apparatus. However its population voted against ratification of the European Constitution in May 2005. It is also one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and holds France and weapons of mass destruction. == Politics == ''Main articles: Government of France (about government structures) and Politics of France (about political groups and tendencies)'' The constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by public referendum on September 28 1958. It greatly strengthened the authority of the executive in relation to Parliament. Under the constitution, the president is elected directly for a 5-year (originally 7-year) term. Presidential arbitration assures regular functioning of the public powers and the continuity of the state. The president names the prime minister, presides over the cabinet, commands the armed forces, and concludes treaties. The French National Assembly (''Assemblée Nationale'') is the principal legislative body. Its deputies are directly elected to 5-year terms, and all seats are voted on in each election. The Assembly has the power to dismiss the cabinet, and thus the majority in the Assembly determines the choice of government. Senators are chosen by an electoral college for 6-year terms, and one half of the Senate is renewed every 3 years ([http://www.senat.fr/role/senate.html starting 2007]). The Senate's legislative powers are limited; the National Assembly has the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses, except for constitutional laws (amendments to the constitution & "lois organiques"). The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament. French politics, for the past 30 years, have been characterised by the opposition of two political groups: one left-wing, centred around the French Socialist Party, and one right-wing, centred around the Rally for the Republic, then its successor the Union for a Popular Movement. The ''National Front (France)'' nationalist / hard right party, seizing on voters' growing concerns of their country's perceived decline, as well as 'national dissolution' brought about by immigration and globalisation, and advocating tougher law-and-order and immigration policies, has made inroads since the early 1980s, but has lately remained stable at around 16% of the votes. See also: * Constitution of France * President of France * List of Prime Ministers of France * List of Foreign Ministers of France * Foreign relations of France ===Foreign relations=== ''Main article: Foreign relations of France'' France's founding membership in the European Union has largely defined France's foreign policy. On May 29, 2005 the French rejected the French referendum on the European Constitution to decide whether their country should ratify the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe with approximately 55% voting no. The outcome of the vote was widely regarded as crucial for the future development of the EU, as well as for France's ability to retain its position of leadership in Europe. The French Republic is furthermore a member of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and of the Indian Ocean Commission (COI), and an associate member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). France is also a leading member of the La Francophonie (OIF) which gathers 51 fully or partly French-speaking countries. France hosts the headquarters of the OECD and UNESCO, as well as those of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures in charge of the international SI, and Interpol. == Administrative divisions == ''Main article: Administrative divisions of France'' France has 26 ''Région in France'': 21 of these are in the continental part of metropolitan France, one is Corse on the island of Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a "territorial collectivity", not a ''région'', but is referred to as a ''région'' in common speech), 4 are overseas. The ''région'' are further subdivided into 100 ''départements''. The departments are numbered (mainly alphabetically) and this number is used, for instance, in postal codes and vehicle number plates. French arrondissements''. The overseas departments are former colonies outside ''metropolitan'' France that now enjoy a status similar to European or ''metropolitan'' France. They are considered to be a part of France (and the EU) rather than dependent territories, and each of them is a ''région'' at the same time. The overseas territories and countries form part of the French Republic, but do not form part of the Republic's European territory or the EU fiscal area. They continue to use the French Pacific Franc as their currency, which was not replaced by the euro like the French franc was in 2002. The French Pacific Franc's value is, however, now tied to that of the euro. The departmental and territorial collectivities have an intermediate status between overseas department and overseas territory. France also maintains control over a number of other small islands in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, including Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, Tromelin Island. See Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans. == Economy == ''Main article: Economy of France'' France's economy combines extensive private enterprise (nearly 2.5 million companies registered) with substantial (though declining) government intervention (see dirigisme). The government retains considerable influence over key segments of infrastructure sectors, with majority ownership of railway, electricity, aircraft, and telecommunication firms. It has been gradually relaxing its control over these sectors since the early 1990s. The government is slowly selling off holdings in France Télécom, Air France, as well as the insurance, banking, and defence industries. A member of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries, it ranked as the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2003, behind the United States, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. France joined 10 other EU members to launch the Euro on January 1 1999, with euro coins and euro banknotes completely replacing the French Franc#French franc in early 2002. According to the OECD, in 2004 France was the world's fifth-largest exporter of manufactured goods, behind the United States, Germany, Japan, and China, (but ahead of the United Kingdom). It was also the fourth-largest importer of manufactured goods (behind the United States, Germany, and China, but ahead of the United Kingdom and Japan). Yet according to the OECD, in 2003 France was the OECD country that received the most foreign direct investment (Luxembourg excepted, where foreign direct investment was mostly monetary transfers to banks located in that country). With 47 billion USD of foreign direct investments, France ranked above the United States (39.9 billion USD of FDI received), the United Kingdom (14.6 billion USD of FDI received), Germany (12.9 billion USD of FDI received), or Japan (6.3 billion USD of FDI received). At the same time, French companies invested 57.3 billion USD outside of France, ranking France as the second most important outward direct investor in the OECD, behind the United States (173.8 billion USD of outward FDI), but ahead of the United Kingdom (55.3 billion USD of outward FDI), Japan (28.8 billion USD of outward FDI), or Germany (2.6 billion USD of outward FDI). France is also the second most productive country in the OECD (excluding Norway and Luxembourg where productivity data are inflated by oil revenues in Norway, and by investments in off-shore banks in Luxembourg). In 2003, the GDP per hour worked in France was 47.2 USD, ranking France behind Belgium (48 USD per hour worked), but above the United States (43.5 USD per hour worked), Germany (40.6 USD per hour worked), the United Kingdom (37.7 USD per hour worked), or Japan (30.9 USD per hour worked). Despite a higher productivity than in the US, France's GDP per capita is significantly lower than the US GDP per capita, being in fact comparable to the GDP per capita of the other European countries, which is on average 30% below US level. The reason for this is because a much smaller percentage of the French population is working compared to the US, which sinks the GDP per capita of France, despite its high productivity. In fact, France has one of the lowest percentage of its population at work among the OECD countries. In 2003, 41.5% of the French population was working, compared to 50.7% in the US, and 47.3% in the UK. This phenomenon is the result of almost thirty years of massive unemployment in France, which has led to three consequences reducing the size of the working population: about 10% of the active