France - geography

France is administratively divided into 13 regions, 96 departments and almost
35,756 municipalities, which are far smaller than the Danish ones. France also
has five departments outside Europe, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French
Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte, in addition to the looser
territories, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, some islands off Antarctica, New
Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna. This article deals with the
European France, France métropolitaine.
- SONGAAH.COM: Are you interested in song associated with France? Here is
where you can see song lyrics and singer about this country.
Natural conditions
The highly varied French landscape can be divided into ancient
Hercynian-folded bedrock areas, the Armoric Massif, the Central Massif,
the Vosges and Corsica mountains, the young Alpine fold chains,
the Alps, the Jura Mountains and the Pyrenees, as well as
large sedimentary basins, the Paris Basin and the Aquitaine Basin.. The
wide Saône Plain with its continuation in the Rhône Valley separates the Jura
Mountains and the French Alps, which have the country and some of Europe's
highest mountain peaks (Mont Blanc 4807 m, Barre des Écrins 4102 m), from the
worn-out plateau of the Central Massif, which is pushed up along the east coast.
the alpine folding. The east coast forms the Cevennes, the highest parts of
Hercynus France.
The great rivers, the Seine, Loire, and Garonne, which flow into the
Atlantic, and the Saône-Rhône river system, which flows into the Mediterranean,
together drain 70 per cent of the country; Northeast France is drained by
the Rhine. The Seine, Loire and Garonne have long, funnel-shaped estuaries to
the tidal shores of the Atlantic Ocean, while the Rhône empties into a
delta. With its 1012 km, the Loire is the country's longest river, while the
Rhône with a water flow of 1800 m 3/ s at the outlet is by far the
most watery. Garonne originates in the Pyrenees and can cause major flooding in
the spring when snowmelt and heavy rainfall coincide. From ancient times to the
beginning of the 20th century, the rivers have been important means of
communication and transport and are connected by several canals, which were
especially expanded during industrialization in the latter half of the 19th
century. Today, the canals are predominantly of tourist importance.
Climate. Most of France has temperate climates with average
temperatures in January of 1-6 °C and 17-22 °C in July. The Mediterranean
coast and the southern part of the Rhône Valley to Montélimar have subtropical
climates with 6-9 °C in January and 22-23 °C in July. The precipitation, which
mainly falls in connection with front passages from the Atlantic Ocean, is
abundant in the north-western parts of France and on the west-facing sides of
the mountain areas. The Mediterranean climate is characterized by many hours of
sunshine, hot, dry summers - up to three months without rain - and mild, short
winters with precipitation, with the front passages moving south. Low pressures
formed off the Mediterranean coast often cause winds from the north, such as
the tramontane in the Languedoc and the mistral, there is a
strong, dry wind, which sweeps south through the Rhône Valley and blows surface
water away, so that cold bottom water overflows along the Mediterranean
coast. The Atlantic coast has mild winters, which require a long growing season,
and cool summers. The Parisian basin has hot and rather dry summers, which is
favorable for the area's agriculture. Further east, the climate is more
continental.
Vegetation. Up to a quarter of France is forested. In the temperate
zone, oak dominates, in the coastal and mountain areas, where the precipitation
is more abundant, beech, and in the mountains themselves coniferous
forest. Forests are affected by human intervention, but only a few areas have
rational forestry. France's largest pine forest, was planted in the 19th century
on meager land in Les Landes in the Aquitaine Basin. In the Mediterranean,
predation, overgrazing and erosion have transformed the original forest into
evergreen shrub vegetation, maki, or the leaner garrigue,
which has no economic value but contains many plant species.
