Geography of France
France is a country in Western Europe, bordering the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) and English Channel between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; and bordering the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Spain. Mainland France's roughly hexagonal shape has lent itself to a popular French nickname: l'Hexagone.
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Area
- Total area: 674,843 km2
- (whole territory of the French Republic, including all the overseas departments and territories, but excluding the disputed French territory of Terre Adélie in Antarctica)
- Metropolitan France: 551,695 km2
- (metropolitan - i.e. European - France only, French National Geographic Institute data)
- Metropolitan France: 543,965 km2
- (Metropolitan - i.e. European - France only, French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, glaciers larger than 1 km2, and estuaries)
Boundaries
- Land boundaries:
- Total: 40,822 km
- 2889 km (metropolitan), 1183 km (French Guiana) 10,2 km (Saint Martin)
- Border countries:
- Andorra 56.6 km, Belgium 620 km, Germany 451 km, Italy 488 km, Luxembourg 73 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Spain 623 km, Switzerland 573 km (metropolitan)
- Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km, km (French Guiana)
- Netherlands Antilles 10,2 km; (Saint Martin)
- Coastline: 3,427 km (metropolitan), 378 km (French Guiana), 306 km (Guadeloupe), 350 km (Martinique), 207 km (Réunion)
- Maritime claims:
- Contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles (44 km)
- Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
- Exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km); does not apply to the Mediterranean
- Territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22 km)
Internal divisions
Metropolitan (i.e. European) France is divided into 22 régions (although strictly speaking Corsica is in fact a territorial collectivity, not a région, but is referred to as a region in common speech), which are subdivided into 96 départements, which are further divided into 329 arrondissements, which are further divided into 3,879 cantons, which are further divided into 36,568 communes (as of 1/1/2004). The current number is unknown.
The French Republic is further made up of the following overseas divisions:
- 4 overseas regions (régions d'outre-mer, or ROM): Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, and Réunion, which have the same status as metropolitan regions (as much as Hawaii has the same status as a continental US state), each of these overseas regions also being an overseas département (département d'outre-mer, or DOM), with the same status as a département of metropolitan France. This double structure (région/département) is new, due to the recent extension of the regional scheme to the overseas départements, and may soon transform into a single structure, with the merger of the regional and departmental assemblies, unless new départements are created such as in the case of Réunion, where it has been proposed to create a second département in the south of the island, with the région of Réunion above these two départements.
- 3 overseas collectivities (collectivités d'outre-mer, or COM): Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, and Mayotte (although strictly speaking Mayotte is in fact a "departmental collectivity", not an overseas collectivity, with the possibility to become a full-status French département in 2010, but for the sake of clarity it is most often classified as overseas collectivity)
- 1 sui generis collectivity (collectivité sui generis): New Caledonia, whose status is unique in the French Republic
- 1 overseas "country" (pays d'outre-mer, or POM): French Polynesia
- 1 overseas territory (territoire d'outre-mer, or TOM): the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
- 5 islands in the Indian Ocean with no permanent population and known as Îles Éparses ("Scattered Islands"), which are administered by the prefect of the département of Réunion: Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorioso, and Tromelin
- 1 uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico which is administered by the high-commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia: Clipperton
Climate
The climate in the northern part is generally one of cool winters and mild summers. The southeast has mild winters and hot summers along the Mediterranean. In the southwestern part of France, summers are generally hot inland south of the Dordogne river. There is a lot of regional variation, depending on latitude and height.
Terrain
Mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west.
Elevation extremes:
- Lowest point: Rhone River delta -2 m
- Highest point: Mont Blanc 4,808 m
These are the high elevations and low elavations of France
France's natural resources
coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, potash, and zinc
Land use
- Arable land: 33%
- Permanent crops: 2%
- Permanent pastures: 20%
- Forests and woodland: 27%
- Other: 18% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 16,300 km² (1995 est.)
Natural hazards
flooding; avalanches; forest fires
Environment
Environment - current issues
some forest damage from acid rain (major forest damage occurred as a result of severe December 1999 windstorm); air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from urban wastes, agricultural runoff
Environment - international agreements
- Party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
- Signed, but not ratified:
Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note
Largest West European nation; occasional strong, cold, dry, north-to-northwesterly wind known as mistral in the Rhone Valley or the Tramontane in the Languedoc/Rousillon regions west of the Gulf de Lion.