population is without a job; students delay as long as possible their entry into labour market; and finally the French government gives various incentives to workers to retire in their early 50s. As many economists have stressed repeatedly over the years, the main issue with the French economy is not an issue of productivity. It is an issue of structural reforms, in order to increase the size of the working population in the overall population. Liberal and Keynesian economists have different answers to that issue. With over 75 million tourists in 2003, France is World Tourism Rankings as the first tourist destination in the world, ahead of Spain (52.5 million) and the United States (40.4 million). It features cities of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquillity (green tourism). France has an important aerospace industry led by Airbus S.A.S. and is the only European power to have its own national spaceport (''Centre Spatial Guyanais''). France is also the most energy independent Western country due to heavy investment in nuclear power, which also makes France the smallest producer of carbon dioxide among the seven most industrialised countries in the world. Large tracts of fertile land, the application of modern technology, and EU subsidies have combined to make France the leading agricultural producer in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War the government made efforts to integrate more and more with Germany, both economically and politically. Today the two countries form what is often referred to as the "core" countries in favour of greater integration of the European Union. See also: List of French companies ==Demographics== ''Main article: Demographics of France'' ===Population=== Starting with the 19th century, the historical evolution of the population in France has been extremely atypical in the Western World. Unlike the rest of Europe, France did not experience a strong population growth in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. On the other hand, it experienced a much stronger growth in the second half of the 20th century than the rest of Europe or indeed its own growth in the previous centuries. After 1974, France's population growth stalled, and reached its nadir in the 1990s with only 0.39% annual growth, being now more in tune with the rest of Europe, which has entered demographic decline. However, first results from the 2004 French census have greatly surprised demographers. The census revealed that population growth rebounded significantly after the 1999 census, something nobody had anticipated. Between 1999-2003, annual population growth was 0.58%. In 2004, population growth was 0.68%, almost reaching North American levels. 2004 was the year with the highest increase in French population since 1974. France is now well ahead of all other European countries (except for the Republic of Ireland). In 2003, France's natural population growth (excluding immigration) was responsible for almost all the natural growth in European population: the population of the European Union increased by 216,000 inhabitants (without immigration), of which 211,000 was the increase in France's population alone, and 5,000 was the increase in all the other countries of the EU combined. In 2004 the natural increase in France's population reached 256,000, but figures for other European countries are not available yet. These unexpected results bear great consequences for the future. At the moment, France is the third most populous country of Europe, behind Russia and Germany. By 2050, demographers initially thought the population of metropolitan France would be 64 million inhabitants, but they now agree that their estimates were too conservative, being based on the 1990s growth rate of population. Demographers now estimate that by 2050 metropolitan France's population will be 75 million, at which time it will be the most populated country of the European Union, above Germany (71 million), the United Kingdom (59 million), and Italy (43 million). If these estimates become reality, it may fundamentally alter the balance of power in Brussels. It would be the first time since the 1860s that France is the largest Nation of Europe (Russia excluded). In mid-2004 the EU had 460 million inhabitants, 13.6% of whom were living in France (including overseas ''départements''). By 2050 it is estimated that the population of the European Union (of the current 25 members) will have declined to 445 million inhabitants, of whom 17.5% will be living in France. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of people seeking refugee in France rose by around 3 per cent between 2003 and 2004, while in the same period, the number of asylum applications submitted in the United States fell by about 29 per cent. France thereby replaced the United States as the world's top destination for asylum-seekers in 2004. ===Languages=== The official language is French. Several Languages of France (including Alsatian, Basque language, Breton language, Creole#Caribbean creole, Catalan language, Corsican language, Dutch language (Flemish), Franco-Provençal dialects, Gascon, West Central German dialect, Occitan language, and some Oïl languages dialects) are also occasionally understood and spoken, mostly by elderly people, but the French government and public school system discouraged the use of any of them until recently. The regional languages are now taught at some schools, though French remains the only official language in use by the government, local or national. Some languages spoken by immigrants are also frequently heard, especially in large cities: Portuguese language, Maghreb Arabic, several Berber languages, several languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkish language, several Chinese dialects (most notably Wu (linguistics) dialects, Cantonese (linguistics), Min Nan, and Mandarin (linguistics)), Vietnamese language, and Khmer language are the most frequently heard. ====Statistics==== At the 1999 census, INSEE sampled 380,000 adult people all across Metropolitan France, and asked them questions about their family situation. One of the questions was about the languages that their parents spoke with them before the age of 5. This is the first time serious statistics were computed about the proportion of mother tongues in France. The results were published in ''Enquête familiale, Insee, 1999''. Here is a list of the nine most prominent mother tongues in France based on ''Enquête familiale''. Before trying to use these data, or analyze them, readers should peruse the Languages of France#Important notes to understand the table. Given the complex nature of the subject, misunderstandings and confusions are likely if these notes are not read. {| style="text-align:right;" |- style="text-align:center;" !Rank !Language !Mother tongue of
(in thousands of adults) !Percentage of adult population |- | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | French language | align="center" | 39,360 | align="center" | 86%
(the real figure for the whole population
is closer to 90%, see notes) |- | align="center" | 2 | align="center" | German language and High German
(Alsatian language, West Central German, etc.) | align="center" | 970
(of whom Alsatian: 660;
standard German: 210;
Lorraine German: 100) | align="center" | 2.12%
(of whom Alsatian: 1.44%;
standard German: 0.46%;
Lorraine German: 0.22%) |- | align="center" | 3 | align="center" | Arabic language
(essentially Maghreb Arabic) | align="center" | 940 | align="center" | 2.05% |- | align="center" | 4 | align="center" | Occitan
(Languedocien language, Gascon, Provençal, etc.) | align="center" | 610
(another 1,060 had some exposure) | align="center" | 1.33%
(another 2.32% had some exposure, see notes) |- | align="center" | 5 | align="center" | Portuguese language | align="center" | 580 | align="center" | 1.27% |- | align="center" | 6 | align="center" | Oïl languages
(Picard language, Gallo language, Poitevin-Saintongeais, etc.) | align="center" | 570
(another 850 had some exposure) | align="center" | 1.25%
(another 1.86% had some exposure, see notes) |- | align="center" | 7 | align="center" | Italian language (and dialects) | align="center" | 540 | align="center" | 1.19% |- | align="center" | 8 | align="center" | Spanish language | align="center" | 485 | align="center" | 1.06% |- | align="center" | 9 | align="center" | Breton language | align="center" | 280
(another 405 had some exposure) | align="center" | 0.61%
(another 0.87% had some exposure, see notes) |- | align="center" | 10 | align="center" | About 400 other languages
(Polish language, Berber languages, East Asian language, Catalan language, Franco-Provençal, Corsican language, Basque, etc.)