Population
According to AllCityPopulation.com,
the population of France in 2006 is about one tenth of the total population
of Europe (excluding Russia). In the early 14th century, every third European
Frenchman, Russia, was excluded, but from the end of the 18th century to 1940,
the country's population development, with few exceptions, was extremely
low. Only after 1940 has the growth largely followed the rest of Europe, and
after an increase in fertility to almost two children per. woman, France now
belongs to the small group of rich, Western European states that have a birth
surplus of 3-5 per mille (2006). According to a forecast, the country will be
the EU's most populous by the year 2050. In addition to the Paris area, the
country's periphery is most densely populated, especially close to the
northwesternmost regions and the Mediterranean coast. A very sparsely populated
belt stretches from Champagne in the north across central France to the
Pyrenees. In contrast, the whole country was densely populated in the Middle
Ages, from which the dense network of municipalities originates. Since 1945,
immigrants have mainly come from Algeria, Morocco and Tunis (Maghreb countries)
and from Portugal; previously, the largest immigrant groups came from Belgium,
Italy, Spain and Poland. Immigrants have mainly settled in the big cities, only
40 percent live in Paris, in the northern industrial areas and on the
Mediterranean coast. Unemployment is widespread among immigrants and racism has
become a growing problem. Since an immigration ban was introduced in 1974, many
have come illegally, especially from North Africa.

- Countryaah:
Do you know how many people there are in France? Check this site to see
population pyramid and resident density about this country.
The cities
Three quarters of the population live in cities with over 2000
residents. In addition to its capital functions, Paris has service functions
for a catchment area within a radius of 250-300 km. Other major cities of
importance in a larger area are all located peripherally in the
country. Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes and Nancy gained
the status of "equilibrium capitals " in the 1960's (métropoles
d'équilibre) and thereby obtained special state subsidies and privileges as
part of a decentralization policy. A large part of the French cities already
existed in Roman times, where they were laid out at river crossings and
coasts. In the Middle Ages, several cities were founded mainly for defense
purposes; only a few of them matter today. From the period 1500 to 1800 a few
port towns originated, and in the 1800's several mining towns emerged. In the
20th century, nine "new cities" were built, five of which are located as relief
centers around Paris. The size ratios of cities were stable until the middle of
the 19th century with the exception of Paris, which grew faster than the other
major cities. From the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th
century, industrialization led to increasing urbanization, especially in Paris
and in the north and northeast of France. 1950-1975, the big cities grew by over
50,000 residents the most. Since then, growth in the small towns has been
relatively greatest, particularly in the south and south-east of France, while
growth in Paris has been stagnant.
Energy
Half of France is self-sufficient in energy, importing almost all oil and
natural gas. Of the country's total energy consumption (2005), oil accounts for
33 percent, natural gas 15 percent, coal 5 percent and primary electricity
production (especially nuclear power and hydropower) 43 percent. Most of the
country's regions are equipped with nuclear power plants, and this sector has
been greatly expanded since 1973. 75 percent of the country's electricity
production comes from nuclear power; it is the largest share in the world, and
the quantity is surpassed only by the United States. Uranium fuel is extracted
from French uranium deposits in the Vendée and the Central Massif and is also
imported from Gabon and Niger. Spent nuclear fueltreated at the world's largest
reprocessing plant, La Hague, on the English Channel. Hydropower comes from
plants along the Rhine, in the Alps and in the Pyrenees.
Industries
Agriculture
France is the EU's largest agricultural country in terms of production and
export value. As in other countries, employment in the primary sector
(agriculture, etc.) is still declining (4 per cent of those in employment in
2005) despite great political attention to the profession. However, in
connection with the major enlargement of the EU in 2004, the costly subsidies to
France's farmers have been cut somewhat. This process has once again shown the
risk appetite of the French peasants in the form of dramatic
demonstrations. Agricultural problems are exacerbated by the BSE epidemic
(see mad cow disease)), which has questioned the forms of production in the
livestock sector. France's agricultural production is roughly evenly distributed
between animal and vegetable products. The country has Europe's largest meat
production as well as a large herd of cattle, pigs and poultry and is after the
USA and Australia the world's third largest exporter of wheat (2001). Cattle
farming dominates the Central Massif (especially beef cattle), Lower Normandy,
Brittany, the Jura Mountains and the Alps. Especially to the south there are
significant flocks of sheep. Large farms with extensive wheat fields are
dominant in the Paris Basin, where half of France's wheat is grown in turn with
other cereals, beets and sunflowers. Maize is grown all over France and
sugar beet, especially on the fertile soils between the Seine and the Belgian
border. Vegetable cultivation takes place along the coasts of Brittany, in the
Loire Valley and especially in the Mediterranean, where it is grown under glass
all year round. The northern border for viticulture runs southwest-northeast
through Paris. 70 percent of the quality wines are exported, primarily from
Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Everyday wines are produced especially in the
Languedoc. France is the world's largest producer of sugar beet and wine (2001).