Cities and towns
Cities and major towns or those of historical significance include:
Abbeville, Ajaccio, Albertville, Albi, Amiens, Angers, Angouleme, Aurillac, Avignon, Bastia, Besançon, Bordeaux, Belfort, Brest, Brive, Caen, Cahors, Calais, Cannes, Carcassonne, Chamonix, Charleville-Mezieres, Chatellerault, Cherbourg, Chinon, Clermont-Ferrand, Colmar, Deauville, Dieppe, Digne-les-Bains, Dijon, Dole, Domremy, Dreux, Dunkerque, Evreux, Grenoble, La Baule, La Rochelle, Le Havre, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Mende, Metz, Mont-de-Marsan, Montauban, Montpellier, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Nimes, Orléans, Paris, Pau, Perigueux, Perpignan, Poitiers, Quimper, Reims, Rennes, Rodez, Roubaix, Rouen, Saint-Gaudens, Saint-Etienne, Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Tropez, Saumur, Sete, Soissons, Strasbourg, Tarbes, Toulon, Toulouse, Tours, Tourcoing, Valence, Versailles, Vichy
Picture from space
This image of metropolitan France was generated with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). For this broad view the resolution of the data was reduced, resampled to a Mercator projection and the French border outlined. The variety of landforms comprising the country is readily apparent.
The upper central part of this scene is dominated by the Paris Basin, which consists of a layered sequence of sedimentary rocks. Fertile soils over much of the area make good agricultural land. The Normandie coast to the upper left is characterized by high, chalk cliffs, while the Brittany coast (the peninsula to the left) is highly indented where deep valleys were drowned by the sea, and the Biscay coast to the southwest is marked by flat, sandy beaches.
To the south, the Pyrenees form a natural border between France and Spain, and the south-central part of the country is dominated by the ancient Massif Central. Subject to volcanism that has only subsided in the last 10,000 years, these central mountains are separated from the Alps by the north-south trending Rhone River Basin.
Two visualization methods were combined to produce the image: shading and color coding of topographic height. The shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the northwest-southeast direction, so that northwest slopes appear bright and southeast slopes appear dark. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow and tan, to white at the highest elevations.
Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on Feb. 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect 3-D measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter (approximately 200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices.
- Location: 42 to 51.5° North, 5.5 West to 8° East.
- Orientation: North toward the top, Mercator projection.
- Image Data: shaded and colored SRTM elevation model.
- Original Data Resolution: 1 arcsecond (~30 meters).
- Date Acquired: February 2000.
- Image Courtesy SRTM Team NASA/JPL/NIMA
Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of France; the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Note that collectivités territoriales and pays et territoires d'outre-mer are not included in this list.
France (metropolitan)
- Northernmost Point — Bray-Dunes, Nord at
- Southernmost Point — Îles Lavezzi, off Corsica at
- Westernmost Point — Île d'Ouessant, off Brittany at
- Easternmost Point — near Cervione, Haute-Corse at
France (mainland)
- Northernmost Point — Bray-Dunes, Nord at
- Southernmost Point — Puig de Comanegra, Pyrénées-Orientales at
- Westernmost Point — Pointe de Corsen, Finistère at
- Easternmost Point — Lauterbourg, Bas Rhin at
France (including départements d'outre mer)
- Northernmost Point — Bray-Dunes, Nord at
- Southernmost Point — Saint-Joseph, Réunion at
- Westernmost Point — La Pointe-Noire, Guadeloupe at
- Easternmost Point — Sainte-Rose, Réunion at
See also
- France
- List of national parks of France
- Institut géographique national
- Géoportail
- Regions of France
- List of fifteen largest French metropolitan areas by population
- List of islands of France
- Rivers of France
- List of lakes in France
- Geography of Europe
External links
- (French) GéoPortail - Geography portal of France, high altitude imagery, maps ...
- [1] - A detailed map of France showing all régions and numbered départements, including their préfectures.
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