as well as no answers | align="center" | 2,350
(of whom English: 115) | align="center" | 5.12%
(of whom English: 0.25% of total adult population) |- | align="center" | | align="center" | Total | align="center" | 45,762
(46,680 including those with two mother tongues who were counted twice) | align="center" | 102%
(2% of people have both French and another language as their mother tongue, thus, they are counted twice) |} If we add up people with mother tongue and people with some exposure to the language before the age of 5, then the five most important languages in metropolitan France are (note that the percentages add up to more than 100, because many people are now counted twice): * French: 42,100,000 (92%) * Oc languages: 1,670,000 (3.65%) * German and German dialects: 1,440,000 (3.15%) * Oïl languages: 1,420,000 (3.10%) * Arabic: 1,170,000 (2.55%) ===Cities=== [[Image:France cities.png|thumb|right|300px|Metropolitan France's urban areas of more than 100,000 inhabitants]] The principal cities by population include: :Aix-en-Provence, Ajaccio, Albi, Amiens, Angers, Angouleme, Bastia, Belfort, Besançon, Bordeaux, Brest, France, Caen, Calais, Cannes, Carcassonne, Charleville-Mézières, Clermont-Ferrand, Colmar, Dijon, Dunkerque, Evreux, Grenoble, La Rochelle, Le Havre, Le Mans, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Nîmes, Orléans, Paris, Perpignan, Poitiers, Quimper, Reims, Rennes, Roubaix, Rouen, Saint-Étienne, Saint-Nazaire, Strasbourg, Tarbes, Toulon, Toulouse, Tourcoing, Tours and Valence, Drôme. See also aire urbaine and List of towns in France. == Culture == ''Main article: Culture of France'' *Académie française *French literature *Famous French People *Cuisine of France *Cinema of France *Music of France *Holidays in France ===Religion=== Traditionally a predominantly Roman Catholic country, with anticlerical leanings, France is since the 1970s a very secular country. Freedom of religion is a constitutional right, as reflected by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The dominant concept of the relationships between the public sphere and religions is that of ''laïcité'', which implies that the government does not intervene in religious dogma, and that religions should refrain from intervening in policy-making. Tensions occasionally erupt about the alleged or real behaviour of some part of the Muslim minority, or about alleged or real discrimination against that community; see Islam in France. The government does not maintain statistics as to the religion of its inhabitants. Statistics from an unspecified source and date given in the CIA World Factbook gives the following number: Roman Catholic 83-88%, Islam 5-10%, Protestant 2%, Judaism 1%. However, a [http://a1692.g.akamai.net/f/1692/2042/1h/medias.lemonde.fr/medias/pdf_obj/sondage030416.pdf 2003 poll] 41% said that the existence of God was "excluded" or "unlikely". 33% declared that "atheist" described them rather or very well, and 51% for "Christian". When questioned about their religion, 62% answered Roman Catholic, 6% Muslim, 2% Protestantism, 1% Jewish, 2% "other religions" (except for Eastern Orthodoxy or Buddhism, which were negligible), 26% "no religion" and 1% declined to answer. A Gallup poll established that 15% of the French population attend places of worship. ==Military== ''Main article: Military of France'' The French armed forces are divided into four branches: * French Army (Armée de Terre) * Marine nationale (Marine Nationale) * French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) * French Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale), a military police force which serves for the most part as a rural and general purpose police force. In France, military age lies at 17. Since the Algerian War of Independence, conscription has been steadily reduced and was abolished by the government of Jacques Chirac in 1996. Among the larger European economies, France and United Kingdom are the only significant spenders on defence: France with 2.6% of GDP, and Britain, at 2.4%, according to 2003 figures from NATO. Those two countries account for 40% of EU defence spending. In most other EU countries, defence spending is less than 1.5% of GDP. ==Terminology== ===Origin of the country's name=== The name France comes from Medieval Latin ''Francia'', which literally means "land of the Franks, Frankland". Originally it applied to the whole Frankish Empire, extending from southern France to eastern Germany. At the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Frankish Empire was divided in three parts, and eventually only two: ''Francia Occidentalis'' (i.e. "Western Frankland") and ''Francia Orientalis'' (i.e. "Eastern Frankland"). The rulers of ''Francia Orientalis'', who soon claimed the imperial title and wanted to reunify the Frankish Empire, dropped the name ''Francia Orientalis'' and called their realm the Holy Roman Empire (see History of Germany). The kings of ''Francia Occidentalis'' successfully opposed this claim, and managed to preserve ''Francia Occidentalis'' as an independent kingdom, distinct from the Holy Roman Empire. The Battle of Bouvines in 1214 definitely marked the end of the efforts by the Holy Roman Empire to reunify the old Frankish Empire by conquering France. Since the name ''Francia Orientalis'' had disappeared, there arose the habit to refer to ''Francia Occidentalis'' as ''Francia'' only, from which the word France is derived. The French state has been in continuous existence since 843 (except for a brief interruption in 885-887), with an unbroken line of heads of states since the first king of ''Francia Occidentalis'' (Charles the Bald) to the current president of the French Republic (Jacques Chirac). Noticeably, in German language, France is still called ''Frankreich'', which literally means "''Reich'' (realm) of the Franks". In order to distinguish from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called ''Frankreich'', while the Frankish Empire is called ''Frankenreich''. The name of the Franks itself is said to come from the Proto-Germanic language word *''frankon'' which means "javelin, lance". Another proposed etymology is that Frank means "the free men", based on the fact that the word ''frank'' meant "free" in the ancient Germanic languages. However, rather than the ethnic name of the Franks coming from the word ''frank'' ("free"), it is more probable that the word ''frank'' ("free") comes from the ethnic name of the Franks, the connection being that only the Franks, as the conquering class, had the status of freemen. Contrary to what many people believe, the name of the former French currency, the franc, does not come from the name of the country. Instead, the name of the currency comes from Old French ''franc'', a word which meant "free", directly borrowed from the Germanic word ''frank'' ("free"). In modern French, ''franc'' means "frank, sincere". The meaning "free" was lost, except in a few set phrases, such as ''port franc'' (i.e. "free port") or ''franc-maçon'' (i.e. "freemason"). During the Hundred Years' War, King John II of France was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers (1356). The English asked for a ransom to liberate the king, which amounted to twice the yearly income of France. In order to raise the money to pay the ransom, a new coinage had to be minted. These new coins were called ''francs'', because they were minted to "free" the king. Before the arrival of the Franks, France was called Gaul (Latin: ''Gallia''; French language: ''Gaule''). This name continued to be used for a very long time after the Franks arrived in what is now France. In fact, for as long as the cultural elites of Europe used Latin predominantly (until the 18th century), the name ''Gallia'' continued to be used alongside the name France. Today, in modern French language, the word ''Gaule'' has completely disappeared, and is only used in a historical context. The only current use of the word is in the title of the leader of the French bishops, the archbishop of Lyon, whose official title is Primate (religion) of the Gauls (''Primat des Gaules''). Gaul is in the plural in the title, reflecting the three Gallic entities identified by the Romans (''Gaul'', ''Gallia Belgica'', and ''Gascony#History''). The adjective ''gaulois'' (Gallic) is still sometimes used when a Frenchman wants to stress some idiosyncrasies of the French people entrenched in history, such as ''notre vieux fond gaulois querelleur'' ("the love of quarrels of our old Gallic stock"), a phrase used when denouncing French propensity for strikes or controversies. During the French Third Republic, the authorities often referred to ''notre vieille Nation gauloise'' ("our old Gallic Nation"), a case in which the adjective ''gaulois'' is used with a positive connotation. In English the word Gaul is never used in a modern context. The adjective Gallic is sometimes used to refer to French people, especially in a derisive and critical way, such as "Gallic pride" or "Gallic hygiene". Note that the family name of General de Gaulle (with two "l") has nothing to do with the name Gaul (French: ''Gaule'', with one "l"). It seems that "Gaulle" comes from an old Germanic word meaning "wall", where w- evolved into g- under the influence of French (cf. William and Guillaume). Nonetheless, contemporary Frenchmen could not help noticing the striking similarity between the two names, and it added to the aura surrounding de Gaulle. In almost all the languages of the world, France is known by the word "France" or any of its derivatives. In a few languages (essentially Greek language and Breton), France is known as "Gaul". ===Meanings of the name France=== The name "France" (and its adjective "French") can have four different meanings