The French landscape is characterized by cultivation systems that largely
originated in the Middle Ages: the Bocage system, where the farms are
scattered and the fields are bounded by hedges, is particularly characteristic
of small farms and cattle farming and characterizes Northwest France and
the Central Massif. The openfield system is particularly characteristic
of the fertile soils of the Paris Basin, where the peasants formerly shared the
cultivation of the fields that surrounded surrounding villages.
Fishing
The fishery is dominated by coastal fishing for tuna and sardines. In
addition, there is a lot of shellfish fishing along the coasts of Brittany,
where oysters are also farmed. Most land in the ports on the south
coast of Brittany and in Boulogne-sur-Mer on the English Channel. Sète is the
most important fishing port on the Mediterranean coast. France's fish production
is 13 kg per population and covers far from the need.
Industry
In the 19th century, France was industrialized at a slower pace and to a
lesser extent than the other northwestern European countries. The industry
developed especially northeast of a line between the Seine and Rhône outlets,
connected to the coal mines in Lorraine and the Central Massif and to the now
closed mines with iron ore in Lorraine. 75 percent of the country's industrial
employment is still found in northeastern France. All the major industries,
electrical and electronic industry, chemical industry, machinery and textile
industry, have their center of gravity there. The industry in western France is
particularly linked to the cities of Nantes, Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux and
Toulouse. The food industry is evenly distributed throughout the country. France
has a significant car, aircraft and military industry. For example, the aircraft
type Airbus is producedin Toulouse in cooperation with several European
countries. The French car industry produces approximately 3.3 million passenger cars
and nearly 1/2 million. trucks and is concentrated in
the companies Renault as well as Peugeot-Citroën in collaboration with Chrysler
France. The most important industrial centers are Paris, with a particularly
high-tech industry with great added value and a close connection to research,
and Lyon, which has a chemical industry in addition to the textile and metal
industry. As in the primary sector (agriculture, etc.), employment in the
secondary sector (industry, crafts, construction, etc.) is declining; in 2005,
it accounted for 23 percent of the active population.
Service
The service sector has grown strongly since the beginning of the 1980's and
includes large export of technical know-how. The most specialized services are
concentrated in Paris, which together with the Mediterranean coast, especially
the Riviera (Côte d'Azur), is France's main tourist
destination. France is visited by 75 million. tourists per year (2005), more
than any other country. The public service is well developed. A large part of
the country's research takes place outside the universities. The renewal of
companies is sought to be promoted through the creation of research parks (technopôles)
in most major cities; here are universities, research centers and advanced
industry combined. Examples are Sophia-Antipolisnear Nice and ZIRST near
Grenoble. The transport system has been expanded with a dense network of
motorways and railways as well as air traffic. Since the 1980's, major
investments have been made in high-speed trains (TGV, Trains à Grande
Vitesse), which connect Paris with south-eastern and eastern France, the
Atlantic regions, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, with transport
speeds of 270-300 km/h. Italy and the United Kingdom via the Channel
Tunnel. At approximately three hours from Paris you can reach Marseille, Bordeaux,
Amsterdam and London. In addition, new metros have been developed in Paris and
the largest provincial cities.
Overview of the regions
France is a diverse country, and geology, climate, history, culture, business
and population conditions contribute to each region having its own distinctive
character. If the main emphasis is on economic development, in the late 1800's to
mid-1900's it was common to distinguish between the industrialized Northeastern
France and the backward Southwestern France. Since then, regional development
has become more complicated, and from around 1970 one can summarize five parts
of the country.
The Paris area, ie. the Île-de-France region with adjoining
departments, is characterized by a population working in Parisand by companies
involved in Paris' business. With a population of approximately 13 mio. (2006) is the
Parisian population, traffic, political, economic and cultural center of France
and has been so since the Middle Ages, favored by its location in the fertile
and easily accessible agricultural area of the Paris Basin. Paris is one of
Europe's largest cities and to a large extent France's connection to the rest of
the world. The capital dominates the country within the overall and most
specialized service. The industry is concentrated on the most qualified and
highly paid functions. Throughout the 19th century and most of the 20th century,
Paris was a magnet that attracted a large part of France's population and
economy, and the city was favored by political centralization. After approximately In
1970, growth in Paris and the province has been more even.
