Presentation of France

National name: République Française
Land area: 210,668 sq mi (545,630 sq km); total area: 211,209 sq mi (547,030 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 64,094,658 (growth rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 12.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.3/1000; life expectancy: 80.8; density per sq mi: 100
Monetary unit: Euro (formerly French franc)

Good, bad or ugly, everyone has something to say about France and the French: chic, smart, sexy, rude, racist, bureaucratic, bitchy as hell, pavements studded with dog poo, baguettes that dry out by lunchtime and a penchant for torching cars is some of the chitchat on the street. Spice up the cauldron with the odd urban riot, political scandal, presidential election and 35-hour working week - not to mention a massive box-office hit like The Da Vinci Code taking over Paris or superstar Angelina Jolie allegedly plumping for a chateau in Normandy to raise her kids - and the international media is all ears too.
This is, after all, that fabled land of good food and wine, of royal chateaux and perfectly restored farmhouses, of landmarks known the world over and hidden landscapes few really know. Savour art and romance in the shining capital on the River Seine. See glorious pasts blaze forth at Versailles. Travel south for Roman civilisation and the sparkling blue Med. Ski the Alps. Sense the subtle infusion of language, music and mythology in Brittany brought by 5th-century Celtic invaders. Smell ignominy on the beaches of Normandy and battlefields of Verdun and the Somme. And know that this is but the tip of that gargantuan iceberg the French call culture.


Presentation of France