which it is important to distinguish in order to avoid ambiguities. In a first meaning, "France" refers to the whole French Republic. In a second meaning, it refers to metropolitan France only. This is the most common meaning. In a third meaning, "France" refers specifically to the provinces of France of Île-de-France (province) (with Paris at its centre) which historically was the heart of the royal demesne. This meaning is found in some geographic names, such as French Brie (''Brie française'') and French Vexin (''Vexin français''). French Brie, the area where the famous Brie cheese is produced, is the part of Brie that was annexed to the royal demesne, as opposed to Champagne Brie (''Brie champenoise'') which was annexed by Champagne (province). Likewise, French Vexin was the part of Vexin inside Île-de-France, as opposed to Normandy Vexin (''Vexin normand'') which was inside Normandy. This meaning is also found in the name of the French language (''langue française''), whose literal meaning is "language of Île-de-France". It is not until the 19th and 20th centuries that the language of Île-de-France indeed became the language of the whole country France. In modern French, the French language is called ''le français'', while the old language of Île-de-France is called ''le francien''. In a fourth meaning, "France" refers only to the ''Pays de France'', one of the many ''pays'' (Latin: ''pagi'', singular ''pagus'') of Île-de-France. French provinces are traditionally made up of several ''pays'', which are the direct continuation of the ''pagi'' set up by the Roman administration during Antiquity. The province of Île-de-France is thus made up of several ''pays'': ''Pays de France'', Parisis, Hurepoix, French Vexin, and so on. ''Pays de France'' is the extremely fertile plain located immediately north of Paris which supported one of the most productive agriculture during the Middle Ages and was responsible for the tremendous wealth of the kingdom of France before the Hundred Years' War, making possible the emergence of Gothic architecture art and architecture which spread all over western Europe. ''Pays de France'' is also called ''Plaine de France'' (i.e. "Plain of France"). Its historic main town is Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, where the first gothic cathedral in the world was built in the 12th century, and inside which the kings of France are buried. ''Pays de France'' is now almost entirely built up, being but the northern extension of the Paris suburbs. This fourth meaning is found in many place names, such as the town of Roissy-en-France, on whose territory is located Charles de Gaulle International Airport. The name of the town literally means "Roissy in the ''Pays de France''", and not "Roissy in the country France", as many people wrongly believe. Another example of the use of France in this meaning is the new ''Stade de France'', which was built near Saint-Denis for the Football World Cup 1998. It was decided to call the stadium after the ''Pays de France'', to give it a local touch. In particular, the mayor of Saint-Denis made it very clear that he wanted the new stadium to be a stadium of the northern suburbs of Paris, and not just a national stadium which happens to be located in the northern suburbs. The name reflected this. However, most people, both inside and outside France, are not aware of this, and assume that the stadium was chauvinistically called after the country France. == Miscellaneous topics == ''Description of the flag:'' three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), white, and red (blue and red being the colours of Paris and white the colour of the Bourbon royal family); became the flag during the French Revolution and made popular by Marquis de Lafayette; known as the ''drapeau tricolore'' (Tricolour Flag); the design and colours inspired a number of other flags, including those of Belgium, Chad, Ireland, Italy, Côte d'Ivoire, and Luxembourg. The design and colours of the French flag may have been influenced by the Netherlands flag. The foundation of France is traditionally dated 496 (baptism of Clovis I). In reality, however, the legal founding of France is 843, date of the Treaty of Verdun, which divided the Frankish Empire and created the kingdom of Francia Occidentalis (“Western Frankland”), from which France is descended. The French state has been in continuous existence since 843, being probably the oldest state in existence in the world (other countries, such as China, may claim a longer history, but they had periods of foreign domination when their statehood was interrupted). France's motto "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" was first used as the rebels' motto during the French Revolution. The national holiday of France since 1880 is the ''Fête Nationale'' (National Holiday), colloquially known as ''le 14 juillet'', celebrating the ''Fête de la Fédération'' (July 14, 1790) and ''not'' the storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) as is often mistakenly believed, even by a majority of French people, and is the reason why the holiday is referred to as Bastille Day in English language. On the occasion of the ''Fête de la Fédération'', celebrated exactly one year after the storming of the Bastille, all the representatives of the provinces of France gathered on the Champ de Mars in Paris in presence of the king Louis XVI and proclaimed the national unity of France. They vowed to remain faithful to "the Nation, the Law, the King". This day is considered by French Republicans as the real birth of France: France is no more a country made up of provinces conquered by kings, but a country of provinces and men who freely agree to form a common Nation. This concept of a Nation agreed upon is opposed to the German concept of a Nation based on ethnicity and race, and it was responsible for much of the conflicts between France and Germany in the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. Germany considered that Alsace was a German land that had been annexed by the conquest of the French kings, while France considered that although Alsace had indeed been a conquered province in the first place, it had legitimately and freely become a part of France by the oath of July 14, 1790. It is thus no surprise that the 14th of July was proclaimed the National Holiday of France in 1880, 9 years after Germany had detached Alsace-Lorraine from France. Despite being associated with the ''Fête de la Fédération'', the 14th of July irked many French monarchists, to whom it recalled the bloody memory of the storming of the Bastille. French monarchists used to wear a black armband each 14th of July, in defiance of the National Holiday. The capital and most populous city, Paris, is considered by many to be one of the most famous and beautiful cities in the world. Paris is also home to numerous historical buildings and monuments. The Mont-Saint-Michel is the most visited touristic site in France. Other very popular and well-known touristic sites include: Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versailles, Disneyland Resort Paris, the Chateau of the Loire Valley, the ski resorts of the French Alps, Tahiti and the lagoons of French Polynesia, etc. == International rankings == *Total Gross domestic product, 2003: 5th (out of 185) *Total value of foreign trade (imports and exports), 2002: 4th (out of 185) *Human Development Index, 2004: 16th (out of 177) *Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: Rank 19 out of 167 countries *[http://www.transparency.org/pressreleases_archive/2004/2004.10.20.cpi.en.html Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2004] - 22nd of 145 countries == External links == ===Directories=== *[http://www.service-public.fr/etranger/english.html Official site of the French public service] - Contains many links to various administrations and institutions *[http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi?lang=en Yellow Pages] - Business Phonenumbers from France Telecom *[http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pb.cgi?lang=en White Pages] - Residential Phonenumbers from France Telecom (does not include other operators) *[http://www.mediatico.com/en/newspapers/europe/france French Newspapers] ===Maps and travel guides=== * *[http://www.map-of-france.co.uk Map of France] - Maps of France and its ''régions'' *[http://www.justfrance.org France travel guide] *[http://www.willgoto.com/categories.aspx?Destination=271&Langue=1 Willgoto France] - Travel guide and directory *[http://www.pictures-europe.com/holidays-france.htm France Pictures] Geographic guide: France *[http://www.travel-images.com/france.html Images of France] - image gallery *[http://about-france.com/ About France] - Information about France *[http://www.eng.cityvox.com Cityvox] France Francophonie Republics European Union member states ang:Francland als:Frankreich ga:An Fhrainc gd:A' Fhraing ht:Frans hi:फ्रांस kn:ಪ್ರಾಂಸ್ ks:फ्रांस kw:Pow Frynk la:Francia lv:Francija li:Frankriek mg:Frantsa ms:Perancis zh-min-nan:Hoat-kok mn:Франц улс na:France nds:Frankriek rm:Frantscha scn:Francia simple:France th:ประเทศฝรั่งเศส vi:Pháp tpi:Pranis
France