Regions |
name |
regional capital |
population in mio. (2013) |
area (km2) |
Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes |
Bordeaux |
5.8 |
84,060 |
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
Lyon |
7.8 |
69,711 |
Burgundy-Franche-Comté |
Dijon |
2.8 |
47,784 |
Brittany |
Rennes |
3.3 |
27.208 |
Center-Val de Loire |
Orleans |
2.6 |
39,151 |
Corsica |
Ajaccio |
0.3 |
8680 |
Grand Est (Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine) |
Strasbourg |
5.6 |
57,433 |
Île-de-France |
Paris |
12 |
12,012 |
Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrenees |
Toulouse |
5.7 |
72,724 |
Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie |
Little |
6 |
31,814 th most common |
Normandy |
Rouen |
3.3 |
29,907 |
Pays de la Loire |
Nantes |
3.7 |
32,082 |
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
Marseille |
5 |
31,400 |
DOM Départements d'outre-mer (Departments outside European
France) |
|
|
|
French Guiana |
Cayenne |
0.2 |
83534 |
Guadeloupe |
Basse-Terre |
0.4 |
1628 |
Martinique |
Fort-de-France |
0.4 |
1128 |
Mayotte |
Dzaoudzi |
0.2 |
0.4 |
Reunion |
Saint-Denis |
0.8 |
2504 |
Source: INSEE |
|
|
|
Southeast France includes the Alps, the Rhône Valley and the
Mediterranean coast and is the area in France that has the fastest growing
population and business growth. Economically, Toulouse also joins the aviation
industry with the South East of France. The strong and stable growth since the
1970's is due to several factors. Due to its climate, landscapes and cities, the
Riviera and the Alps have significant tourism, and many retirees who require a
comprehensive service live on the Mediterranean coast. These features have
spread from the original centers to almost every village in the area. The same
areas attract a large number of research institutions and knowledge-based
industrial and service companies; this applies in particular to Grenoble, Nice
(Sophia-Antipolis), Aix-en-Provence, Montpellierand Toulouse. Finally, Lyon is
France's second most important center for service industries and at the same
time has a significant industry, while other regions have intensive fruit,
vegetable and flower growing. Outdated industries are in decline, however, in
Marseille, and the Mediterranean coast is also plagued by poorly paid,
seasonally fluctuating employment in the tourist industries and by significant
unemployment.
Western France, which largely corresponds to the Armorican Massif
and the coastal parts of the Aquitaine Basin, was until the middle of the 20th
century largely an agricultural area with small service towns and extensive
migration. Since then, an economic boom has taken place: agriculture has been
modernized and products are marketed throughout the EU; this applies
vegetable growing in Brittany, which complements the classic viticulture of
Bordeaux and Cognac. Local craft traditions have developed and become an
industrial corporate culture, for example in the Vendée. Large groups have
invested in industry, for example in the lower Loire Valley and in
Bordeaux. Tourism has also increased along the Atlantic coast.
The north and northeast industrial centers. The Nord-Pas-de-Calais
region and the north-eastern part of Lorraine, together with Paris, were the
mainstays of France's business in the mid-20th century. Following a major
depression in the heavy industry since 1960, there are signs of renewed business
development spread across several industries. In particular, Lille, which with
the Channel Tunnel has become a traffic center in the most densely populated
part of the EU, has opportunities for development in business
services. Previously, the production of iron and steel as well as machinery and
steel products in connection with the coal mines was dominant, but just as new
heavy industries had been set up at the canal port of Dunkirk.in the 1960's, the
western European heavy industry ran into stagnant demand and increased
competition from more modern industry in other parts of the world. The inertia
of the organization and the lack of new initiatives hampered the transition, and
production and employment in these sectors fell to a small fraction of the
previous level. The extraction of iron ore has stopped.
