Portal:France

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

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

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north, Germany to the north east, Switzerland to the east, Italy and Monaco to the south east, Andorra and Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the north west. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km² (248,573 sq mi) and have a total population of 68.4 million . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Nantes and Nice.

Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture. In the Early Middle Ages, the Germanic Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia evolving into the Kingdom of France. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but decentralized feudal kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with England known as the Hundred Years' War. In the 16th century, the French Renaissance saw culture flourish and a French colonial empire rise. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots. France was successful in the Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of Louis XIV.

The French Revolution of 1789 overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte, subjugating part of continental Europe and establishing the First French Empire. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars significantly shaped the course of European history. The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the Bourbon Restoration until the founding of the French Second Republic which was succeeded by the Second French Empire upon Napoleon III's takeover. His empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of the Third French Republic Subsequent decades saw a period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as the Belle Époque. France was one of the major participants of World War I, from which it emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among the Allied powers of World War II, but it surrendered and was occupied by the Axis in 1940. Following its liberation in 1944, the short-lived Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the defeat in the Algerian War and Moroccan War of Independence. The current Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle. Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining close economic and military ties with France.

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

Featured article –

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

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View of the dome of La Coupole

La Coupole (English: The Dome), also known as the Coupole d'Helfaut-Wizernes and originally codenamed Bauvorhaben 21 ('Building Project 21') or Schotterwerk Nordwest (Northwest Gravel Works), is a Second World War bunker complex in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Saint-Omer, and some 14.4 kilometers (8.9 miles) south-southeast from the less developed Blockhaus d'Éperlecques V-2 launch installation in the same area. It was built by the forces of Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1944 to serve as a launch base for V-2 rockets directed against London and southern England and is the earliest known precursor to modern underground missile silos still in existence.

Constructed in the side of a disused chalk quarry, the most prominent feature of the complex is an immense concrete dome, to which its modern name refers. It was built above a network of tunnels housing storage areas, launch facilities and crew quarters. The facility was designed to store a large stockpile of V-2s, warheads and fuel and was intended to launch V-2s on an industrial scale. Dozens of missiles a day were to be fuelled, prepared and launched in rapid sequence against London and southern England. (Full article...)

Featured biography –

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex (he was interested in rhythms from ancient Greek and from Hindu sources); harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations. Many of his compositions depict what he termed "the marvellous aspects of the faith", and drew on his deeply held Roman Catholicism.

Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and was taught by Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, among others. He was appointed organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post held until his death. He taught at the Schola Cantorum de Paris during the 1930s. On the fall of France in 1940, Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, during which time he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time") for the four available instruments—piano, violin, cello and clarinet. He was appointed professor of harmony soon after his release in 1941, and professor of composition in 1966 at the Paris Conservatoire, positions he held until his retirement in 1978. His many distinguished pupils included Pierre Boulez and Yvonne Loriod, who became his second wife.

He found birdsong fascinating, believed birds to be the greatest musicians, and considered himself as much an ornithologist as a composer. He notated bird songs worldwide and incorporated birdsong transcriptions into most of his music. His innovative use of colour, his conception of the relationship between time and music, his use of birdsong and his desire to express religious ideas are among features that make Messiaen's music distinctive.

Selected fare or cuisine –

The madeleine (French pronunciation: [mad.lɛn], English: /ˈmædleɪn/ or /ˌmædlˈeɪn/) or petite madeleine ([pə.tit mad.lɛn]) is a traditional small cake from Commercy and Liverdun, two communes of the Lorraine region in northeastern France.

Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. Madeleine-style cookies are popular in a number of culinary traditions. (Full article...)

Good article –

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

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Monbar Hotel in 2007

The Monbar Hotel attack was carried out by the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), a Spanish state-sponsored death squad, on 25 September 1985 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. The targets were four members of the Basque separatist terrorist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), whom the Spanish government believed to be senior figures in the organization, itself proscribed as a terrorist group in Spain and France. All four people were killed, with a fifth person, apparently unconnected to ETA, injured in the shooting. This represented the deadliest attack carried out by the GAL. Although two of the participants were apprehended shortly after the shooting, controversy surrounded the possible involvement of senior figures in the Spanish police.

This attack, and similar attacks carried out by the GAL, became a major issue during the 1996 Spanish general election after a supreme court trial established that the Spanish Interior Ministry had provided clandestine funding for the GAL. Spanish Interior Minister José Barrionuevo and his security chief, Rafael Vera, were jailed for ten years for sanctioning a kidnapping and misappropriation of public funds to finance the group, and the GAL scandal is seen as a key factor in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) losing the election, though more senior figures in the PSOE, such as Felipe Gonzalez, denied knowledge and involvement. (Full article...)

Featured pictures

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  Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son

  Painting: Claude Monet

  Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son is an oil-on-canvas painting by Claude Monet from 1875. The Impressionist work depicts his wife Camille and their son Jean during a stroll on a windy summer's day in Argenteuil. It has been held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since 1983.
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  Brest

  Map: Unknown; Restoration: S. Déniel

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

  Coin design credit: Kingdom of France; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection

  The écu was a gold and silver coinage system introduced in France in 1266 by Louis IX, so called because the coins featured the French coat of arms. The silver coin proved popular but the gold did not, because of the unrealistic ratio of 1:10 used, which did not properly reflect the metals' exchange rate. The écu remained in use for 500 years. Depicted here are two écu coins, the first made of gold and minted in 1641, in the reign of Louis XIII, and the second made of silver and minted in 1784, in the reign of Louis XVI. Between these two dates, exchange rates were unstable, new coins were issued, and existing ones revalued periodically.
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  Patrouille de France