== Opening sentence == From User:LaurelBush 16:41, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC): I suggest the article's opening sentence should read: :"The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a sovereign power centred on Paris in western Europe, and a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents." The expression 'sovereign power' places the power on a map in relation to other soverign powers, such as the UK (centred on London or Westminster), Ireland (Dublin) and the US (Washington DC). Perhaps 'UN-recognised sovereign power' is more precise. :The common usage is to say "country". --User:David.Monniaux 17:04, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC) == Area of France == There is still a problem with the correct area of France. The article currently says its ranked 47th in the list of countries by area. However, it is ranked 42th at the moment (the list also refers to ''Metropolitan France'' and the ''French Republic'' separately) and the areas given in both places are different. If this article is right then France would even be higher up in the ranking. Any authorative source on this issue (maybe some french governmental website etc.)? The list says it refers to the CIA Factbook, but I did not check whether this is true. --User:Markus Krötzsch 15:36, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC) :INSEE says [http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/intfrcbref.pdf] that the total surface of France is around 549,000 km² (543965 in Metropolitan France, the rest in oversea possessions). --User:David.Monniaux 10:09, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Check the table at the beginning of the article about France. I put there the exact area of France, with footnote to what it refers to exactly. --User:Hardouin 00:30, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC) =="strict France"== To whoever added : '*If only strict France is considered this number lows to some 40 million', the least you could do is explain to the rest of us what on earth you mean by 'strict France.' The first time I read it I thought you meant the Metropole, but then I saw the entry for Spain and realize that you're removing some groups (Basques? Catalans? Occitans?). --MichaelTinkler ==German and Dutch languages== I wonder why someone has added, among the languages spoken in France, German and Dutch. These are not spoken in France, except by tourists. --GP : There really is a very small minority of Dutch speakers in France, located in the northeast corner, at the Belgian border. I don't known whether these people speak it as a first language, however. It is also claimed that the possibility to meet a Dutchman in the summer is higher in France than in Amsterdam, so there are lot of people speaking Dutch ;-) :: Maybe this could be understood in the way that there is a lot of foreigners tourists in amsterdam? and there is a lot of dutch tourists in france during summer, some even owns a house in the countryside, but they still are tourists. --User:Izwalito :: Well, though the Flemish (rather than Dutch) traditions may still be present around Lille, I have never met any Flemish-speaking person coming from French Flanders. Maybe among people over 70 years ? ::: While Flemish is really just a dialect of Dutch (although many speakers of both languages will deny that), I really don't know who speak it, it is just mentioned in most reputable language reports of France. --User:Jheijmans ::::I could image some people in the Alsace/Elzas speaking German, but I don't really know. --User:Jheijmans ::::: You may be right, but actually they probably wouldn't agree ; the dialect(s) spoken in Alsace is (are) germanic, but Alsatians are reluctant to call it German. Of course, this is subject to debate. ::::::I have replaced "Dutch" and "German" by "Flemish" and "Alsatien" respectively. These are the actual names of these dialects, and they both link to articles, which in turn link to "Dutch" and "German". --User:Olivier I've replaced Alsatien by Alsacien. First because it's the way we write it. Then, because by judging the number of hits on google (35 instead of 28 200 for Alsacien), most being personal pages or wikipedia page, it's obviously not the english way to write it. Mispelling probably. --user:anthere :I'm the one who originally added Dutch and German to the list of languages spoken in France. As has been pointed out, both are indeed used in France, though mostly in their local dialect form (Flemish and Alsatian), with the standard language serving as the language used in education and, generally, writing. Even though only French is an offical language in France, and Flemish has a positively tiny number of speakers, they still deserve a mention. I've further put "German" back in, partly because Alsatian is strictly speaking just a (Alemannic) dialect of German, partly because "Alsatian" doesn't entirely cover the German spoken in Lorraine (which AFAIK is Franconian in origin). --User:Scipius ::People in Alsace will probably object to "Alsacien" being considered only as a "dialect of German". I originally come from Alsace and linguists in the area consider Alsacien to only share a common origin with modern German. I.e, they are both Alemannic languages. I'm not sure I understand the distinction between the "German spoken in Lorraine" and Alsacien; there are numerous variants (different words, not only different prononciation) of Alsacien. People in the south of Alsace can have major difficulties understanding the northern version, and vice-versa. AFAIK, the "German spoken in Lorraine" is a variant of "Alsacien" the locals object having called "Alsacien" for mainly territorial reasons. :::Almost every french ''region'' has its own dialect or ''patois'', telling an alsacien person that alsacien is german is very offensive and can lead you into trouble ::::A rose by any other name is still a rose.--User:68.80.223.233 19:05, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::::My 2 cents: I have been to Alsace many times and never had a problem speaking German with the locals, even though I also speak French. Never got into trouble for that! Alsatian is one of the many dialects of German and closely related to the German dialects on the other side of the Rhine. People from both sides of the Rhine can converse with each other in their respective German dialect and have no trouble understanding each other. Trust me, I know this, since my grandmother is Alsatian and I (even though I speak another South German dialect - Schwäbisch -) also do understand Alsatian. There is of course a difference between the Alemannic German dialects spoken in Alsace, the German Southwest, Switzerland and the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg and Standard German (Hochdeutsch), which is the national standard in Germany. The difference between the German dialects spoken in Alsace and Lorraine has to with the fact, that the dialect of Lorraine belongs to another German Dialect group - Franconian - and has more in common with the dialects spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate, the Saarland etc. Also, there are differences between the various forms of Alsatian, which is typical for German dialects or for that matter, dialects in general. Last, but not least, the author of the remark regarding the dialects or "patois" or French regions is confusing 2 different things. There are of course different dialects of French, especially in the Southern part of France, that differ tremendously from the national standard. However, that got nothing to do with non French languages spoken within France, such as Alsatian, Breton, Corsican, Basque etc. ::::Having said that - I would like to add that I love France, the culture, the cuisine, the language and that some of my best friends are French. So don t even think about getting into an argument with me about German-French conflicts.... :-) Those days are over and we are all GOOD Europeans now! ::::Greetings from Pacific Grove, CA --Luke :::::The learning of foreign languages in France tends to be heavily influenced by geographical and historical factors. Understandably, people close to Italy more often learn Italian; and people close to German naturally tend to learn German as a foreign languages. Thus, people able to speak German in Alsace may not actually be that much related to dialects. :::::''There are of course different dialects of French, especially in the Southern part of France, that differ tremendously from the national standard.'' :::::I do not see what you mean. I'm a native French speaker; I've been a number of times to various places in the South, I've got family there. Except for the use of a few local words (which would apply in most French regions), the only noticeable difference is a difference of accent — but this certainly does not constitute a ''dialect'' (though I can understand that it can be hard for non-native speakers). --User:David.Monniaux 07:59, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::::I wouldn't call them dialects, although they are mostly Romance languages, they are significantly different from French. Many of these were still widely in use in the early 20th century (although the French government discouraged their use until recently). From my personal experiences, I have found that a significant portion of older French people, especially in the southern regions, can speak or at least understand some of these different languages. Some examples include Occitan language, and Languedocien language. It is interesting to note that "Languedocien is used primarily by rural people over age 50", so it will likely die out within a few generations. --user:Nezbie :::::::These are indeed generally referred to as different ''languages'', not ''dialects'' (but I'm not an expert on the topic). A dialect is a variant of the same language; thus American English is a dialect of English, and Quebec French is a dialect of French. In the south, there exists Occitan, Provençal etc. but these are romance languages related to French but significantly different. (I know some elderly people who speak provençal.) :::::::What I meant above is that though there are obviously some regional ''languages'' (fast dying out, as you point out) there aren't real regional ''dialects'' (i.e. established