Central and Eastern Franceis the largest and most heterogeneous
region. It stretches from the inner part of the Pyrenees and the Aquitaine Basin
over the Central Massif and the Paris Basin, where it surrounds the Paris area,
over the Vosges, the Jura Mountains and the Rhine Plain to the old industrial
centers located in the north and northeast. While Normandy, Picardy and Alsace
are densely populated, there is talk of an "empty diagonal" from the Pyrenees to
the Ardennes. It is also in this part of the country that one finds the only one
of France's 22 regions that in 2004 had a direct population decline:
Champagne-Ardenne east of Paris. The region is largely an economic stagnation
area with the exception of Alsace. The background of the stagnation varies; east
of the dividing line from the Seine to the Rhône estuary are older industries of
a very different nature, which in some regions were originally linked to local
coal and iron deposits, such as around Le Creusot and in Saint-Étienne in the
Central Massif, or to hydropower. In other areas, the industry is linked to
crafts and know-how, such as the watch manufacturing in the Jura Mountains, the
car tire industry in Clermont-Ferrand and the textile industry in Mulhouse. The
ports of Le Havre and Rouen have also attracted industry. However, these
scattered industries have generally had difficulty renewing themselves in the
20th century, and apart from Strasbourg, there are no major cities in the
area. The southwestern part is predominantly agricultural area, characterized by
small farms. The lack of larger cities and service development has these regions
in common with the East of France. In the medium-sized cities of the Paris
Basin, many branches of Parisian companies were set up in the 1960's with
regional development support, but the bulk of this low-tech industry is
stagnant. However, agriculture specializes in grain farming, but it does not
provide much employment. The most dynamic part of the region is Alsace, where
both industry, especially with foreign investment, service in Strasbourg,
tourism and viticulture are growing. Viticulture and tourism are also a plus for
Burgundy. Local craftsmanship dominates in the southern part of the Jura
Mountains, while Montbéliard at the northern end is characterized by the car
industry's alternating ups and downs.
France - language
In geographical France, in addition to French, several other languages are
spoken, including Flemish (100,000), Lorraine and Alsatian, which are two
Germanic dialects (1.5 million), Breton (500,000), Occitan (8
million) Franco-Provencal (70,000), Basque (75,000), Catalan (100,000)
and Corsican(340,000). But developments since the Middle Ages have meant that
French has become the dominant common language for all French people, especially
due to the traditional French policy of centralization. For the ideologues of
the Revolution, the spread of French to all was precisely an instrument of the
implementation of equality. In recent times, regional and partly separatist
movements have sought to manifest the non-French regional languages, which have
been an elective subject in schools since the 1950's. Of immigrant language,
Arabic and Berber dominate.
France - religion
While the religious situation was previously marked by the opposition between
Catholicism and anti-clericalism, France experienced in the late 1900's. a
religious pluralism. The majority still belong to the Catholic Church (60-65%,
approximately 35 million), but due to immigration from North Africa in particular,
Islam has become the second largest denomination (approximately 6%, approximately 3.5
million).
About 3% of the population (1.7 million) feel affiliated with
Protestantism. Just under 1 million are members of a Protestant church, a
quarter of which is in Alsace-Lorraine (mainly Lutherans). approximately 1/2 million. Catholics
declare themselves attracted to Protestantism, while approximately 200,000 others
consider themselves to be Protestants in the sociological sense. Fifteen
churches are gathered in La Fédération protestante de France, including L'Église
réformée de France with approximately 450,000 members.
The Orthodox Church, with a Greek and Russian background, constitutes a very
small minority. The Jewish population, of which only a part has a religious
affiliation, is approximately 800,000.
Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the sociological dominance of
Catholicism has clearly weakened. Among Catholics, only approximately 10% regular
churchgoers (1965: approximately 25%). In addition, there is a pronounced shortage of
priests, which is only partially offset by the growing role of the laity in the
life of the church. In the field of tension between tradition and modernity, the
bishops follow a cautious line, and the ecumenical boldness is replaced by
greater consideration of traditionalist tendencies.
Intellectually, the questions posed to ecclesiastical authority by the
Enlightenment and later by modernism have hardly been definitively worked
out; moreover, the memory of the church struggle during the French Revolution
and of the forced separation between state and church (1905) is still alive.
For Protestantism, on the other hand, the Revolution marked the end of more
than 200 years of persecution, culminating in the revocation in 1685 of the
Nantes Edict, and the law of 1905 meant a liberation from state
control. Although Protestants suffer from a lack of visibility, they play a
greater role in community life than their numbers immediately seem to justify.
|