The official name of France is "the French Republic" (or République Française).

"France" comes from the Latin "Francia" meaning "Home of the Franks". This term was originally used for the Empire of the Franks, a region unified in the late 400s. Prior to that, this area was known as Gaul.

Where is France?


The French Republic includes the territory of the European country, located between Spain and Germany, and regions and territories overseas. The 18 regions of the country include 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions.

Metropolitan Regions:

• Grand Est
  
• Nouvelle-Aquitaine
  
• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  
• Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
  
• Brittany
  
• Centre-Val de Loire
  
• Île-de-France
  
• Occitanie
  
• Hauts-de-France
  
• Normandy
  
• Pays de la Loire
  
• Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
  
• Corsica
  

Overseas Regions:

• French Guiana
  
• Guadeloupe
  
• Martinique
  
• Mayotte
  
• Réunion
  

These regions have changed and been modified over time, with some merging together and being renamed. This happened most recently in 2016, when the number of metropolitan regions was reduced from 22 to 13.

The regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and the population (as of January 2017) is almost 67 million people.

What About the French Flag?


The flag of France is a three-colour flag with vertical stripes of blue, white, and red. It is sometimes called the "French Tricolor" or just the "Tricolor".

Actually, France has had many flags throughout its history. The current flag has been used since about 1830, after the July Revolution.

There's actually a variant of this flag that looks almost identical, but has a blue stripe slightly more narrow than the white, both of which are more narrow than the wider red stripe.

Blue and red have been traditional colours of Paris, represented on flags for St. Martin and St. Denis. White has traditionally been the colour of the king of France. Together, the flag can represent the moderation of royalist white with republican red.

The colours are sometimes aligned with the three words of the French motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.

What Are Some Other French Facts?

• Government: Republic led by a President
  
• Anthem: La Marseillaise
  
• Capital and Largest City: Paris
  
• Neighbouring countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Andorra.
  
• Highest elevation: the peak of Mont Blanc, 4,807 metres or 15,782 ft.
  
• Birth rate: 12.49 births per 1000 (2014 estimate)
  
• Official language: French
  
• Adoption Date of Current Constitution: 4 October 1958
  
• Currency: Euro
  
• During WWII, France was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany
  
• Member of the European Union (EU)
  
• France relies on nuclear power for 75% of its electricity production
  
• Legal system: Civil
  
• Founding member of the United Nations
  
• National debt: 1.8 trillion euros (2012)
  
• Ranked as 1st tourist destination in the world (2012)
  
• Railway network is 2nd most extensive in Western Europe (ranked after Germany)
  
• Secular country with the population reporting as predominantly Catholic
  

There's... A Lot of Information About France!

Yes, yes, there is! There's so much information that it's hard to pick just a few highlights!

After reading this, did you learn something about France that isn't listed here? Please, feel free to share it with the rest of us?

Oh wow, thanks for sharing all this! There is so much information I didn't know here - especially the information that they run off mostly nuclear power. For some reason, that just never occurred to me, and it's really awesome.

I'm glad you liked that tidbit! I was unaware of it, as well! They started focusing on it after the 1973 oil crisis.

Merci beaucoup, mon amie. (Thank you very much, my friend). I had the chance to travel to France twice in my life: ages 16 (June 1996) and 25 (Oct 2005) to visit my father's family in his hometown St. Omer in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, which merged with Picardie to form the Hauts-de-France region when the country rearranged and merged regions from 26 to 18. Our planes landed and took off from Paris-Orly or De Gaulle, so I had passed or visited Paris on these two trips (you have to check out the city of light).

I remember learning that their Independence day was July 14th. I always found it an interesting coincidence that 3 countries (perhaps more) all have their independence holidays in July. 

Also, I never heard of the variant of the flag where the stripes were different widths! I had to look it up for myself. 



I wonder what the significance is between the two? Do they fly this version during significant events or holidays, or over certain landmarks?

Based on what I've found, Cosmos-Hime, they use that variant as an ensign—that is, it is flown on a vessel (ship) to indicate nationality. (:

This is a great idea, I'm liking this World's Fair.
In 2010 France boasted the highest female and third highest male life expectancy in Europe, I don't know if that's still the case now.

Wow [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] tourist destination after so long! I wonder if it still is today? I'd like to go sometime~.

Great fact list!!! You know, my mum always told me that in her French class they taught her that for each colour of the flag there was a flower: the white daisy (marguerite), the red poppy (coquelicot) and the cornflower (bleuet); but I never found it acknowledged anywhere xD. The only thing akin to a national flower for France is the iris or fleur-de-lis, but it's actually a symbol of the monarchy.

That's really interesting, Prince Triton! I have definitely never heard that one.