France
(pronounced [fʀɑ̃s] in French), known officially as
the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced [ʀepyblik
fʀɑ̃sɛz]), is a country whose metropolitan
territory is located in Western Europe. It is further made up
of a collection of overseas islands and territories located on other
continents. [1] Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean
Sea to the English Channel and North Sea, and then from the Rhine River
to the Atlantic Ocean. French people often refer to Metropolitan
France as l'Hexagone (the "Hexagon") because of its
geographical shape.
France is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland,
Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. In some of its overseas parts,
France also shares land borders with Brazil, Suriname, and the
Netherlands Antilles. France is also linked to the United Kingdom
via the Channel Tunnel, which passes underneath the English Channel.
The French Republic is a democracy which is organized as a unitary
semi-presidential republic. It is a highly developed country with
the sixth-largest economy in the world.[2] Its main ideals 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 of its members. France is also
a founding member of the United Nations, and a member of La
Francophonie, the G8, and the Latin Union. It is one of the five
permanent members of the United Nations Security Council wielding
veto power, and it is also one of only eight acknowledged nuclear
powers. With almost 75 million foreign tourists each year, France is
also a popular tourist destination around the world.
The name France originates from the Franks, a Germanic tribe that
occupied the region after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. More
precisely, the region around Paris, called Île-de-France, was the
original French royal demesne.
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