France is the westernmost country on the mainland continent of Europe. It lies immediately to the south of Southern England.

It is twice the size of the United Kingdom and has about the same number of people (the population of France is 63 million), so that it seems a place of more countryside.

The main land neighbours of France are Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.

France has an Atlantic coast, a coast along the English Channel (which French people call “La Manche’) and a coast along the Mediterranean Sea. France is a very compact country, with six, more or less even sides. It is the largest country in Western Europe.

Everyone in France speaks French. France used to be a kingdom, but after the French Revolution of 1793 it has been a republic. The head of state is the president. Unlike the UK, the president is a member of one of the political parties.

France is part of the Euro zone and uses the Euro for its money.

More tourists visit France than any other country in the world, well ahead of Spain. Disneyland Paris is Europe’s most popular theme park, with 15 million visitors a year.

France is a country of plains, hills and mountains. The French Alps are in the southeastern corner of France. The Pyrenees are in the southwest. There is a range of high hills on the border with Germany and a large high tableland in the centre of the country called the Massif Central. France has nearly a third of its land as forest (about twenty times as much as Britain). Yet it still has enormous areas for farmland. That is why France has become one of the most important farming countries in Europe.

The most famous river in France is the Seine, which flows through northern France. Paris is on the Seine. The biggest river is the Rhone, which flows in the southeast of France and reaches the sea near Marseilles. The other big river is the Loire, which runs across the centre of France and is famous for having many palaces (called chateaux) built along its banks.

France stretches from the north, where it is mild and rain falls in all parts of the year, to the Mediterranean coast, where summers are always hot, dry and sunny and winters mild and often wet. These differences in climate mean that France can grow a wide range of crops. France is famous for its vineyards and also for its Mediterranean Coast, which is one of the most popular places for summer holidays in Europe.