Originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or "realm of the Franks". Modern France is still named today Francia in Italian and Spanish, while Frankreich in … See more

Location and borders
The vast majority of France's territory and population is situated in Western Europe and is called Metropolitan France, to distinguish it from the country's various overseas polities. It is bordered by the North Sea in … See more

France has a developed, high-income mixed economy, characterised by sizeable government involvement, economic diversity, a skilled labour force, and high innovation. For roughly two centuries, the French economy has consistently ranked among the ten … See more

With an estimated July 2022 population of 67,897,000 people, France is the 20th most populous country in the world, the third-most populous in Europe (after Russia See more

Prehistory (before the 6th century BC)
The oldest traces of human life in what is now France date from approximately 1.8 million years ago. Over the ensuing millennia, humans were confronted by a harsh and variable climate, marked by several See more

Government
France is a representative democracy organised as a unitary, semi-presidential republic. As one of the earliest republics of the modern world, democratic traditions and values are deeply rooted in French culture, identity and … See more

Since the Middle Ages, France has been a major contributor to scientific and technological achievement. In the early 11th century, the French-born Pope Sylvester II reintroduced … See more