variants of the same language, mutually intelligible, with minor differences in grammar and vocabulary). User:David.Monniaux 15:42, 3 May 2005 (UTC) ==Number of regions== The article list of regions in France says there are 22 regions, whereas this one says 23: what is the actual number? Why is there this difference? --User:Oliver :23 is the real number. There are 22 on the main territory (régions métropolitaine), and 1 more including the overseas departments --ant ::Has the 23rd region the exact same status as the other ones? "with conseil regional"? Where is the capital/seat of the conseil regional of this region? --User:Olivier :::22 régions métropolitaine + 4 overseas = 26 regions :::However, I'm not sure Corsica is a region, I think it's a 'colectivite territorialle', ie a special status entity. The overseas regions are a bit different as there is only 1 departement in the region; so region and departement have the same 'conseil'. (There is a similar stuff for Paris, which is a Departement and a city.) --User:Ann O'nyme :::*[http://www.insee.fr/fr/region/accueil_region.htm Insee] settles it once and for all, they list 26 regions. ::::Corsica is NOT an overseas collectivity. It is a metropolitan region made with two departements (haute corse et corse du sud). --anonymous ==Important cities== I'd like to know what defines an "important" city. Honestly, I have never heard of Doue-la-Fontaine, and other cities listed here seems not to be major cities to me at all. If the definition of an important city is its size and maybe something very particular about its activity, I'd like the size and maybe the specific activity to be clearly defined. It seems to me some cities added here are not much more than big villages, and it does not look "serious" at all. It sounds as if some are the big villages where the editor is living. I totally agree these cities could have a room in wikipedia, but not listed as major cities. We could link them directly from their department rather, or from a tourism page. I'll do it if nobody objects. * Doué la fontaine * Barcelonnette * Montrichard * Noyon * Rochefort * Bayonne (maybe) * Firmini * Foix * Saint Girons (and not Saint Giron) * Saint Raphaël * Tavaux --user:anthere :Something has to be done about that mess... May be creating 3 sections, e.g. Major cities/Historic cities/Touristic cities. --User:Ann O'nyme ::There does seem to be a problem regarding what a "grande ville" really is for the French. They will speak of "les grandes villes de Dijon, Besancon, etc.", which are rather small, while the French media often describe our (much) larger American urban areas as small: "la petite ville de Oklahoma City, de Wichita", etc. (Yet these two U.S. cities, if they were French, would be in the Top Five of France!) Would a kind Frenchman care to comment? ==Freedom Land== I believe it is imperative that this be moved to Freedom Land. --User:Susan Mason :Is that an unnecessary jab at the French? --User:Ugen64 23:02, Oct 8, 2003 (UTC) It seems to be more of a jab at French bashing than at France. ==Overseas territories== Do the overseas collectives and the other small islands claimed by France belong to the EU? --User:AxelBoldt 10:39, 24 Sep 2003 (UTC) :The oversea départements do, the oversea territories (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, TAAF) don't, and I don't know about the other ones. --User:David.Monniaux 20:03, 26 May 2004 (UTC) ==British English== Is it okay for me to make the article use British English? Since France is in Europe, I feel that British English is more relevant for the article. --User:WhisperToMe 06:00, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC) :Apology, but I am not entirely convinced. Is the language right now entirely american, or partly only ? Could you point out at some examples ? Thanks. User:Anthere :It's considered bad form to change from English to American spelling or vice versa, unless the article is specifically about those languages or places. --User:RickK 06:34, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC) ::I see that Color is in U.S. English form (after Tricolore), but that may be the only example. --User:WhisperToMe 05:40, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC) :::As Rick said, there is a habit to keep a text in the spelling it was written, WisperToMe. :::And it is not because England is nearer that we are only influenced by british english and not american english. Granted, children at school tend to learn more british english because of the exchanges between the countries (though actually exchanges are very frequent with Ireland as well) but adults practice much more american one. It is not bothering us that color is in american english WisperToMe. :::I am not sure why you think british english is more relevant. :::(and color fits very well with tricolore). --User:Anthere 06:38, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC) ::::Re British English: As an American, I'm not bothered by British English in an article about a European country. British usage makes total sense. However, you should use American English in articles about American people, places, and things. We like our U.S. spellings, vocabulary, and syntax just as much as the British like theirs, so "Brit-speak" in an article about us would be jarring and inappropriate. --Mason :::::This is Wikipedia's policy: UK-specific articles should be in British English, US-specific articles in American English. But, here, we're discussing France. --User:David.Monniaux 08:02, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::::::Right, David, but many Europeans (especially the French--I lived in France for 3 years) follow British usage much more than American. Thus, most readers won't be miffed if an article on France is written in British English, the common language of Europe. --Mason :::::::''British English, the common language of Europe''. You must be kidding. User:David.Monniaux 08:01, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::::::::Not at all. British English has become the ''lingua franca'' of Europe. The usage, vocabulary, and accent taught in your schools (often as a required subject from age 10) are overwhelmingly British. --M. :::::::::Sure. (I note that English is not a required subject from age 10 in France; foreign languages are, and English is either taken as a 1st or 2nd foreign language.) British spelling is naturally favored in schools, and is the official spelling used in European Union documents. ::::::::::However, engineers, scientists, businesspeople etc. often, and I would even say "generally", work with American spelling, even though this is not what's taught in secondary schools. This reflects the large importance of the US for such professions compared to that of the UK. I myself generally use American spellings unless writing specifically for a British audience. --User:David.Monniaux 05:54, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) When I lived in France in the '70s, the English I heard was totally British. Britons were almost always preferred as ''lecteurs'' or ''lectrices d'anglais'' in your universities. (They hired few Americans in those days.) I guess times must change—and that's good. --M. "British" English is also used in Australia, South Africa and India. : I believe it's more accurate to say that indian english is used in India. --User:Izwalito : Canadians also use British English (with a few exceptions), The United States of America is about the only place that does not use British english. ::As long as they are part of France, and as long as France is part of European union, the overseas departments are part of the european union. As a result, when you are in Guyane, in the middle of amazonean rainforest, you are in the European union. :::That's exact in the case of Guyane, but inexact in the case of the French Pacific possessions, which are not considered to be within the EU. --User:David.Monniaux 08:53, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC) ==Currency of France== It's not correct to state in the table that the currency of France is both the Euro and French euro coins respectively. One have to distinguish between a currency and legal tender. The currency of France is just the Euro. French euro coins, along with all other "national" euro coins are legal tender (in France and in the rest of euroland). Thus, if the table wants to give information about coins and banknotes having the status of legal tender, it is uncomplete (since in this case all other "national" coins have to be stated as well). If the table refers to the currency, it is just correct to mention ''Euro''. --User:Gugganij 15:32, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC) ==Grammar== It's OK in terms of content. But the grammar in the article needs ''a lot of work''. Not anything to change the sense or even the tone of the article - Bog forbid - it just needs tiny little adjustments so it reads as if whoever wrote it speaks English competently as their first language. Little details like "it's vs. its" and unnecessary plurals drive me crazy. I care about France very much, (my daughter goes to a French school!) and I want the article to read more easily and represent the country better that way. Facts I leave to the natives, but I can help with the English. When I have some extra time, I'll go through and fix these minor things a little bit here and there as I can. My best to all. --User:Hwarwick 16.40 PST, 30 June 04 == Frogs == does anyone know anything about the Frog association with France? User:Xmnemonic 23:49, 2004 Jul 3 (UTC) : Supposedly, the French eat frogs/frogs legs, at this, being "gross", appals many in Anglophone countries. In reality, frog legs are a rare delicacy, which many French probably have never eaten in their life. They actually seem more common in Chinese than in French restaurants. --User:David.Monniaux 08:11, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC) :: you can also check this [http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frenchfrogs.html webpage] from more supposed origins of this nickname == About Anglophone tastes == I don't think we should care of what the Anglophones things which is good or not to eat... I never thought that many Anglophones are interesting under that point of view... :-) With all respect! PS: the Argot word to call an english is "Crustacée" because they are rigids, walking on the wrong sense and eating shit and corpses ! :-) so... ;-) Someones Bitter "Eating shit and corpses !"