  Photograph: Łukasz Golowanow

  The Patrouille de France, a precision aerobatic demonstration team, in full formation at the Radom Air Show. The team was established as part of the French Air Force in 1947, although aerobatic teams had existed in the country since 1931. The Patrouille fly Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets.
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  Graziella

  Painting credit: Jules Joseph Lefebvre

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

  Photo: Julie Anne Workman

  Saint George Palace is an historic building in the city of Rennes, France. Built in 1670, it was used as an abbey residence, replacing a much older abbey building that stood on the same site. During the French Revolution the abbey was closed and the property was seized by the government. Since 1930 the building has been listed as a monument historique of France. It now houses the fire services for the city and other civil administrative offices.
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  Étienne Maurice Gérard

  Painting credit: Jacques-Louis David

  Étienne Maurice Gérard (4 April 1773 – 17 April 1852) was a French general, statesman and marshal of France. He served under a succession of French governments, including the monarchy of the Ancien Régime, the First Republic, the First Empire, the Bourbon Restoration, the July Monarchy, the Second Republic, and arguably the Second Empire, becoming prime minister briefly in 1834. This 1816 portrait of Gérard by Jacques-Louis David is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
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  Palais Galliera

  Photograph credit: Joe deSousa

  The Palais Galliera, formally known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, is a museum of fashion and fashion history located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Following the death of her husband in 1876, the Duchess of Galliera gave land and funds for the erection of a museum to house his collection of paintings and fine art that she proposed to give to the state. The building was completed in 1894, but the collections were in fact donated to Genoa, Italy, where they are now displayed at the Palazzo Rosso and the Palazzo Bianco.
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  Les Invalides

  Photograph: DXR

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

  Photograph: Jebulon

  A Lantern of the Dead in Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France. Such small stone towers are found chiefly in the centre and west of France. They are often thought to have indicated cemeteries through lights exhibited at the top of the structures.
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  Honoré Fragonard

  Photo: Jebulon

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

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

  The French franc is a former currency of France and Monaco and, alongside the Spanish peseta, a former de facto currency in Andorra. The first franc was a gold coin introduced in 1360, which showed King John II of France on a richly decorated horse, earning it the name franc à cheval. A later coin, showing Charles VII on foot, under a canopy, was named the franc à pied. The decimal franc was established by the French Revolutionary Convention in 1795 as a decimal unit, and became the official currency of France in 1799. France joined the euro in 1999, and the franc was replaced by euro notes and coins in 2002.
  
  This picture shows a 100-franc gold coin, dated 1889, with a "winged genius" designed by Augustin Dupré on the obverse. Only a hundred proof coins of this design were minted.
• 
  Homme au bain

  Painting: Gustave Caillebotte

  Homme au bain ("Man at His Bath") is an oil painting completed by the French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte in 1884. The canvas measures 145 by 114 centimetres (57 in × 45 in). The painting was held in private collections from the artist's death until June 2011, when it was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Interpretations of the painting and its male nude have contrasted the figure's masculinity with his vulnerability.
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  Joséphine Fodor

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

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

  Photograph credit: Leroy Skalstad

  The 15th-century St. Joan of Arc Chapel was initially built in the village of Chasse-sur-Rhône, France. Originally called the Chapelle de St. Martin de Seyssuel, it is said to have been the place at which Joan of Arc prayed in 1429 after she had met King Charles VII of France. The present name was given to the chapel when Gertrude Hill Gavin, the daughter of an American railroad magnate, had the derelict building dismantled, transported to America and rebuilt beside her French Renaissance–style château in Brookville, New York, in 1927. The chapel was undamaged when the château burned down in 1962, and was later given to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, once more being transported stone by stone.

In the news

Read and edit Wikinews

8 May 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics torch relay

The ship Belem arrives in Marseille, France, with the Olympic flame. (AP)

4 May 2024 – International reactions to the Israel–Hamas war

Palestinian doctor and rector at the University of Glasgow Ghassan Abu-Sittah is denied entry into France after landing at Charles de Gaulle airport on his way to speak at the French Senate. Last month, he was denied entry into Germany. (Al Jazeera)

3 May 2024 – Israel–Hamas war protests

French police evacuate Sciences Po University in Paris and close the university in response to pro-Palestine protests and building occupations by students. (Reuters) (Le Monde)

1 May 2024 –

At least 45 people are arrested and 12 police officers are injured at May Day protests in Paris. French police use tear gas and batons to disperse several protests. (Reuters)

France category at Wikinews

Did you know –

• ...that a camel is led through the streets of Béziers (pictured), France on the feast day of Saint Aphrodisius, a semi-legendary saint said to have come from Egypt?
• ...that Sauternes wine producer Château Raymond-Lafon remains unclassified since its five-year-old vines were too young for the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855?
• ...that Paul Koechlin, winner of the first automobile race ever, the 1895 Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race, was a second cousin to Maurice Koechlin, the structural engineer of the Eiffel Tower?

Topics

Major articles. Linked categories are listed in bold typeface.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Geographic topics

Major articles. Linked categories are listed in bold typeface.

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



Map of French cities

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

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

French Wikipedia

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

Wikiproject

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

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  Commons
  Free media repository

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  Wikibooks
  Free textbooks and manuals

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  Wikidata
  Free knowledge base

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  Wikinews
  Free-content news

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  Wikiquote
  Collection of quotations

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  Wikisource
  Free-content library

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  Wikiversity
  Free learning tools

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  Wikivoyage
  Free travel guide

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  Wiktionary
  Dictionary and thesaurus

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