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France
History: The borders of modern France are roughly the same as those of ancient Gaul, which was inhabited by Celtic Gauls. Gaul was conquered for Rome by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC, and the Gauls eventually adopted Roman speech (Latin, which evolved into the French language) and Roman culture. Christianity took root in the 2nd century and 3rd century AD, and became so firmly established by the fourth and fifth centuries that St. Jerome wrote that Gaul was the only region “free from heresy”. In the Middle Ages, the French would adopt this as a justification for calling themselves "the Most-Christian Kingdom of France". In the 4th century AD, Gaul's eastern frontier along the Rhine was overrun by Germanic tribes, principally the Franks, from whom the ancient name of "Francie" was derived. The modern name "France" is derived from the name of the feudal domain of the Capetian Kings of France around Paris. Existence as a separate entity began with the Treaty of Verdun (843), with the division of Charlemagne's Carolingian empire into East Francia, Middle Francia and Western Francia. Western Francia approximated the area occupied by modern France. The Carolingians ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, was crowned King of France. His descendants, the Capetian, Valois and Bourbon dynasties progressively unified the country through a series of wars and dynastic inheritance. The monarchy reached its height during the 17th century and the reign of Louis XIV. At this time France possessed the largest population in Europe (see Demographics of France) and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. Towards the end of this era, France played a major role in the American Revolution by providing capital and some military assets to the anti-British rebels. The monarchy ruled France until the French Revolution, in 1789. King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were executed, along with thousands of other French citizens. After a series of short-lived governmental schemes, Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the Republic in 1799, making himself First Consul, and later Emperor of what is now known as the First French Empire (1804–1814). In the course of several wars, his armies conquered most of continental Europe, with members of the Bonaparte family being appointed as monarchs of newly established kingdoms. Following Napoleon's final defeat, in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the French monarchy was re-established. In 1830, a civil uprising established the constitutional July Monarchy, which lasted until 1848. The short-lived Second Republic ended in 1852 when Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaimed the Second French Empire. Louis-Napoléon was unseated following defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 to be replaced by the Third Republic. France had colonial possessions, in various forms, since the beginning of the 17th century until the 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, its global colonial empire was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. At its peak, between 1919 and 1939, the second French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 square kilometres (4,767,000 sq. mi) of land. Including metropolitan France, the total area of land under French sovereignty reached 12,898,000 square kilometers (4,980,000 sq. mi) in the 1920s and 1930s, which is 8.6% of the world's land area. Though ultimately a victor in World War I, France had suffered enormous losses both human and material that weakened it for the decades to come. The 1930s were marked by a variety of social reforms introduced by the Popular Front government. During World War II, after a short but grievous and violent battle, France's political leadership chose to surrender to Germany in 1940. The policy of collaboration with the enemy, a move that some disagreed with, led to the formation of the Free French Forces outside of France and of the French Resistance inside. France was liberated by the Allies in 1944. The French Fourth Republic was established after World War II, and struggled to maintain its economic and political status as a dominant nation state. France attempted to hold on to its colonial empire, but soon ran into trouble. The half-hearted 1946 attempt at regaining control of French Indochina resulted in the First Indochina War, which finally ended with its 1954 defeat and withdrawal. Only months later, France faced a new, even harsher conflict in its oldest major colony, Algeria. The debate over whether or not to keep control of Algeria, then home to over 1 million European settlers, wracked the country and nearly led to civil war. In 1958, the weak and unstable Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth Republic, with a greatly strengthened presidency; in this role, Charles de Gaulle managed to keep the country together while taking steps to end the war. The Algerian War of Independence was concluded with peace negotiations in 1962 that led to Algerian independence. In recent decades, France's reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the political and economic integration of the evolving European Union, including the introduction of the euro in January 1999. France has been at the forefront of the European Union member states seeking to exploit the momentum of monetary union to create a more unified and capable European Union political, defence and security apparatus. However the French electorate voted against ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty in May 2005.
Location: Area: total: 643,427 sq km.
Climate:
Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin.
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