- What? The British Royal Navy is no longer a haven for cannibalism. We have that problem relatively under control. == Currencies == Wouldn't it be better to add a footnote which specifies where the CFA- and the CFP-Francs are used? Otherwise one might get the impression, that those are currencies which are also used in the mainland. --User:Gugganij 14:47, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC) :CFA Franc is used nowhere in France. CFA Franc is the currency of a number of countries in Western and Central Africa (and is pegged to the Euro). CFP Franc is the currency of the French Pacific territories. --User:David.Monniaux 18:16, 13 Jul 2004 (UTC) ::Thats's the problem I wanted to point at. --User:Gugganij 14:50, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC) == Intro == The sentence ''It holds nuclear weapons'' does not belong in the introduction. Was it francophobic vandalism? --User:Liberlogos 14:12, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC) :No, it was not intended as French bashing. I added the string because it is featured (or was...) in the French version of Wikipedia, because I though it might be revelant (since nuclear capability somehow seems to be a common trait of permanent Security Council members), and that it certainly is an important feature of the nation (think of the energy that de Gaulle or Chirac have put into this...). And also because I felt slightly depressed with the state of the world at the time, I must admit ! :p ::It's not a problem about featuring this information, but about featuring it in the early introduction, as if it were one of the most essential characteristics of France. It's as if you had added "He once took illegal drugs" in the first sentence on a page describing some politician – while mentioning it in the text, for instance when discussing drug policies, can make sense, mentioning it at the beginning is just plain accusatory. ::Nuclear weapons are not an essential trait of France. They are one of the main traits of its defense policies, which themselves are parts of France's policies, which are one aspect of France. --User:David.Monniaux 16:05, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::That's interesting that you seem to consider possessing nuclear weapons a negative trait ("Was it francophobic vandalism?" and "It's as if you had added "He once took illegal drugs" "); it is often seen as a token of high technology, and proof of power and "untouchability" of the country. Not that I disagree with the fact that nuclear weapon do have a negative aspect as well (understatement-fest, yeah ! :) ). ::: Besides, I'm agreed with David, and anyway, the "Security Council" thing is mathematically equivalent, without the militaristic connotations, so, so much the better ! ::::Well, I think that it's simply a matter of proportion and focus. In the introductory paragraph of most articles, the main characteristics of a person, country etc... are summarized. Focusing on characteristics such as weaponry has the undertones of an accusation of bellicism. It may be justified, of course, if the said country frequently threatens the usage of these weapons; but France does not parade its nukes nor does it threaten other countries with them. --User:David.Monniaux 10:45, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::::Personally, I think that the introduction should list key features of the subject treated, so that people that don't have time or patience to read the article can have an idea of the main points. The fact that France is one of the few nuclear powers on Earth is certainly something that stands out, and I think it should be in the introduction. I suggest rephrasing like this: "...a permanent member of the UN Security Council and one of only seven alleged nuclear powers on the planet." I also think that the fact that France's economy is the fifth-largest in the world should be noted in the introduction, such as: "The economy of France is the fifth-largest in the world in 2003." Last but not least, it seems the United Kingdom has been forgotten as a neighbor of France. Are maritime borders not as important as land borders? It should also be specified that these neighbors are for metropolitan France ONLY. The French Republic has many more neighbors, such as Brazil, Surinam, The Netherlands, etc. I let people express comments and suggestions before making any of the 4 proposed changes here. --User:Hardouin 16:28, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::::::I agree. Mentioning nukes as a characteristic among others is ok; what I disagreed with was that it was the only characteristic mentioned. --User:David.Monniaux 17:57, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::::::In 2003, 85,7% of electricity produced in France comes from nuclear energy. Nuclear power as energy source is way more important in France than the nuclear weapons. [http://www.edf.fr/html/etiq_elec/sources.html source] --User:Izwalito == Religion == If you think there's an accuracy or POV problem in the "religion" section, please clearly state what you think is wrong and why on the talk page; merely glueing a "the following paragraph is dubious" label does not contribute much. --User:David.Monniaux 10:07, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) == Francophobic vandalism||jealousy? == I found that the edits made by 213.140.6.103 where reverted by user:Evercat, why? --User:Surcouf 30/08/2004 14:08 CET : About the only thing of value in that edit was the figure of 77 million tourists. I'll add that back if you like. The rest was either POV ("wonderful museums") or gibberish, ie "exceptionalism of his architectural, historical and artistic patrimony." - what the heck does that mean?? --User:Evercat 22:50, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::I removed a fairly long enumeration of "facts" from the intro. --User:David.Monniaux 21:58, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::Please stop franco-phobic stupid vandalism, there is a link with official data of the year 2002 taken from WTO, if you not agreed with that try to justify why and find me other number and sources, if not: shut up, without offences... ;-)
User:Surcouf 20:40 CET 01/09/2004 :::BTW this is not a ''new fact'' as you can see [http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/eco_tou_arr here] France was already ranking 1st for tourism in 1997 with 67,310,000 Tourists ::::Surcouf, can you please provide a reference on a web site supporting these values ? --User:Anthere 20:50, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) :::::Here is a source at the French Government [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/venir/voicilafrance/gb/page05.html] which gives a figure of 71,000,000 --the most in the world--but also makes the distinction that the U.S. has the highest income from tourism in the world (a completely different statistic); France is third in that count. Googling supports that the most visited countries are France, Spain, and the U.S. in that order. Peace everyone, --User:Antandrus 20:55, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::::::Franco-phobic vandalism from User:Marcus2 ::::::I reported on wikipedia about World Tourism Rankings for world tourism rankings, those data was also published on "Capital" n°155 magazine in France and in TV (France2), the ranking reported France first world tourist destination with 77millions tourist a year (FOREIGNER), I'll make links on "economy section" to USA, GB, France, Spain and Italy (impossible: italy is blocked) with no problem (it's an official World Tourism Organization stat!) but a boy with nick User:Marcus2 reverted my edits on france denying the facts (and so the WTO official datas...) claiming that there's no evidence about that... ::::::What I can do? He menace me to block my user... --User 21:22 CET 01/09/2004 :::::::I'd say to first assume good faith from him. Marcus obviously wants the best for the article, and providing references (if there are references) should be enough to convince him. Also, I recommand that you avoid calling his reversions vandalism, if you do not want this to backfire :-) Usually, when name calling starts, it escalate pretty badly :-) Keep it cool guy. --User:Anthere 20:59, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC) == intro length == The new text that has been added in the last month or so clutters the top of the page and is contrary to the WikiProject Countries template and intention. --User:Joy 14:22, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC) :I totally agree. I feel a bit responsible actually, since I am the one who started adding a few points into the introduction last month, things I deemed were missing there, but then people started adding into the introduction everything that went thru their head. The point of an introduction is, well, to introduce the subject, and to highlight key points. By cluttering it with a hodgepodge of information I think we really defeat the purpose of an introduction. I have taken out unnecessary information and put it down into the article, so that the introduction is now left with only the essential things (hopefully). --User:Hardouin 11:41, 9 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::There's also way too much text now in the Demographics section, while the Demographics of France page doesn't have anything like it. It should be mass-moved. --User:Joy :::Done that now. --User:Joy 14:37, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC) == International Schools in France == Does anyone know of international schools (K-12) in France (that is, schools that teach in English)? I already know of the two in Paris and one in Toulouse but I am pretty sure there are a few more out there... :Please note that K-12 is an American abbreviation; most Europeans won't understand it. [For those who might help: K-12 means "kindergarten to 12th grade", that is, primary and secondary education.] This is not really the place to ask for such things... ::Actually you're wrong. Many international schools in Europe use the American K-12 system. And I guess you have a point (Even though you didnt really make one) that this is not the forum to make off-topic inquiries. I apologize. :::Before saying that people are wrong, you should read what they write. :-) Most Europeans don't know what K-12 means, even some who might know about Anglophone schools in their vicinity. == Error on main entry == I don't know how to properly fix this, but there's obviously an error on the main page. Someone has added some slanders french history and possibly deleted some stuff. :There are people watching over the page to check for possible vandalism. It just doesn't get fix straight away every time. --User:David.Monniaux 21:43, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC) ::I noticed it too before, I was about to remove the text that was included but someone beat me to it. Not sure whether this is the right place to point that out, but what's with that picture of Spain in the history section. It is not even referenced in the text, I think that ought to be removed. ==Use of definite article== Please don't overuse the definite articles le/la when citing French phrases (a common error of many anglophones). One normally doesn't put le/la in front of an expression like ''France'' or ''République Française'' unless it is inside a sentence of its own. For instance, some official letterhead may start with ''République Française'' but will ''never'' start with ''La République Française''. --User:David.Monniaux 09:27, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC) == This is cool. I can write on the page and no one will care. == How come this page says "This is cool. I can write on the page and no one will care." ??? but I can't find out where it was added. I tend to see such strange things after 'nuclear weapons' is mentioned on wikipedia. : Hi. See Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers. -- User:Infrogmation 03:59, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC) == Religion in France == Where is the article on this? Fascinating subject, complicated interplay. :Now moved to Culture of France. I'll put a summary here. --User:David.Monniaux 08:30, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::uhhh huh --anonymous ==Flag== The previous flag was the old flag and was not did not match with colours that were listed in the french flag article --user:nicksukh == Infobox == I'm sick and tired the infobox being moved around. --User:David.Monniaux 09:00, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC) == Locked ? == What's with this lock? what are the editing disputes related to this lock? --User:Izwalito :The infobox was being moved up and down and up and down. --User:David.Monniaux 18:53, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::I'd like to add to the links to French language websites, but I can't do it while the article is locked.. --User:Zantastik 07:55, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Sign of France == Whoever wrote the article, you forget to mention 'Marianne', which is the symbol of the French Republic. I got you a link with an actual picture... It's french though: http://www.elysee.fr/instit/symb6.htm "Marianne is the symbol of France since the consitution of 1958 made the Blue-White-Red flag official. She is a sign of Liberty" :If you scroll down the page, there's a link to Marianne. We should perhaps make it more proeminent. --User:David.Monniaux 07:52, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::I agree. It's like having an article on the Netherlands without mentioning William of Orange. --User:Gerbrant 16:32, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Military of France == As one of the most important nations in the world (exery nation may have it's beauty and so on, but you know what i mean.), I think France's military should get an own section in the article. BTW, the main article on it is very messy. --User:Predator capitalism 18:55, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :You are welcome to improve it. --User:David.Monniaux 20:05, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Vandalism== What happened?? We all need to work together as a team to act more quickly a vandal starts messing with wikipedia articles. --User:nicksukh :We had a string of vandalism coming from various educational networks, at some point. --User:David.Monniaux 05:08, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) Il n'y a aucune raison pour protéger cet article. Il faut simplement exclure les idiots qui détruisent la page. C'est ça. -User:Heimdal 15:39, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Cela suppose que nous puissions bannir toutes leurs adresses IP, ce qui n'est pas si simple, vu qu'ils interviennent visiblement depuis de nombreuses adresses à travers le monde (peut-être des machines infectées par un virus et faisant "open proxy"). User:David.Monniaux 16:12, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) Erm...the entire page has just disappeared. ==Insulting the French== ''Note: by the 2nd of May, 2005 part of the conversation had become jumbled up. I used the history to figure out who wrote what when. User:Gerbrant'' Why is it that so many people like to vandalise pages about france or the french? :I think I fixed it. Whoever did this needs to learn a lesson. Anonymous S. African ::Why do so many people like to vandalize pages about the U.S.? I'm disheartened if there's any anti-French sentiment whatsoever in English Wikipedia. Yet, in my experience, anti-Americanism is far more widespread in France than Francophobia will ever be in the United States. User:Mason.Jones 16:56, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::''(continued below — User:Gerbrant)'' :::Really? I'm afraid it doesn't seem to sink to the kind of vulgarity and ignorance that we see here. Is your experience based on living in France? User:David.Monniaux 22:31, 1 May 2005 (UTC) ::Yes, it does sink that low, I'm afraid. My friends from Paris think so, too. User:Mason.Jones 02:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::''(continued from above — User:Gerbrant)'' ::And now I see that a totally awkward, ideologically inspired word – ''états-unien'' – must replace ''américain'' on the French Wiki site.User:Mason.Jones 16:56, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::You're perhaps not aware of this, but southern americans really hate the use of ''american'' or ''américain'' or ''americano'' with a meaning restricted to the United States. Some people thought it appropriate to use a more specific word. User:David.Monniaux 22:31, 1 May 2005 (UTC) ::Spanish-speakers have used ''estadounidense'' or ''norteamericano'' for ages. Yet almost overnight the French Wiki site imposes ''états-unien'', a term very few Francophones use—not ''Le Monde'', not ''Libé'' and not any French person I've ever met. This is an ideologically driven change on the part of French Wikipedians, that's all. User:Mason.Jones 02:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::::I wouldn't like the word "European" to be used specifically for Germans, for sure... but if it's ideologically driven, it must be evil indeed... I don't really see what using a precise word for naming the inhabitants of a country instead of a generic word, applicable for the whole continent, has to do with the vandalising of this page though. On a sidenote I still haven't seen primary anti-americanism here, although people make fun of Americans just like of anybody else (but of course I lived in the civilised world, not Paris or another big city, haha). User:SeeSchloss 07:15, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::::Oh and I'm not sure what you mean with the French wiki, the French USA wiki page says "Américain" everywhere and the search engines find it about 100 times more than "états-unien". And I can't find a decision asking to use either of the words rather than the other on the bistro, or the community portal page (except for one discussion last week, which doesn't have any conclusion). User:SeeSchloss 07:32, 2 May 2005 (UTC) :::Hmmm. So, because of minority of Francophone wikipedians (not necessarily French, and clearly not representative of society in general) declare they prefer to use ''étatsuniens'', you read into their thought and conclude this is motivated not by a desire of precision or of accomodation for South Americans etc., but by anti-American ideology? And then you consider this an example of widespread Americanophobia in France? Interesting. User:David.Monniaux 14:09, 2 May 2005 (UTC) ::The entire debate is (or was) in the "Discussion" section for the article "États-